[Tile-dev] New feature: ttk::dialog

[Joe E. <jen...@fl...>]

New in CVS: [ttk::dialog].  Documentation here:

    <URL: http://tktable.sourceforge.net/tile/doc/dialog.html >

Please review.

This is similar to [tk_messageBox], with a few notable differences:

    + [ttk::dialog $dlg ...] constructs the dialog $dlg, maps it,
      and returns immediately; [tk_messageDialog ...] blocks until
      the dialog is dismissed.

    + [tk_messageDialog] returns the button name to the caller
      after dismissing the dialog; [ttk::dialog] passes the button
      name to a callback procedure specified by the -command option.

(Rationale: it's easy to build a blocking API on top of a
nonbocking one, but not the other way around.  I haven't done
the blocking API yet.)

    + There is no -parent option; instead, [ttk::dialog]s are
      made transient for the nearest [toplevel] ancestor widget.

    + [ttk::dialog]s are nonmodal.

    + [ttk::dialog]s use the KDE / Win2K / XP layout style
      instead of the older Motif/Windows 3.1/CUA style.
      Gnome / Aqua - style button layouts are not (yet) supported.

[ttk::dialog] supports the same set of predefined dialog '-type's [*],
but also allows an arbitrary user-specified list of '-button's
It also provides a "client frame" where the caller can add additional
widgets for further customization.  There (will also be) a mechanism
(undocumented, not fully worked out) for defining new '-icon's
or theme/application-specific versions of the built-in ones.

I've been using this interface for a while and am fairly happy
with it; a few things that should probably be changed though:

    + [ttk::dialog]s are "self-destructing" -- when the user
    presses a command button, the dialog is destroyed.  It
    might be preferable to withdraw the window instead.

    + There should be an option to make [ttk::dialog]s modal.
    (I don't think this should be the default, though, mostly
    because of the all-around evilness of [grab].)

    + Possibly: an option for persistent dialogs, i.e.,
    ones that don't automatically dismiss themselves when
    a command button is pressed.

Other missing features/possible enhancements are listed in TODO
notes at the top of library/dialog.tcl.


--Joe English

  jen...@fl...

[*] Except for '-type abortretryignore', which has been omitted
    for obvious reasons.