#202 – An Example of Modal/Modeless Dialogs

You can see an example of both modal and modeless dialogs if you run the Windows Notepad application.

After starting the Notepad application, enter some text and then bring up the Find dialog using Edit | Find.  You’ll notice that you can switch back and forth between the Find dialog and the main Notepad window.  The Find dialog is a modeless dialog, since you can still interact with the main application.

Now close the Find dialog and open the Print dialog using File | Print.  While the Print dialog is open, you’ll notice that you can no longer interact with the main Notepad window.  The Print dialog is a modal dialog.