Clicking "apply" before closing a dialog box

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Guest

I have a colleague who insists that you MUST select "apply" before closing
(OK, Save, Close...etc.) a dialog box when making changes. His stance is that
not "applying" first will/could cause problems.

My stance: The apply button is for the convenience of applying a change
without exiting the dialog box when you are not done with your options. You
can select Ok, Save, Close, whatever the case may be without "applying" first.

Opinions :)
 
You're correct.

"OK" saves the changes and exits the dialogue box

"Apply" just saves the changes (dialogue stays open so you can make further
changes if necessary) Apply makes the changes immediate eg change of
desktop wallpaper or Windows Theme.

"Cancel" Exits without applying/saving the changes.
 
I have a colleague who insists that you MUST select "apply" before closing
(OK, Save, Close...etc.) a dialog box when making changes. His stance is that
not "applying" first will/could cause problems.

My stance: The apply button is for the convenience of applying a change
without exiting the dialog box when you are not done with your options. You
can select Ok, Save, Close, whatever the case may be without "applying" first.

Opinions :)
Click to expand...

You're right.

I think the misconception that Apply must be clicked before OK came from an
old Win9x oddity and a few specific settings. Screensavers and customizing
sound schemes come to my mind but don't know how much I trust that
recollection since it's been a long time since I've used any Win9x systems.

Anyhow, in a few limited areas clicking OK sometimes but not always applied
preferences. Because of this, many folks got in the habit of clicking
Apply/OK for everything to avoid having to go back to reselect their
preferences.
 
Only "problem" from NOT selecting Apply is that no change occurs. Or put
another way, not applying lets you change your mind about making changes :)
As near as I can determine, selecting other buttons like OK, Cancel, etc. do
NOT make changes. (I do this whenever I make Display changes and don;t like
the preview, for example.)

Malv
 
CatherineDiane said:
I have a colleague who insists that you MUST select "apply" before
closing (OK, Save, Close...etc.) a dialog box when making changes.
His stance is that not "applying" first will/could cause problems.

My stance: The apply button is for the convenience of applying a
change without exiting the dialog box when you are not done with your
options. You can select Ok, Save, Close, whatever the case may be
without "applying" first.

Opinions :)
Click to expand...

Opinions don't matter: Your friend is wrong and you are right for 99% of
the circumstances, meaning things like "set" for virtual files and a couple
others.

Asking for opinions in this case is silly.
 
What's This? says the following...

OK: Closes the dialog box and saves any changes you have made.

Cancel: Closes the dialog box without saving any changes you have made.

Apply: Saves all the changes you have made without closing the dialog box.

The question mark [?] is your friend.
On the title bar of most dialog boxes in the upper right corner is a [?]
button. As there are in many other Windows items.

[[Help is available for each item in this group. Click ? at the top of the
dialog box, and then click the item you want information about.]]
Left click [?] and your cursor turns into a ?, click the item you want to
know about. This will display a help topic if there is one.

You can also right-click the item and then click the What's This? command.

You can also right click on the displayed help topic and select copy.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In
 
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:33:00 -0700 from CatherineDiane
I have a colleague who insists that you MUST select "apply" before closing
(OK, Save, Close...etc.) a dialog box when making changes. His stance is that
not "applying" first will/could cause problems.

My stance: The apply button is for the convenience of applying a change
without exiting the dialog box when you are not done with your options. You
can select Ok, Save, Close, whatever the case may be without "applying" first.

Opinions :)
Click to expand...

You're right; he's applying Cargo Cult thinking.
 
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