Motif and Common Desktop Environment: Style Guide Reference Migration Version

Motif and CDE 2.1 Style Guide Reference

Dialog (Window)

Reference

Description

A dialog includes the following:

Dialog

An interaction between user and application conducted by using one or more secondary windows, and that allows a user to specify or review parameters for an action to be performed.

Dialog window

A secondary window used for a dialog.

When to Use

Required

Use a dialog to allow the user to specify parameters to an action that is to be performed.

Required

Use a dialog to allow the user to review the parameters to an action before finally approving its invocation.

Recommended

Use a dialog with multiple secondary windows to allow the user to review and approve the results of intermediate steps of a complex action.

Guidelines

Required

Provide one or both of the following push-button choices in a dialog:

Invokes the action and closes the dialog window.

Apply

Invokes the action and leaves the dialog window open.

You can replace the labels of these choices with ones that are descriptive of the action to be performed.

Required

Provide a Cancel choice in a dialog window that closes the dialog without performing the effects of the action.

Optional

If a task analysis shows that the user will fill the fields of a form-filling dialog in order, then when using explicit focus and focus is in any field but the final one, make the default action move focus to the next field. When focus is in the final field, the default action submits the form and closes the window that contains the dialog.

Essential Related Topics

For more information, see the Secondary Window reference page.

Essential Related Topics

For more information, see the Choice reference page.