Creating Mac dialog box in fullscreen SDL app

SDL Development
1

Hello,

I’ve got a game running on MacOSX using SDL. I have created the option to
play the game in windowed and fullscreen modes. I’m also using Carbon to
create an open file dialog. The dialog works fine in windowed mode but is
completely hidden (or non-existant) in fullscreen mode.

My questions are these: should I be creating dialog boxes via an SDL library
(and which library is the best for this) or is this strictly a Mac/Carbon
problem?

I assume that somebody must have tackled this issue before. I just need to
know the best way to create Mac dialog boxes in a fullscreen SDL app. Any
help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan

2

Michael Ryan Bannon wrote:

I’ve got a game running on MacOSX using SDL. I have created the option to
play the game in windowed and fullscreen modes. I’m also using Carbon to
create an open file dialog. The dialog works fine in windowed mode but is
completely hidden (or non-existant) in fullscreen mode.

My questions are these: should I be creating dialog boxes via an SDL library
(and which library is the best for this) or is this strictly a Mac/Carbon
problem?

What I do in this situation is just going to windowed mode before
showing the dialog and returning to fullscreen afterwards. Not very
elegant, but it works. I’m not sure if it’s possible to show other
windows on top of a fullscreen OpenGL context - you’d have to check
Apple’s documentation about this.

-Christian

3

I imagine there has to be a way. I’ve seen some of the libraries in the SDL
archive…I might try one of those. There has to be a way. But, yeah, like
you said…going to windowed mode isn’t very elegant. I don’t think my
client will want that solution. If I find a good solution I’ll post.

Thanks,

Ryan

“Christian Walther” wrote in message
news:e6p2vm$lh7$1 at sea.gmane.org…> Michael Ryan Bannon wrote:

I’ve got a game running on MacOSX using SDL. I have created the option
to
play the game in windowed and fullscreen modes. I’m also using Carbon to
create an open file dialog. The dialog works fine in windowed mode but
is
completely hidden (or non-existant) in fullscreen mode.

My questions are these: should I be creating dialog boxes via an SDL
library
(and which library is the best for this) or is this strictly a Mac/Carbon
problem?

What I do in this situation is just going to windowed mode before
showing the dialog and returning to fullscreen afterwards. Not very
elegant, but it works. I’m not sure if it’s possible to show other
windows on top of a fullscreen OpenGL context - you’d have to check
Apple’s documentation about this.

-Christian

4

Here’s a followup…more Mac related than SDL.

Apparently, Mac doesn’t allow windowed dialogs while in fullscreen mode.
When a display is captured for fullscreen use the window server gives up
control of that display. So it would be impossible to create a window in
fullscreen mode.

So I’m told…

Ryan

“Michael Ryan Bannon” <ryan.bannon at humagade.com> wrote in message
news:e6kiuo$150$1 at sea.gmane.org…> Hello,

I’ve got a game running on MacOSX using SDL. I have created the option to
play the game in windowed and fullscreen modes. I’m also using Carbon to
create an open file dialog. The dialog works fine in windowed mode but is
completely hidden (or non-existant) in fullscreen mode.

My questions are these: should I be creating dialog boxes via an SDL
library (and which library is the best for this) or is this strictly a
Mac/Carbon problem?

I assume that somebody must have tackled this issue before. I just need
to know the best way to create Mac dialog boxes in a fullscreen SDL app.
Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ryan