Modal and Modeless Dialog Boxes

In this column we cover the topic of dialog boxes. This subject is important for understanding the way parameters are passed between different windows. This mechanism is a key component of some of Internet Explorer 5.5 and 6's new capabilities, such as print templates. You use dialog boxes all over. The alert box is probably the most popular one. There are two types of dialog boxes: modal and modeless. The modal dialog box keeps the input focus at all times. The modeless dialog box does not keep the input focus, and you can work on two applications concurrently. You create dialog boxes with showModalDialog() and showModelessDialog().

In this column we'll show you how to impact the dialog box's look. We'll teach you how to set the dialog box location on the desktop, its height, width, and whether it is resizeable. We'll show you how to impact the window's ornaments such as its border style, scrollbars, and Help icon. We'll explain the concept of trusted applications and emphasize their relevant properties, such as the status bar. We'll cover in depth how to pass scalar values from the application to the dialog box, as well as arrays and objects. We'll demonstrate the parameter passing mechanism, and how to update the caller from the callee, via the dialogArguments property.

In this column you will learn:

• How to create modal and modeless dialog boxes
• How to specify the different arguments when creating dialog boxes
• How to impact the dialog box's size and location
• How to impact the dialog box's ornaments
• How to impact the trusted application's dialog boxes
• How to pass scalars and arrays to dialog boxes
• How to pass objects to dialog boxes
• How to update the caller application from its dialog box

You can also load all accessory files from a single zipped file.

Next: How to create modal and modeless dialog boxes