Creating a Dialog Box

To run the Dialog Editor, select Dialog Editor from the Development Tools folder. The main window appears, displaying the menu bar choices File, Edit, Control, Arrange, Options, and Help. On line help that tells you how to use the editor is available on most Dialog Editor windows.

To create a new dialog box, start with either of the following methods:

• Select New Dialog from the Edit menu. The editor opens new files with the extensions .RES and .DLG. This also opens a new include file.
  
• Select New from the File menu. This opens new files with the extensions .RES and .DLG. You can open a new include file or an existing one.

When you edit a dialog box, the names of the resource and include files are shown in the title bar of the Dialog Editor. If you are editing a new file that has not yet been named or saved, (Untitled) appears in the title bar in place of a name. If (Untitled) appears in the title bar in place of a name, there are unsaved changes.

The Dialog Box ID field appears in the status area. A default integer number is supplied in the entry field. Type a symbolic identifier for the dialog box, such as MYDIALOG. Tab to the integer field and type the integer number. Press Enter to place them both in the include file.

The new dialog box appears in the lower-left corner of the editor screen enclosed by a border. The border contains eight small squares called drag handles, which allow you to change the width and height of the selected item. This indicates that the dialog box is selected for editing. If you are creating a new dialog box, the dialog is automatically selected; at all other times, before you edit the dialog box or a control, you must click on it to select it.

To continue creating the new dialog box, follow these steps:

• Make the dialog box larger by clicking on one of its drag handles with the left mouse button and dragging until the box is the size you want it to be. This can be done in one operation by clicking on the upper-right corner of the border and dragging diagonally upwards and to the right.

  Information about the item you are editing is displayed in the Selected Item Status box in the left half of the status area. As you move the shadow box, the x-y-coordinates change. These are the coordinates of the origin of the dialog box relative to the origin of the window. The cx-cy-coordinates are the width and height of the dialog box. The symbolic identifier is also shown.

• Select Styles from the Edit menu. The Dialog Box Styles pop-up window appears.

• Click on the text entry field in the status area, and then type the dialog box title (for instance, Sample dialog box) into the field.

• Press Enter and the title appears at the top of your dialog box.

You can reposition the entire dialog box by moving the pointer inside the top area enclosed by the border, holding the left mouse button down, and dragging the shadow box across the screen. When the shadow box is in the position where you want the dialog box to appear, release the mouse button. The dialog box appears in that position. Alternatively, you can move the dialog box using the keyboard arrow keys. You can reposition the dialog box at any time during the edit.