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DialogBox
Description
A DialogBox should be
used to group components in a window secondary to the main tasks of
the application. Although a DialogBox can contain any components, a
simple DialogBox is composed of a Label and
PushButtons for supplying a response to
the DialogBox. The OSF/Motif toolkit provides a number of
ready-designed DialogBoxes for common uses: CommandDialog, FileSelectionDialog, MessageDialog, PromptDialog, and SelectionDialog. There are also a number
of different types of MessageDialogs: ErrorDialog, InformationDialog, QuestionDialog, WorkingDialog, and WarningDialog. The illustration on this
reference page shows a typical DialogBox.
DialogBox PushButtons should use the following common labels and
actions. The actions are in the approximate sequence in which they
should appear in DialogBoxes.
- Yes
- Must indicate an affirmative response to a question posed in
the DialogBox and then close the window. While Yes
is not an active-voice label, it implies a positive response to a
question in a QuestionDialog or a WarningDialog. Only use
Yes if it is a clear answer to the question.
- No
- Must indicate a negative response to a question posed in the
DialogBox and then close the window. While No is not
an active-voice label, it implies a negative response to a question in
a QuestionDialog. Only use No if it is a clear
answer to the question.
- OK
- Must cause the application to apply any changes and perform
related actions specified by components in the DialogBox, and then
dismiss the DialogBox. While OK is not an
active-voice label, its usage is too common to change.
- Close
- Should cause the current DialogBox to be closed without
performing any of the actions specified by components in the
DialogBox. This action is usually only available in DialogBoxes that
provide status information such as a Working DialogBox. This label
can also be used if the actions in the DialogBox cannot be reversed,
in which case this label replaces Cancel after the
first irreversible action is performed.
- Apply
- Must apply any changes and perform the related actions
specified by the components in the DialogBox.
- Retry
- Must cause the task in progress to be attempted again. This
action is commonly found in message boxes that report an error.
- Stop
- Must end the task in progress at the next possible breaking
point. This action is commonly found in a Working DialogBox.
- Pause
- Must cause the task in progress to be paused. This action is
commonly found in a Working DialogBox and should be used in
combination with Resume.
- Resume
- Must cause a previously paused task to resume. This action is
commonly found in a Working DialogBox and should be used in
combination with Pause.
- Reset
- Must cancel any user changes that have not been applied to the
application. It must also reset the status of the DialogBox to the
state since the last time the DialogBox action was applied or to the
initial state of the DialogBox.
- Cancel
- Must close the DialogBox without performing any DialogBox
actions not yet applied to the application. Pressing
anywhere in the DialogBox, except during a
cancelable drag operation, must perform the action of this button.
- Help
- Must provide any help for the DialogBox.
You should arrange PushButton actions in DialogBoxes like other
PushButtons, according to order and frequency of use. The common
action PushButtons should be ordered as presented in the previous
list. Positive responses to the DialogBox should be presented first,
followed by negative responses and canceling responses.
Help should always be the last action on the right.
Illustration
Navigation
A DialogBox must follow the navigation model described in Navigation.
Related Information
For more information, see the reference pages for CommandDialog, ErrorDialog, FileSelectionDialog, InformationDialog, MessageDialog, PromptDialog, QuestionDialog, SelectionDialog, WarningDialog, and WorkingDialog.