Dialog Boxes

Sometimes an application needs to be able to drag from inside a dialog box. For example, in the Calendar Appointment Editor, there are a series of text fields on the left side where the user enters information about an appointment. Allowing drags from this area lets the user drag text from the appointment description.

Figure 3-8 Example Calendar Appointment Editor dialog box

The recommended method for indicating that something can be dragged is to include an icon graphic in the dialog box. The icon graphic should be dragable. This icon graphic must be the same icon used to represent the data in File Manager. In Calendar, the appointment icon is shown just as it would appear in File Manager (see Figure 3-8), with a label under it. This is the same icon used in the drag icon source indicator.

Place the icon graphic in the dialog box adjacent to the information to be dragged. The upper right corner of the dialog box or window is the default position, but it can be changed depending on the application. In Calendar Appointment Editor, the icon is placed near the main text field to indicate that you can drag the text fields.