GUI problem

[softwaregeek]

hi all,
My current system resolution is 800*600 .I have designed a form(.frm) acc to this resolution. Now i have changed the resolution to 1024*768 and again run the vb appliction at that time my output get shrinked as i have changed the resolution. but ideally apllication should run in fine manner irrespective of resolution ...
so want solution for this..
Thanx...

[willakawill]

The buttons, font, form etc can be resized at run time. The question is why?
Why do you want them to 'look' bigger? Why is that 'ideal'?

[softwaregeek]

The buttons, font, form etc can be resized at run time. The question is why?
Why do you want them to 'look' bigger? Why is that 'ideal'?

thanx willakawill,
Thats fine that they all can be resized at run time but what i am saying ,your present resolution is something (let it 800*600) evrything works fine...now i install the same application on other pc where that pc's resolution is other than 800*600 ,so what will happen is the resolution is 1024*768 than everything got shrinked and if resolution is 640*480 than everything got larged.so i want to solve this problem.Now the solution that u suggested , in that how do i know weather i need to increase the component size or decrease it.

hope now the question is very clear...
thanx....

[willakawill]

This is not a problem though. This is normal for all apps. If you open this page in different resolutions it will appear bigger and smaller. Don't worry about it. It is not a problem, it is normal.

[softwaregeek]

This is not a problem though. This is normal for all apps. If you open this page in different resolutions it will appear bigger and smaller. Don't worry about it. It is not a problem, it is normal.

hello willakawill,
yes i know that its normal thing but i think you know very well what happen when resolution is set other than the one in which we designed the application.What happens if resolution is set to 1024*768 than as the output got shrinked all the form's controls bounded in half part of the form and rest of the form is blank and the form gets streched as we set its state to vbMaximized but the components are set to the absolute value (design time)
so this is what i want to resolve.

one solution i just got is set each controls height and width ,relative to form's height and width

example: text1.width=me.width*(%part of the form)

i.e if text box occupies 10% than set it accordingly

but the problem in this solution is that i have no of forms and no of controls on each form so its bit difficult for me to calculate

Thanx...

[willakawill]

I would set the form to not be resizeable and leave everything as it is unless you can come up with a very good reason why your user should be resizing the form.

[softwaregeek]

I would set the form to not be resizeable and leave everything as it is unless you can come up with a very good reason why your user should be resizing the form.

yet you dont understand the problem i think i explaining in bad way.

do this plz


set your system's resolution to 800*600

open the vb application.take a form
set its design time property
1)WindowState=2-Maximized
2)Scalemode=1-twip(default)

now take one textbox(textbox1)
set its design time property
left=0
top=0

now take one more textbox(textbox2)
left=10560
top=7920

now press F5 and mark the position of textbox2

now close the application and change your system resolution to 1024*768 and again open the application and press F5 and mark the position of textbox2 again

hope you got the problem

If this happen at client side than he/she will simply kick my s/w to recycle bin

so i want solution for this.

thanx...

[willakawill]

I understand the problem. Why are you setting the windowstate to maximised?

[softwaregeek]

I understand the problem. Why are you setting the windowstate to maximised?

Than what should i do?

[willakawill]

Than what should i do?

You should answer the question

[softwaregeek]

You should answer the question

if i dont set it to maximised than also the problem exists

[Killer42]

if i dont set it to maximised than also the problem exists

I remember some years ago seeing one or two "elastic" controls for use in VB. Their purpose was to do exactly what you want - resize your controls, either automatically or under your control.

Try some searching for VB elastic controls.

Hm...

Ahah! I knew I remembered answering this before. Have a look at this thread. Specifically, message #4.

[willakawill]

if i dont set it to maximised than also the problem exists

What problem exists?

[Killer42]

So Will, I take it you've never had a form you wanted to adjust depending on the screen size?

[willakawill]

So Will, I take it you've never had a form you wanted to adjust depending on the screen size?

I want to know why. Why do I want to adjust it depending on screen resolution?

[Killer42]

I want to know why. Why do I want to adjust it depending on screen resolution?

Well I'm no expert on user interfaces (actually I suck) but I do know that some forms just don't look any good when crammed into a smaller resolution screen, or stretched out on a larger one.

Of course, a lot of that goes back to when 14" monitors were for extreme power users, and a lot of stuff just wouldn't fit onto the screen to start with. Under those circumstances, a good professional-looking interface needs to adjust and fit more controls onto the form when the space is available. I'm sure there must still be other situations where people want to adjust things depending on screen size. For example, if you have a bunch of controls around the screen and the resolution increases, you might want them to stay the same apparent size, and just move further apart. Or add in further controls, like the toolbars in Office that squash items out to a pull-down menu when they won't fit on-screen.

(That reminds me - is there any way to tell the actual size of the monitor, rather than just the resolution?).

