Multiple-document interface: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:02, 2 June 2020

Revision as of 00:18, 11 November 2021

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[[Image:Some X windows.svg|thumb|An example of a multiple -document interface layout]]

A '''multiple-document interface''' ('''MDI''') is a [[graphical user interface]] in which multiple windows reside under a single parent window. Such systems often allow child windows to embed other windows inside them as well, creating complex [[Hierarchy#Nested hierarchy|nested hierarchies]]. This contrasts with '''single-document interfaces''' ('''SDI''') where all windows are independent of each other.

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===Disadvantages===

* Without an MDI frame window, floating toolbars from one application can clutter the workspace of other applications, potentially confusing users with the jumble of interfaces.

* Can be tricky to implement on desktops using multiple monitors as the parent window may need to span two or more monitors, hiding sections.

* [[Virtual desktop]]s cannot be spanned by children of the MDI. However, in some cases, this is solveable by initiating another parent window; this is the case in [[Opera (web browser)|Opera]] and [[Google Chrome|Chrome]], for example, which allows tabs/child windows to be dragged outside of the parent window to start their own parent window. In other cases, each child window is also a parent window, forming a new, "virtual" MDI [https://web.archive.org/web/20110818050252/http://hypotext.webs.com/web1.htm].

* MDI can make it more difficult to work with several applications at once, by restricting the ways in which windows from multiple applications can be arranged together without obscuring each other.

* The shared menu might change, which may cause confusion to some users. <!-- But if this is a common problem, why is it not a problem on OS X, where the menu bar is shared by ''all'' applications? Can someone actually cite studies on this subject? ( I agree to this comment --~~~~ ) -->

* MDI child windows behave differently from those in [[single -document interface]] applications, requiring users to learn two subtly different windowing concepts. Similarly, the MDI parent window behaves like the desktop in many respects, but has enough differences to confuse some users.

* Deeply nested, branching hierarchies of child windows can be confusing.

* Many window managers have built-in support for manipulating groups of separate windows, which is typically more flexible than MDI in that windows can be grouped and ungrouped arbitrarily. A typical policy is to group automatically windows that belong to the same application. This arguably makes MDI redundant by providing a solution to the same problem.

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==Application examples==

* [[Adobe Acrobat]]: MDI until version 7.0 ([[Microsoft Windows|Windows]]-only); SDI default in 8.0 (configurable to MDI); SDI only in 9.0; MDI (with a tabbed interface) in version 2015.

* [[Corel Wordperfect]]: MDI. A user can open multiple instances of WP with a single document in each, if they have multiple versions of WordPerfect installed on their computer. Recent versions maintain a list of open documents for a given window on the status bar at the bottom of the window, providing a variant of the TDI.

* [[EmEditor]]: Options for either SDI or MDI.

* [[GIMP]]: SDI with floating windows (MDI is available as an option called "Single-Window Mode" since version 2.8 [http://www.gimp.org/release-notes/gimp-2.8.html]).

* [[GIMPshop]]: A [[fork (software development)|fork]] of GIMP aiming to be more like Adobe Photoshop. The [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] version has limited MDI.[https://web.archive.org/web/20050717005118/http://blog.yumdap.net/archives/20-GIMPshop-for-Windows.html]

* [[Google Chrome|Chrome]]: Combination of MDI and TDI.

* [[Internet Explorer 6]]: a typical SDI application

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* [[Visual Studio|Visual Studio 6]] development environment: a typical modern MDI

* [[mIRC]]: MDI by default, can also work on SDI mode

* [[Adobe Photoshop]]: MDI under MS Windows. In newer versions, toolbars can move outside the frame window. Child windows can be outside the frame unless they are minimized or maximized.

<!---

===Classic examples===

This is a list of examples from back in the days of [[Windows 95]], and [[Windows 3.x]]

* [[Program Manager]]

* [[File Manager (Windows)|File Manager]]

<ref>d</ref>--->

==IDE-style interface==

Graphical computer applications with an '''[[Integrated development environment|IDE]]-style interface''' (IDE) are those whose child windows reside under a single parent window (usually with the exception of [[modal window]]s). An IDE-style interface is distinguishable from the Multiple -Document Interface (MDI), because all child windows in an IDE-style interface are enhanced with added functionality not ordinarily available in MDI applications. Because of this, IDE-style applications can be considered a functional superset and descendant of MDI applications.

Graphical computer applications with an '''[[Integrated development environment|IDE]]-style interface''' (IDE) are those whose child windows reside under a single parent window (usually with the exception of [[modal window]]s). An IDE-style interface is distinguishable from the Multiple Document Interface (MDI), because all child windows in an IDE-style interface are enhanced with added functionality not ordinarily available in MDI applications. Because of this, IDE-style applications can be considered a functional superset and descendant of MDI applications.

Examples of enhanced child-window functionality include:

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* [[Microsoft Excel]] when in MDI mode (see above).

== Macintosh ==

Mac OSMacOS and its GUI are document-centric instead of window-centric or application-centric. Every document window is an object with which the user can work. The menu bar changes to reflect whatever application the front window belongs to. Application windows can be hidden and manipulated as a group, and the user may switch between applications (i.e., groups of windows) or between individual windows, automatically hiding [[Palette window|palettes]], and most programs will stay running even with no open windows. Indeed, prior to [[Mac OS X]], it was purposely impossible to interleave windows from multiple applications.

In spite of this, some unusual applications breaking the [[human interface guidelines]] (most notably [[Photoshop]]) do exhibit different behavior.

==See also==

* [[Graphical user interface]]

* [[Comparison of document interfaces]]

* [[Tabbed document interface]]

* [[Tiling window manager]]

* [[Integrated development environment]]

==External links==