>You should be able to accomplish the same thing with some jQuery UI magic, which can simulate a modal dialog. IMO, it's even better because it doesn't replace an existing panel. For example, I just clicked Search from the UT toolbar. The search dialog replaced the message list. How do I get back to the message list now? What if there are messages I want still want to read? Time Warp? Not very intuitive. But the "modal" dialog works well.
For the search issue, you may click on Search #2. This is why it was created. It will bring the search into the transactional frame. Thus, it will not overwrite your reading of new messages.
As far as jQuery or any other magic, I try to remain with .NET and javascript (based one). My experience shows me that when you go too far with components or things that we are dependant are, this is when it becomes too difficult to migrate later on. After having done two major frameworks over the years, I have realized the downsize effect of being to dependant on proprietary technology. This is one reason why I build pretty much everything on my own, such as the FTP class, the MHTML class, the outlook reading, Excel export, etc. A good example of that was the use of PHDBase in VFP. Have we been in trouble when Jim Korenthal was no longer able to continue its support? I had to wait for a while before switching the backend in order to assure that I would have benefited from native full text indexing instead of relying on a 3rd party component. Jim did a fantastic job however with that tool. IMHO, on all those I used in VFP, it was the best one.
Talking about 3rd party component, when it comes to that, it is because the technology being used is not capable of handling it. A good example of that, and I am not too happy about that, is the non SFTP/SSH protocol in .NET. It is not even sure if .NET 5.0 will support it. This is highly complicated and we have to use a tool to benefit from that support in our application. I wish the client would have kept its first idea of using a more regular FTP secure protocol. But, it is what it is.
