Volume 6A: Motif Programming Manual

A sample dialog box

The Motif Style Guide describes in a general fashion how the control and action areas for all dialogs should be laid

out. For predefined Motif dialogs, the control area is rigidly specified. For customized dialogs, there is only a general

set of guidelines to follow. The guidelines for the action area specify a number of common actions that can be used in

both predefined Motif dialogs and customized dialogs. These actions have standard meanings that help ensure

consistency between different Motif applications.

By default, the predefined Motif MessageDialogs provide three action buttons, which are normally labeled OK,

Cancel, and Help, respectively. SelectionDialogs provide a fourth button, normally labeled Apply, which is placed

between the OK and Cancel buttons. This button is created but not managed, so it is not visible unless the application

explicitly manages it. The Style Guide specifies that the OK button applies the action of the dialog and dismisses it,

while the Apply button applies the action but does not dismiss the dialog. The Cancel button dismisses the dialog

without performing any action and the Help button provides any help that is available for the dialog. When you are

creating custom dialogs, or even when you are using the predefined Motif dialogs, you may need to provide actions

other than the default ones. If so, you should change the labels on the ...