Forums Feature Suggestions Docking Dialogs

If i dock a dialog in my script, then the reason for that is that i want the dialog to be there.. and if you can move the dialog around the screen, then why dock it at all? a person working with a DLL to make hes/her dialog dock in a place on the screen, then all you have to do to move it is to drag it around the screen.. not what i should want to happen with my work, if it dont appear on the place i want it to be, then i wouldent make it dockable

Because they might want to make it so that the dialog can be attached (docked) to other dialogs and will then move/resize with that other dialog, or because they want the dialog to be able to be docked to the interface at the users discretion (like the switchbar).

Well the thing is a dockable window isn't supposed to be where "you" want it, it is supposed to be where the user wants it. If the user likes it on the right of the screen instead of the left, that should be the user's choice, not the programmer's.

then you make it so he can set where he wants it.. ike the bar in mirc.. "the one with status", shouldent look so great to be able to put that in the middle of the screen

Ok. I obviously haven't done a very good job of explaining the concept of docking dialogs.

Yes, there are certain cases where one might want to dock a dialog.

For instance, if you've created a toolbar for channels that is (in a sense) a re-creation of the channel central dialog.

Such as this: http://www.atomicscript.com/toolbar.png

Or perhaps you've created a nice little "ops" dialog which has a list of buttons and so forth on it that give you quick commands to kick/ban/whois people etc.

So there are cases where a dialog could be docked.
Granted, not always the case. But I do believe that there are some uses for docking dialogs.



Secondly, the whole idea of a moveable docked dialog, is simply this (as some others have explained).

Say the developer docks the dialog to the top (underneath the switchbar), and the user doesn't like it sitting there, well, as with the switchbar, it is "moveable" to a new docked position, say, the bottom, or the left/right of the screen. The dialog is also moveable onto the screen to become a floating palette (in a similar manner to how MS Office has floating and dockable shortcut bars).

Does this satisfy some of the questions here?

Oh, yes, the idea does need a bit more thinking out, however, I was just "sketching" the idea out for everyone to see.


*EDIT* Fixed url

*ADDENDUM*
I forgot to point out in the original thread one small thing:

The /dialog -mp command would be this:
The -m is for modeless (obviously), whilst -p is for positional (aka dockable and drag-dockable).

I don't know if you were just making a general reply and happened to click my name or whether you thought I was disagreeing with you. I wasn't.
I was replying to what D3m0n said: 'actually id prefer every window to be some type of that method. As really that would be the way to do every dialog not just a select few.'.

I did think you were commenting about mine, but bleh.

It was also a general reply.

Dammit, why can't we just have a simple "Add reply" that doesn't require re'ing someone!

In this case I'd probably reply to myself.
I like the suggestion, I'd use it.

Click & hold the switchbar, and you can move it around. But it's still a docked window/dialog/form.