Modal dialog problem (even after workaround)

324210

Hi,

I've got a modal dialog which I want to call shotTopic() from.
I've registered my dialog with the Help object, as explained in the documentation, and the help dialog appears fine.

But it's modal. This is no good. The user can't use the dialog until they close the help.

I realise you state in the documentation that this is Java's fault, but with a simple test, I can create my own dialog that is non-modal, and has my first dialog as a parent, and it all works.

All I believe I need to do is have the help dialog's parent set to be my dialog, and also have it as non-modal, and it should all work.

Is there any way to achieve this please ?? If not, I'm going to have to migrate back to Javahelp, as we can achieve it there (even though their system isn't half as nice).

Thanks for any info.

Michael.

jrstephe-Oracle

Hi Michael,

The only reliable way to show help from a modal dialog
across platforms and JDK versions is for the help dialog
itself to also be modal. This has the problem of blocking
the application dialog until the help window is closed.

OHJ 4.1 needed to maintain JDK 1.1.8 compatability for
some of our customers. The API to create a Dialog with
a modal dialog as it's parent was introduced in Java 2.
We often use reflection in OHJ 4.1 to use some of the
Java2 APIs (like Java 2 printing) when running on later
JDKs, but for a variety of reasons that wasn't a good
approach for us with this issue.

We are actively working on a new branch of OHJ (OHJ 4.2)
that will require JDK 1.3.1 and later (it will also be
certified against JDK 1.4.x), and will use the Dialog
APIs you asked about. Note that this will not solve
the modal window problem entirely (there is no getting
around it until JavaSoft implements JDC bug 4080029),
but it will allow interaction between a modal application
dialog and a help dialog.

I'd be interesed in knowing what your schedule requirements
would be for obtaining this new release, as we'd certainly
like to keep you as an Oracle Help for Java user. You can
contact us off the mailing list at [email protected]

324210

Hi,

I sent an email to the provided address (and when that away-bounced, to the address it provided) but have yet to receive a reply.

Our timescale requires that I have the code working within the next couple of weeks, and will likely ship in November. Therefore, unless I can get a suitable working version within the next couple of weeks, I will be forced to regress to using Javahelp, which pleases neither myself, nor the technical authors.

If there is a working version we could use, it would certainly solve our problem, but unfortunately I can't hold off much longer.

Thanks again for any help.

Michael