Dialogs:Modality And Focus
From KDE-HIG_Wiki
Status: 1
Modal dialogs lock the object, document or window from which it was called.
<todo> VERY IMPORTANT SECTION - Add the following contents:
Define different types of modality (non-modal, system-modal, application-modal, parent-modal; possibly add: 'multiple-parent-modal' which is not application-modal (e.g. kontact));
If non-fatal error: Error messages should not block the whole application (negative example Kontact: Host not found error message blocks application, so user cannot go to calendar!!);
Describe how users perceive modality (is there literature on that topic?) Focus problematics: If a dialog is modal, it needs to gain focus as soon as the application gains focus. It must not happen that a modal confirmation dialog is hidden behind the disabled application!;
Focus should provide a reference to the section dealing with standard input focus (e.g. ok or cancel button in a dialog);
</todo>
[edit]
When to use modal dialogs
- If an action
[edit]
When not to use modal dialogs
- If the user must access information behind the blocking dialog, e.g. for copy and paste or for deciding which action to take in the blocking dialog. -
reasons:
- modal dialogs are connected with a document; if they were non-modal, users might change documents and then do not know anymore to which document the dialog belongs.
