Release 10.1A: OpenEdge Development:
Progress Dynamics Web Development Guide

> ## General considerations for Web look and feel

> This section discusses certain guidelines for designing applications in a manner consistent with prevailing Web standards.

> ##### Dialog boxes

> The following three types of dialog boxes can be replicated in a Web browser:

> - A modal dialog box is a separate browser window instance that pops up over the main base window and receives focus. You cannot access the base window until the modal dialog box has been closed.

> - A nonmodal dialog box is actually a separate browser window instance that pops up over the main base window and receives focus. You can access the base window without closing the nonmodal dialog box.

> - An overlay dialog box replaces the contents of the main browser window frame, so no additional Web browser window instance is created. There is some object (a button or a link, for example) that lets the user return to the main window frame. (The Progress Dynamics framework supports overlay dialog boxes for Find/Filter and field lookups.)

> Modal dialog boxes are not very common in a Web browser GUI environment. You are more likely to see overlay dialog boxes. Although nonmodal dialog boxes are frequently implemented as pop-up advertisements in Web sites, they are less common in Web applications. Overlay dialog boxes are usually preferable.

> ##### Alternative object visualizations

> The following objects have alternative visualizations that change the look and feel of an application to make it more “Web-like” without changing the underlying functionality:

> - Tab folders can appear as multi-page wizards with navigation buttons.

> - Menu bars can appear as tree views with a hierarchy of collapsible and expandable nodes.

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