Dialog
Use the Dialog command to create a custom dialog for user input in a procedure. Custom dialogs control how a procedure is run by prompting the user for input and selections. Where possible, place dialogs at the beginning of a procedure so that remaining procedure steps can proceed unattended.
Before you use the Dialog command or the Dialog Builder, you need to plan your procedure and have a firm understanding of your analysis and files. You may want to consider the following questions before you start:
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What do I want the procedure to do? |
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Do I need custom dialogs for this procedure? |
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Where and how can custom dialogs increase usability and functionality? |
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What information will the custom dialogs collect? |
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Where and how will the collected information be used? |
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What are the possible errors that the procedure may encounter and how will I handle them? |
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Will I be the only one to run this procedure or will other people run it without my assistance? |
Take a few moments to think about your objectives and determine what you want the dialogs within your procedure to do. An excellent approach is to sketch out the flow of the procedure before you start to build it. This allows you to concentrate first on the functionality of the procedure and then on the user interface.
For more information, see Procedure Overview and Interactive Procedures.