Location of dialog boxes

[DeathRobot]

Just started experimenting with the Troi dialog plugin, which allows for specifying the position of dialog boxes. I'm trying to decide whether the user experience is better when a) dialog boxes show up in the same position in relationship to the filemaker window, so that if the user moves the main filemaker window future dialog boxes also move accordingly, or dialog boxes show up in the same position in relationship to the computer screen regardless of where the filemaker window is. Filemaker's own dialog boxes follow the latter method, but the former makes sense, especially on larger screens. I'm curious if anyone has any experience with, or an opinion on, this.

 

Thanks,

Michael

[Matthew F]

Filemaker's default also allows the user to set the location of the dialog box.  If the user moves it over to the side then the subsequent dialog will open there too.  It would be annoying if the solution didn't respect the users wishes. 

 

Filemaker's default is also to let the user resize dialog boxes.  The developer, on the other hand, has no control over this.  This is annoying because there is no way to fit the size of the dialog box to the amount of text.  If a user expands to dialog box in order to read a message with lots of text, then the subsequent dialog box will also be expanded regardless of how much text it has. 

[DeathRobot]

Thanks for the comments, Matthew. I've always had mixed feelings about Filemaker remembering where I left the dialog box. I might move the dialog off to the side to read something, but not want it to show up there subsequently. I also have a large screen, and sometimes I have the main filemaker window on one side, and sometimes on the other. Quite often, the dialog will show up very far from the main window because I've moved it since the last dialog popped up. It feels very disconnected. And there is something to be said about knowing the dialog will show up in the same place in relation to the main window every time, no matter where I've moved that main window to. I suppose the way to solve for all situations would be to place a checkbox to "remember position" on each dialog, or offer a preference, though it seems overkill and adds more things to distract the user.

 

And I agree with you regarding the size of the dialog. One of the reasons I've been gravitating towards the Troi plugin is the ability to maintain appropriate sizes for various dialogs. Not sure why Filemaker doesn't natively support that.

[Matthew F]

I agree, it would be best if the developer set the default location, and the user could over-ride this for a particular window.  I don't think Filemaker needs to remember dialog positions from one window to the next, much less from one session to the next.

 

With the Troi plugin can you determine whether the user has moved the dialog when it is dismissed?

[DeathRobot]

Yes (I think). When you call a dialog, it checks global fields to specify left and top position. You could easily set up a case function to test whether those fields should be updated or not. You've got me curious to try this as a preference setting.