I can only say that MY user experience with web apps that TRIED to do the kind of stuff you describe has been a HORRIBLE experience of broken web apps and cross-browser incompatibility and bad UI design that didn't let me do what I needed to do. On Tue, December 18, 2007 11:25 pm, Andrés Robinet wrote: >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Richard Lynch [mailto:ceo@xxxxxxxxx] >> Sent: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 11:57 PM >> To: Hiep Nguyen >> Cc: php-general@xxxxxxxxxxxxx >> Subject: Re: control browser with <a href> tag >> >> >> >> On Tue, December 18, 2007 12:23 pm, Hiep Nguyen wrote: >> > hi friends, >> > >> > i have two pages: list.php and update.php >> > >> > list.php will have a hyper link that when click on, it will open a >> new >> > window for user to update info. once user clicks update button on >> > update.php page, i want to close update.php and return to >> list.php. >> > however if user doesn't click update button, i don't want user to >> go >> > back to list.php. in other word, freeze up list.php until user >> closes >> > or clicks update button on update.php. >> > >> > is this possible to do with php? >> >> It's not even possible with a browser and HTTP, whether PHP is in >> the >> picture or not... >> >> You're describing a desktop application behaviour. >> >> Stop doing that; You'll just make yourself and your users miserable. >> >> Write a web application. It's different. >> >> Don't popup a new window unless you absolutely have to. If I want a >> new window, I'll use right-click and do it myself. >> >> Don't try to "freeze" up the list (you can't anyway) cuz I might >> want >> to look at other things in the list to decide how to correctly >> update >> the original anyway. >> >> -- >> Some people have a "gift" link here. >> Know what I want? >> I want you to buy a CD from some indie artist. >> http://cdbaby.com/from/lynch >> Yeah, I get a buck. So? >> >> -- > > I agree on the point that you should not try to achieve the behavior > "with > PHP alone", for the rest of it... I disagree. > Why do users have to rethink application behavior? Sure, the web > environment > is different, there is a clear barrier between client and server... > but what > do "end users" have to do with all of that? Moreover, why we, > developers, > have to rethink UI and application design when we switch from desktop > to the > web? > > I think we shouldn't... it's only the "legacy stuff" we had to > tolerate year > after year, once the web became a massive thing. But now things are > evolving, do things like Web 2.0, Ajax, Adobe Air, Mono, Silverlight, > and > the .Net Framework sound familiar to you (yes, the last two are > created by > the crappy M$ that we all know)? Because as far as I can see, an > effort is > been made everywhere to shorten the desktop-web distance. > Why is CSS, XML and JavaScript so popular these days? We hated them > some > years ago, didn't we? They help to shorten the distance now, don't > they? > > Yes, browsers are a mess to deal with, but they are not as much of a > mess as > they where some time ago, and we have some good abstraction layers > such as > PrototypeJS, JQuery and Mootools; and... at least we have now IE 7, > which is > a big step forward for M$ (despite being buggy as EVERY BROWSER IS), > and > Firefox and Opera... or are you going to tell me you still use HTML 3, > PHP > 3, MySQL 2 and put "This site looks better in Firefox, Get Firefox > Now!" > buttons in your websites? > > Have you tried ExtJS or the Yahoo UI?... Why is everyone using this > "geeky" > stuff?. I believe we should take the desktop-web distance as a > "temporary > fact" that can be fixed to some extent, and keep that in mind... but > THAT'S > ALL. We must also be prepared for evolution, listen to the trends, and > try a > bit with the "new kids on the block"...because evolution will happen, > and > we'll either be in or out of the "standard"... because the standard > will > change. > > All the above sh_t said to Richard (just an opinion, hope you don't > take it > wrong), this last paragraph is for the original user. I would search > in a > JavaScript forum for a way to "mask" the existing contents, open a > DHTML > window on top with a form in it, validate the form (maybe Ajax, maybe > only > JavaScript, it depends on what you need to validate) and then if it > passes > the test remove the mask and return to the old contents. Otherwise, > for a > straightforward solution, that makes use of this "mask thing" give a > try to > the form components in ExtJS (if you feel like you can handle > JavaScript > very well... of course). If you don't find your way... then you are > not > ready and you'd probably better off by creating two pages, so you make > the > user move from one to the other and back again... so unless the user > fills > in the correct data, you don't display the original form again, but > the > "data input" form every time. A last resort, may involve using a > regular > "pop-up" window, but the only way to make it "truly modal" is in IE > for the > PC (I think). > > Happy coding > (and read more, so you'll ask better questions ;)) > > Rob > > P.S. You'll see no links in this email... but you can use google to > find the > resources > > -- > PHP General Mailing List (http://www.php.net/) > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > -- Some people have a "gift" link here. Know what I want? I want you to buy a CD from some indie artist. http://cdbaby.com/from/lynch Yeah, I get a buck. 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