Topic       : Documentation for Thing
Author      : Arno Welzel/Thomas Binder/TransAction
Version     : thing.hyp 1.27E (23/8/1998)
Subject     : Documentation/Shells
Nodes       : 269
Index Size  : 6336
HCP-Version : 4
Compiled on : Atari
@charset    : atarist
@lang       : 
@default    : %I
@help       : %Hilfe
@options    : +g -i -s +y +zz -t4 -d10
@width      : 75
@hostname   : THING   
View Ref-FileIntroduction: Dialog boxes                                            Thing

The dialog boxes of Thing offer some additional features over and above 
standard GEM dialog boxes:

 ∙ All entries can also be handled with the keyboard (keyboard shortcuts).
   Just press the underlined character holding the  Alternate  key.

 ∙ In addition to  Return  for the button  OK  you can use  Undo  as a
   shortcut for  Cancel .

 ∙ Dialog boxes and alert boxes(!) are displayed in windows and context
   sensitive help can be accessed via the  Help  key. If no free window 
   remains available for a dialog or alert box, then this will be opened 
   automatically as a normal GEM dialog and unfortunately no help will 
   be available in such a case -- but this is unlikely to happen under 
   MagiC or MultiTOS. Should this happen repeatedly under Single-TOS 
   then this could be remedied by using WINX.

 ∙ Configurable '3D buttons' available from 16-colour screen modes 
   upwards.

 ∙ Many Thing dialog boxes are 'non-modal' -- which means you can use 
   other Thing functions even though the dialog box is open. Closing a 
   windowed dialog via the 'Closer' icon has the same result as clicking 
   the  Cancel  button.

 ∙ Drag&Drop: You can input file and folder names to the entry fields of 
   most non-modal dialog boxes by dragging them from the desktop or a 
   window to the dialog box. If you want to add the filenames to the 
   current contents of the field, you have to hold  Alternate  or  Control 
   while dragging the files.

 ∙ All popup menus or listboxes can be handled using the cursor keys and
    Return / Enter  or  Esc / Undo .

 ∙ With  Insert  or  Shift  +  Insert  you can open a popup menu to 
   select any character not available from the keyboard, which will be 
   inserted at the current position of the cursor in an editable field -- 
   if possible.

 ∙ Support for the GEM clipboard:
    -  Control  +  C  (Copy) copies the contents of the current 
       editable field to the GEM clipboard.
    -  Control  +  V  (Paste) pastes the contents of the GEM clipboard
       to the current editable field.
    -  Control  +  X  (Cut) copies the contents of the current editable
       field to the GEM clipboard and clears the field.

 ∙ In all cases where filenames or paths have to be input you can 
   double-click the editable field; a file selector appears and allows 
   you to select the desired file with its path.

 ∙ 'Drop Down Listboxes'


   These listboxes are the combination of a popup object and a listbox.
   All entries can be selected in the same way as in a popup menu in 
   'real time'. But there is a slider too, for scrolling if required.

   The entries of such a list can also be selected with the  ⇧  and  ⇩ 
   cursor keys and  Return  or  Enter .  Esc  or  Undo  quits the list 
   without selecting an entry.

 ∙ 'Multi-page' dialogs (also called 'tabs' because they look like the 
   tabbed separators in a card index).



   Some dialog boxes contain multiple 'pages', which can be selected by
   clicking the 'tabs' at the top border. The example above shows the
   'Configuration' dialog box, displaying the 'Window 1' page.