Re: A New Keyhole Type!

White Wolf <[email protected]> wrote:
> [...]
> > Our Open and Save dialogs are still modal.
> 
> I can see no technical reason why they should be [...]

  I can. Suppose they were modeless. Suppose a 
  user opened the "Save as" dialog. Suppose they 
  then open the "Open" dialog, open a document, 
  and then go back to the "Save" dialog and hit 
  "OK". What is going to get saved? Who is writing 
  the code that assures this? Who is testing? And, 
  worst, who is going to explain this to the users? 

> > Unconditionally saying modal dialogs are "bad" and putting
> > the epithet, "keyhole," on them seems pedantically
> > disconnected from reality to me.
> 
> I am still waiting for convincing arguments.  Preferrably facts and
> figures, because I do not think that I am such an important or
> influential person that my work experiences or ethical standards would
> change facts.

  Sigh. I looked at OE, because that's what I'm 
  using for writing this mail. In the first menu
  item, "Print" seems to be modal. I agree with 
  this decision for the same reasons as I agree 
  with making "Save" modal. Another prominent one 
  is the account dialog. (Whatever it's called in 
  non-German versions; I mean the one you manage 
  your email accounts with.) I wouldn't want to 
  try to change account settings while users are 
  allowed to hit the "Receive" buttons. And, again, 
  neither would I want to explain the logic that I
  I settled for. 

  Of course, there's dialogs that seem to be modal 
  without a good reason. I don't know whether there 
  is a real reason they're modal or not, but I am 
  sure that many of them could be rewritten to be 
  modeless without too much hassle. However, I have 
  to agree with Frank, that simply dismissing the 
  whole idea of modal dialogs is throwing out the 
  baby with the bathtub. 

> [...]
> Attila

  Schobi