[softwaregeek]

Well I'm no expert on user interfaces (actually I suck) but I do know that some forms just don't look any good when crammed into a smaller resolution screen, or stretched out on a larger one.

Of course, a lot of that goes back to when 14" monitors were for extreme power users, and a lot of stuff just wouldn't fit onto the screen to start with. Under those circumstances, a good professional-looking interface needs to adjust and fit more controls onto the form when the space is available. I'm sure there must still be other situations where people want to adjust things depending on screen size. For example, if you have a bunch of controls around the screen and the resolution increases, you might want them to stay the same apparent size, and just move further apart. Or add in further controls, like the toolbars in Office that squash items out to a pull-down menu when they won't fit on-screen.

(That reminds me - is there any way to tell the actual size of the monitor, rather than just the resolution?).

yaKiller you caught the right nerve immediatly
and thanx for the solution and will thanx for your try also

[Killer42]

yaKiller you caught the right nerve immediatly
and thanx for the solution and will thanx for your try also

Yay, I win!! :D

Um... which particular solution?

[willakawill]

Yay, I win!! ;D

Um... which particular solution?

Dammit. You beat me again. I'll have to stop posting solutions. It's ruining my street cred.

And I have no idea what I would be resizing my form for. Either I designed it correctly or I didn't. I have never seen a form in any app, microsoft or otherwise, that resized the controls on a form. I have seen resizeable forms and they come from crappy software writers. Shifting controls because there is no room is not the same as resizing them. Can you name a successful commercial piece of software that resizes controls?

[softwaregeek]

Dammit. You beat me again. I'll have to stop posting solutions. It's ruining my street cred.

And I have no idea what I would be resizing my form for. Either I designed it correctly or I didn't. I have never seen a form in any app, microsoft or otherwise, that resized the controls on a form. I have seen resizeable forms and they come from crappy software writers. Shifting controls because there is no room is not the same as resizing them. Can you name a successful commercial piece of software that resizes controls?

to will ,
its really poor yet you are wandering for the problem

and what do u mean by crapy s/w writers?Where do u want to point ?

[willakawill]

to will ,
its really poor yet you are wandering for the problem

and what do u mean by crapy s/w writers?Where do u want to point ?

I have not seen your forms so I cannot be referring to your software. I have seen forms from other 'professionals' that are resizeable and look terrible. I have never seen a commercial app with resizeable controls. I am trying my best to steer you away from wasting your time. I have been doing this from the beginning. I kept asking 'why'. It makes no sense to me. I ask you just one more time. Please show me a piece of commercial software with resizeable controls.

[Killer42]

...Can you name a successful commercial piece of software that resizes controls?

Nope. :(

But I have had plenty of cases over the years where I wanted an answer to a specific question and all I could get was "why do you want to do that" or "you should do it a different way". I figure if the OP wanted advice on designing their user interface, they'd ask for it.

I'm not saying you shouldn't help in the way you see fit - it's just not my way. (At least today - tomorrow, who knows...)

As I said, this particular technique (elastic) probably went out of fashion as screens became large enough to fit things on. We used to have to squash things down as small as possible due to really horrible resolution. Then if you had room, you'd enlarge things or spread them apart to make them look better.

[willakawill]

Every week I have photography students asking for my 'advice' on some matter or other. What they really want is for me to agree with their point of view, to congratulate them on their planned purchase or whatever. They are, of course, asking the wrong person. I won't cheat someone just because they want me to. They can carry on cheating themselves as they always do and that is not my business.

If I think it is a stupid idea to spend time creating resizeable controls you can rest assured that I will make the point. I don't really care if the OP 'likes' the information or chokes on it. In the end I have to look in the mirror and decide what I want to risk today. You can be certain it will not be my integrity.

[Killer42]

Fair enough.

[softwaregeek]

Every week I have photography students asking for my 'advice' on some matter or other. What they really want is for me to agree with their point of view, to congratulate them on their planned purchase or whatever. They are, of course, asking the wrong person. I won't cheat someone just because they want me to. They can carry on cheating themselves as they always do and that is not my business.

If I think it is a stupid idea to spend time creating resizeable controls you can rest assured that I will make the point. I don't really care if the OP 'likes' the information or chokes on it. In the end I have to look in the mirror and decide what I want to risk today. You can be certain it will not be my integrity.

hey will ,
i didnt want to hurt you.sorry bro.but bYet no body got the problem. should i explaine it again with snap of a form??? and yes whats this 'OP'??

[willakawill]

You are the OP. (original poster)
Don't worry about me. I am not hurt or upset in the slightest. I just don't hold back when I make my point.

I want you to answer these 2 questions and only these 2 questions.
Tell me one piece of commercial software that has resizeable controls
Why should your app be different