3.1.1 beta, patch 0, Mac OS X 10: Modal dialogs obscure help

[domo]

[Low priority.]

The situation shown in the attached screen shot, where requesting help from a modal dialog results in a help window that resolutely stays behind the dialog, is not ideal. Please put the help initially at the front, but allow the dialog to subsequently be brought back to the front. (The Mac OS X trope, which is no better, is that help should float annoyingly and irrevocably at the front, obscuring whatever it was you wanted help about.)

(Not new in beta: 3.0.2 behaves the same way.)

[pluby]

What you are seeing is actually normal behavior. Although not ideal, the only way to display the help window in front of a modal dialog is to make the help window also a modal dialog. The reason for this is that Mac OS X displays modal dialogs in front of all regular windows. So, to make the help window display in front of the current modal dialog, the help window would also have to be a modal dialog.

The problem with making the help window a modal dialog is that the help window in nearly all cases is significantly larger than any of NeoOffice's modal dialogs so if a modal help window appeared, the help window would block the entire modal dialog. Even worse, you could not input any data into the modal dialog until you closed the help window.

Because of the above problems with a modal help window, we display the help window as a regular window so that you can access the help by moving the modal dialog or resizing the help window. Also, since help is a regular window, you can navigate and input data into both the help window and the modal dialog.

I hope that helps explain why you see this behavior.

Patrick