If the parent window of a tk_messageBox is transient, and the window is iconified, the message box disappears and returns the empty string.
# Example;
package require Tk
tk_messageBox -message test
# Iconify the application, the message dialog stay open
toplevel .t
tk_messageBox -parent .t -message test
# Iconify the application, the message dialog stay open
wm transient .t .
tk_messageBox -parent .t -message test
# Iconify the application, the message dialog disappears
# Deiconify the application, tk_messageBox returns empty string