Load 3 dialogs at once

[Peter.Greulich]

I want to load 3 dialog forms from one script.
The a.show() stops script activity.

e.g.

a=form.load("aa","dialog")
b=form.load("bb","dialog")
c=form.load("cc","dialog")

a.show()   ' script pauses here
b.show()
c.show()

Is there a way to get around this?

[Steve Workings]

How about using the form.view() function rather than form.load() ?

[Peter.Greulich]

That won't work, Steve. I am querying the forms and assigning variables, etc. before the load. Thanks for the thought though.

[Steve Workings]

OK, so howsabout you put some code on the various forms' OnInit event? For form A, test to see if Form B is an object, and if so, show it?

Wish you were in v6 or v7 where this wouldn't be a problem.

[Peter.Greulich]

I'll try your idea.

I'm hoping to switch to v7 - subject to a bug report to Alpha and further testing.

But why wouldn't it be an issue in v7?

[Steve Workings]

When I wrote that I thought the form.viewqueried() function hadn't been introduced in v5. I just checked the docs and found it is in v5. So it really should have been in my original response to you.

One of the other suggestions I thought of last night was playing another script (or 3) that do nothing but show the forms you've loaded. Workaround stuff, I know, but I'm just dealing with the context you've give us.

Also, if you're assigning variables to the forms, the OnInit event might be worth considering.

[Peter.Greulich]

form.viewqueried() has the same limitation as you know.

Yeah, I thought of using 3 separate scripts. That would work.

[Finian Lennon]

Hi Peter:

I remember trying to do something like this in the past. I think the only way I could do it was to have the second dialog launched from the first and the third from the second.

Of course each dialog form wants to be "on top" so it was an unholy mess until I made sure to have only one dialog form active and enabled at a time. So, in addition to disabling the form from which the first form was loaded, it was necessary to disable each form when it was loading the next.

FYI. Your mileage may be different!

Finian

[Peter.Greulich]

Hi Finian,

In my case the three forms are long narrow-rectangular and are all visible at the same time. None are to be disabled because the user will need to jump between them at will. I will probably try using the OnInit event - which I assume will fire in dialog mode (OnActivate does not fire in dialog mode as you probably know).

Peter

[Steve Andrews]

Peter,

Upon noticing your description of how these three forms are used, I had to wonder why you are using forms rather than subforms. If one parent form had three separate subforms added as separate objects, you would have no need to be using xbasic to get them all onto the screen at once and allow users to "jump between them at will". Is there something I am missing in what you are attempting to accomplish?

Steve

Hi Finian,

In my case the three forms are long narrow-rectangular and are all visible at the same time. None are to be disabled because the user will need to jump between them at will. I will probably try using the OnInit event - which I assume will fire in dialog mode (OnActivate does not fire in dialog mode as you probably know).

Peter

[Peter.Greulich]

Steve,

I only wish. Two of the forms are separate tables and are not part of a set. The 3rd form is a contol form that utilizes a number of variables to perform queries and change values of the other two tables.

Thanks for your thought,
Peter

[Finian Lennon]

Have you already had all three dialogs loaded and working at the same time? By definition, doesn't a dialog form assume that it is "on top" of all other forms and should have focus? Whether they are narrow or not, doesn't one of the dialogs "think" that it is on top, has focus and will not yield focus until you do something on that form? At least that's the way I remember it but I stopped and went another way.

What you describe sounds like a perfect opportunity to use 3 modeless xdialogs.

F.

[Peter.Greulich]

Finian,

I have not opened all 3 as dialogs in this case. But I do have forms where one dialog calls a 2nd and then a 3rd. In those cases, unless you disable the originating dialog, Alpha allows you to switch between all open dialogs at will, but not the non-dialog forms, toolbars, etc. So dialogs get along great w. each other and comprise a bit of an exclusive party, if you will.

Xdialogs, aaahhh yes. I'm beginning to think that all Alpha forms & browses should be xdialog. But they are sooooo much work. Alas...

[Finian Lennon]

That's interesting, I didn't realize that. That could have been the reason I had such difficulty before.

Yes, I know what you mean about xdialogs but I misspoke before .. you could do it with one xdialog rather than three, since you could populate 3 separate data views in the one xd. However, unless the data lent itself to aligning the views in 3 boxes/browses, one above the other, I wouldn't attempt it myself.

Finian

[Peter.Greulich]

One xdialog would work. But it was easier to make 3 forms. See the attached screen shot.