Core Java Volume I--Fundamentals, 9th Edition

9.7. Dialog Boxes

So far, all our user interface components have appeared inside a frame window that was created in the application. This is the most common situation if you write applets that run inside a web browser. But if you write applications, you usually want separate dialog boxes to pop up to give information to, or get information from, the user.

Just as with most windowing systems, AWT distinguishes between modal and modeless dialog boxes. A modal dialog box won’t let users interact with the remaining windows of the application until he or she deals with it. Use a modal dialog box when you need information from the user before you can proceed with execution. For example, when the user wants to read a file, a modal file dialog box is ...