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Dialog Windows


There are two types of dialogs, modeless and modal. A modeless dialog does not prevent you from using other parts of the application while the dialog is visible. A modal dialog does prevent this, that is, the dialog must be dealt with before any work can continue.

Modeless Dialogs

A modeless dialog can be considered as an extension to the main window. It contains an Apply button which executes the functionality of the dialog but does not close it. The button is often renamed to indicate the functionality, for example Search. The Close button closes the dialog but does not apply any functionality.

Note:

There is no button with the functionality of an OK button, i.e. execute the functionality and close down the dialog.

Modal Dialogs

A modal dialog is used for operations that must be confirmed or that affect the view or the information used in the tool. A typical example is an Open dialog. The OK button in a modal dialog both executes the functionality and closes the dialog. The Cancel button closes the dialog but the settings you may have changed in the dialog are ignored.

File Name Completion

Wherever you are supposed to input a file or directory name as text in a text field in a dialog, you can take advantage of file name completion. To do this, you type the beginning of an absolute file name or a directory and then press <Space>. This will add characters at the end of the text field. If there are several matches, the initial characters of the matching names will be added. Then you have to press <Space> again to get the alternatives one by one. And after the final alternative, you will get a space character.

File name completion is not provided in the TTCN Suite.

Example 1 : File name completion

Suppose you have the files /home/lat/hello.txt and /home/lat/henderson.txt.

  1. Type /home/l, and then press <Space>.
    The result will be /home/lat/.
  2. Then type an additional h, and then press <Space> again.
    The result will be /home/lat/he.
  3. Press <Space> again.
    The result will be /home/lat/hello.txt.
  4. Press <Space> again.
    The result will be /home/lat/henderson.txt.
  5. Press <Space> again.
    The result will be /home/lat/he (with a space character at the end).

Folder Button

When the name of a file or directory is to be specified in a dialog, a combination of a text field and a folder button is often used. You can type the name directly in the text field, or press the folder button to open a file or directory selection dialog (see the following subsections).

Figure 7 : Folder buttons for selecting files and directories (Windows and UNIX)

File Selection Dialog

When you are going to save or open (or something similar) a file, a file selection dialog will be issued. The dialog will also be opened if you click on the folder button associated with a file name field in a dialog.

In Windows, the file selection dialog looks and behaves exactly like the normal file selection dialog used in Microsoft Windows.

In the SDL Suite on UNIX, the file selection dialog behaves like described below. The the TTCN Suite version on UNIX is described in The TTCN Suite File and Directory Dialog (on UNIX).

Directory Selection Dialog

A directory selection dialog is opened when you select menu choices dealing with directories. The dialog will also be opened if you click on the folder button associated with a directory name field in a dialog.

In Windows, the directory selection dialog looks and behaves exactly like the normal directory selection dialog used in Microsoft Windows.

In the SDL Suite on UNIX, the directory selection dialog behaves like described below. The TTCN Suite version on UNIX is described in The TTCN Suite File and Directory Dialog (on UNIX).

The TTCN Suite File and Directory Dialog (on UNIX)

Many TTCN Suite dialogs on UNIX require the specification of directory paths and file names. A special dialog is used for this purpose.

The example used in the description of the dialog below is taken from a Log file dialog, but the principle is the same for all file/directory oriented dialogs.

Figure 8 : The TTCN Suite file and directory dialog (on UNIX)

Filename Error Dialogs (UNIX only)

For compatibility reasons, file names on UNIX platforms must not contain colon characters. For an overview on file compatibility issues, see Windows and UNIX File Compatibility.

In the SDL Suite, this restriction is checked whenever the you change a file or directory specification that is stored in the system file (see System File for more information). If they are not followed, an error dialog is shown and you are returned to the dialog where the file was specified.

If you use the TTCN Suite, this restriction affects you only when you choose a name for the system file in the Organizer.

The Busy Dialog

In some special circumstances, a message dialog may be opened, stating that a tool is "busy." This is not an indication of a system error. The dialog is opened when a tool is busy performing an operation that you have not finished. A typical example is when you select Show Organizer from another tool, and you have not closed a modal dialog in the Organizer, for example the Print dialog.

The remedy for a situation like this is to close the message dialog and finish the operation that caused the busy message.

The Timeout Warning

When a tool is started on a heavily loaded computer system, it may fail to start and respond within a certain time limit. When this happens, a timeout warning dialog is opened.

The time limit is specified, in seconds, by the environment variable STARTTIMEOUT. The default time limit is 60 seconds. If timeout problems occur, this variable should be adjusted to a higher value to match the typical response times for the computer system where the tool is running. For the changed time limit to take effect, the tools must be restarted.


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