Don't define __STRICT_ANSI__, we should build both with and without it.

[wxWidgets.git] / docs / doxygen / overviews / dialog.h

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Name:        dialog.h
// Purpose:     topic overview
// Author:      wxWidgets team
// Licence:     wxWindows licence
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

/**

@page overview_dialog wxDialog Overview

@tableofcontents

Classes: wxDialog, wxDialogLayoutAdapter

A dialog box is similar to a panel, in that it is a window which can be used
for placing controls, with the following exceptions:

@li A surrounding frame is implicitly created.
@li Extra functionality is automatically given to the dialog box, such as
    tabbing between items (currently Windows only).
@li If the dialog box is @e modal, the calling program is blocked until the
    dialog box is dismissed.

For a set of dialog convenience functions, including file selection, see
@ref group_funcmacro_dialog.

See also wxTopLevelWindow and wxWindow for inherited member functions.
Validation of data in controls is covered in @ref overview_validator.



@section overview_dialog_autoscrolling Automatic Scrolled Dialogs

As an ever greater variety of mobile hardware comes to market, it becomes more
imperative for wxWidgets applications to adapt to these platforms without
putting too much burden on the programmer. One area where wxWidgets can help is
in adapting dialogs for the lower resolution screens that inevitably accompany
a smaller form factor. wxDialog therefore supplies a global
wxDialogLayoutAdapter class that implements automatic scrolling adaptation for
most sizer-based custom dialogs.

Many applications should therefore be able to adapt to small displays with
little or no work, as far as dialogs are concerned. By default this adaptation
is off. To switch scrolling adaptation on globally in your application, call
the static function wxDialog::EnableLayoutAdaptation passing @true. You can
also adjust adaptation on a per-dialog basis by calling
wxDialog::SetLayoutAdaptationMode with one of
@c wxDIALOG_ADAPTATION_MODE_DEFAULT (use the global setting),
@c wxDIALOG_ADAPTATION_MODE_ENABLED or @c wxDIALOG_ADAPTATION_MODE_DISABLED.

The last two modes override the global adaptation setting. With adaptation
enabled, if the display size is too small for the dialog, wxWidgets (or rather
the standard adapter class wxStandardDialogLayoutAdapter) will make part of the
dialog scrolling, leaving standard buttons in a non-scrolling part at the
bottom of the dialog. This is done as follows, in
wxDialogLayoutAdapter::DoLayoutAdaptation called from within wxDialog::Show or
wxDialog::ShowModal:

@li If wxDialog::GetContentWindow returns a window derived from wxBookCtrlBase,
    the pages are made scrollable and no other adaptation is done.
@li wxWidgets looks for a wxStdDialogButtonSizer and uses it for the
    non-scrolling part.
@li If that search failed, wxWidgets looks for a horizontal wxBoxSizer with one
    or more standard buttons, with identifiers such as @c wxID_OK and
    @c wxID_CANCEL.
@li If that search failed too, wxWidgets finds 'loose' standard buttons (in any
    kind of sizer) and adds them to a wxStdDialogButtonSizer. If no standard
    buttons were found, the whole dialog content will scroll.
@li All the children apart from standard buttons are reparented onto a new
    ::wxScrolledWindow object, using the old top-level sizer for the scrolled
    window and creating a new top-level sizer to lay out the scrolled window
    and standard button sizer.


@subsection overview_dialog_autoscrolling_custom Customising Scrolling Adaptation

In addition to switching adaptation on and off globally and per dialog, you can
choose how aggressively wxWidgets will search for standard buttons by setting
wxDialog::SetLayoutAdaptationLevel. By default, all the steps described above
will be performed but by setting the level to 1, for example, you can choose to
only look for wxStdDialogButtonSizer.

You can use wxDialog::AddMainButtonId to add identifiers for buttons that
should also be treated as standard buttons for the non-scrolling area.

You can derive your own class from wxDialogLayoutAdapter or
wxStandardDialogLayoutAdapter and call wxDialog::SetLayoutAdapter, deleting the
old object that this function returns. Override the functions
CanDoLayoutAdaptation and DoLayoutAdaptation to test for adaptation
applicability and perform the adaptation.

You can also override wxDialog::CanDoLayoutAdaptation and
wxDialog::DoLayoutAdaptation in a class derived from wxDialog.


@subsection overview_dialog_autoscrolling_fail Where Scrolling Adaptation May Fail

Because adaptation rearranges your sizer and window hierarchy, it is not
fool-proof, and may fail in the following situations:

@li The dialog doesn't use sizers.
@li The dialog implementation makes assumptions about the window hierarchy,
    for example getting the parent of a control and casting to the dialog class.
@li The dialog does custom painting and/or event handling not handled by the scrolled window.
    If this problem can be solved globally, you can derive a new adapter class from
    wxStandardDialogLayoutAdapter and override its CreateScrolledWindow function to return
    an instance of your own class.
@li The dialog has unusual layout, for example a vertical sizer containing a mixture of
    standard buttons and other controls.
@li The dialog makes assumptions about the sizer hierarchy, for example to show or hide
    children of the top-level sizer. However, the original sizer hierarchy will still hold
    until Show or ShowModal is called.

You can help make sure that your dialogs will continue to function after
adaptation by:

@li avoiding the above situations and assumptions;
@li using wxStdDialogButtonSizer;
@li only making assumptions about hierarchy immediately after the dialog is created;
@li using an intermediate sizer under the main sizer, a @false top-level sizer that
    can be relied on to exist for the purposes of manipulating child sizers and windows;
@li overriding wxDialog::GetContentWindow to return a book control if your dialog implements
    pages: wxWidgets will then only make the pages scrollable.


@subsection overview_dialog_propertysheet wxPropertySheetDialog and wxWizard

Adaptation for wxPropertySheetDialog is always done by simply making the pages
scrollable, since wxDialog::GetContentWindow returns the dialog's book control
and this is handled by the standard layout adapter.

wxWizard uses its own CanDoLayoutAdaptation and DoLayoutAdaptation functions
rather than the global adapter: again, only the wizard pages are made
scrollable.

*/