Modal Forms - Beginner Question

[webbiz]

I'm just learning to program in C# via VS2010.

I've added a menu strip and added a menu item (Load Data).

For Load Data, I want to open another form (DataLoad) that holds the focus till I'm done using it.

My understanding is that it needs to be MODAL so that if I click on the form that has the menu that called it that it will not switch focus over to it.

Here is my code:

private void loadDataToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
DataLoad frmLoadData = new DataLoad();
frmLoadData.Show(this);


}

When I run the program and then click on the menu Load Data, it brings up my DataLoad form as expected.
However, if I click on my main form (that contains the calling menu item) the focus switches back to it.

Not what I want.

Apparently adding "this" was not enough. Just can't find an answer to this.

Sorry if this is the most basic question ever.

TIA

 

[jmcilhinney]

By passing 'this' to Show you have actually made it a modeless dialogue rather than a modal dialogue. An example of a modeless dialogue is the VS Find & Replace window. A modeless dialogue will remain on top of its owner without preventing access to it. It will also be minimised, restored and closed when its owner is.

To create a modal dialogue, you need to call ShowDialog rather than Show. You can still pass the current form as the owner but there's not much point. It's important to realise that a form displayed with ShowDialog will not be disposed when closed while one displayed with Show will be. That means that you have to dispose a modal dialogue yourself, which you should usually do with a 'using' statement:

using (var dialogue = new DataLoad())
{
    dialogue.ShowDialog();
}

It's also worth noting that ShowDialog returns a DialogResult value, which is generally used to indicate what button the user clicked on the dialogue.

 

[webbiz]

Thank you jmcilhinney!

The .ShowDialog() did as prescribed.

Coming from the VB6 world, that particular method confused me.