Volume 6A: Motif Programming Manual

When the form is complete, you return it to the person who gave it to you. The attendant can check it over to see if

you forgot something. If there are errors, you typically take it back and continue until it's right. The attendant can

simply ask you the question straight out and write down whatever you say, but this prevents him from doing other

work or dealing with other people. Furthermore, if you don't know the answer to the question right away, then you

have to take the form back and fill it out the way you were doing it before. No matter how you look at it, this process

is not an interview where you are asked questions in sequence and must answer them that way. You are supposed to

prepare the form off−line, without requiring interaction from anyone else.

Window−based applications should be treated no differently. Each window, or dialog, can be considered to be a form

of some sort. Allow the user to fill out the form at her own convenience and however she chooses. If she wants to

interact with other parts of the application or other programs on the desktop, she should be allowed to do so. When the

user selects one of the buttons in the action area, this action is her way of returning the form. At this time, you may

either accept it or reject it. At no point in the process so far have we needed a modal dialog.

Once the form has been submitted, you can take whatever action is appropriate. If there are errors in any section of the

dialog, you may need to notify the user of the error. Here ...