In the application I’m working on, I’ve been trying to use the SaveFileDialog and OpenFileDialog for their customary purpose (saving and opening files.)
However, the application can’t support modal forms/dialogs without crashing because too many time-sensitive things happen on the thread that owns the UI.
Rewriting the application to move those features off the UI-owning thread is not practical in the immediate term. To finish the feature I’ve been working on, I need a substitute for the two file dialogs, preferably a control that can live on a non-modal form.
Is there anything out there I can use that won’t block my UI-owning thread?
The only existing option I know of is Dialog Workshop.NET, a commercial product. They have a set of dialogs that have the option of being modeless (or embedded directly into a windows form instead of a separate window).
However, I’d really think about trying to move your time sensitive logic into a separate thread, instead. Having a modeless dialog will potentially confuse users, since it will not behave the way a file dialog is supposed to behave. There are also other potential consequences to having a non-blockable UI.