August 16, 2001 - The Dialog Box's Syntax | WebReference

August 16, 2001 - The Dialog Box's Syntax

Yehuda Shiran August 16, 2001
The Dialog Box' Syntax
Tips: August 2001

Yehuda Shiran, Ph.D.
Doc JavaScript

The syntax of showModalDialog() is as follows:

vReturnValue = window.showModalDialog(sURL [, vFreeArgument] [, sOrnaments]);
The syntax of showModelessDialog() is identical:

vReturnValue = window.showModelessDialog(sURL [, vFreeArgument] [, sOrnaments]);
Here is a brief summary of the arguments:

vReturnValue. The function showModalDialog() returns the value of the returnValue property as set by the opened dialog window. The function showModelessDialog() returns the new window object.
  • vFreeArgument. You can use this optional parameter to pass a value of any type to the open dialog box. You can pass a scalar, a string, an array of values, an object, etc. You access this value in the new window by referring to the dialogArguments property of the new window object. You can access the dialogArguments property of the new window object, only when you call showModalDialog() or showModelessDialog() from a "trusted" application.
  • sOrnaments. You can use this optional parameter to specify the look of the new window. There are a dozen ornaments you can control. You need to concatenate the window's properties you want to alter in one string, separating them with semicolons. The dozen window's attributes are:
    dialogHeight: sHeight
  • dialogLeft: sXpos
  • dialogTop: sYpos
  • dialogWidth: sWidth
  • center: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • dialogHide: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • edge: ( sunken | raised )
  • help: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • resizable: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • scroll: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • status: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off )
  • unadorned: ( yes | no | 1 | 0 | on | off ) You can also add CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) attributes to the sOrnaments variable.