Roger,
> > What happens when the underlying display is *dynamically*
> > updated and only *partially* obscured?
> If I understand you correctly, Palm OS doesn't support that. It
> supports draws only to the topmost window. It's a decision with big
> speed and simplification wins.
> So what do apps do that continuously update the screen? Well, look
> at Reptoids or SubHunt. They stop drawing when winExitEvents occur and
> resume when a winEnterEvent for their window occurs.
I already use this and freeze updates when the dialog is displayed. The
problem is when the dialog is dismissed (and for whatever reason bits behind
the dialog weren't saved) the clip is set to only the area behind the
dialog. Now when I redraw stuff *partially* obscured by the dialog the newly
drawn clipped portion won't match up with the unchanged original, because
the current time/coordinates/settings etc will have changed. To get the two
halves to be consistent I therefore have to modify the clip to the full area
in question before I redraw. Having this clip do double duty as both the
invalidated area and the form clip is the problem ...
> > Any chance of nop'ing the full width/bottom aligned messages so I can
> > get my gremlins to run clean?
> The current algorithm tolerates the topmost window being not full width or
> bottom justified. I think this helps a lot.
I only found this problem because my popup contains a field so it won't be
topmost when the keyboard or graffiti help is displayed.
> I don't think I have much to say about athetic issues. By keeping dialogs
> bottom justified, title bars are more likely to be completely visible,
> giving the user a better context.
I totally agree with this for regular dialogs with a title bar etc. My
problem was with pseudo popups without a title bar. Take a look at my
devsupp submission to see what I mean.
Stephen Best
Bitware Australia
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