Modal window
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In user interface design, a modal window (often called modal dialog because the window is almost always used to display a dialog box) is a child window, which has to be closed before the user can return to operating the parent application. Modal windows are commonly used in GUI systems to absorb user awareness and to display emergency states.
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[edit] Use Cases
Frequently, modal windows are an element of Multiple Document Interface applications. For example, a spreadsheet program might ask the user whether they want to delete a specific cell or row. If the user manually moves this row around while the dialog is still open, and then answered the question with a yes, they might not be sure what to expect: whether the new row, the old row, or possibly no row at all will be deleted.
Modal windows are more common in the Microsoft Windows world than in that of Mac OS, Unix-derivates, and the X Window System. In these OS's, many features that would be represented by modal windows in Windows are instead implemented as transient windows. Transient windows behave similarly to modal windows -- they are always on top of the parent window and are not shown in the window list, but they do not disable the use of other windows in the application.
[edit] Criticisms
Although useful, Modal windows are viewed very critically in the usability community because they block a user's workflow and require them to adapt to the software, instead of the software adapting to them. They are also frequently perceived as encouraging bad programming practices, such as not properly dealing with certain use cases because "they can never happen." Modal dialogs detrimentally affect first-time users of computers, who may not be able to identify that one has appeared requiring their attention leading to confusion at the application's main window being non-responsive.
Sentiments against modal windows inspired some of the primary guidelines in early human-computer interface work. Microsoft's use of wizards for example, was seen as anathema by many human interface guidelines, although this is considered by some to be a case of Not Invented Here syndrome.
Still, many Windows programmers regard modal windows as an integral part of the GUI subsystem and user workflow. Believing that too many active modeless dialogs can lead users into confusion, they advocate reducing the amount of user input at a given time. This, they argue, can reduce user confusion, while minimizing the likelihood of an error as a result of having too many modeless windows open concurrently.
[edit] Examples
- ThickBox - Modal Windows in JavaScript and CSS
- TinyBox - more modal windows with JavaScript and CSS
- subModal DHTML Modal Dialog
- Control.Modal by Live Pipe
