Screen resolution & sizing

[[email protected]]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

G Gabriel - Mike C,

Thanks to both of you for your thoughts.

G Gabriel...I really like your thinking on this. What you appear to be saying is that I can add your script to the On Activate event ---not for every form--- but once within the autoexec event. This would create a universal fix without having to redefine all my forms, nor maintain all those additional forms in the future.

An added benefit is that even if I had to add this script to each form's On Activate event, that wouldn't be any trouble to implement because your script seems to be generic in nature. Thus, I'm thinking that I could simply 'cut and paste' it to every form. If I read the script correctly, you're fetching the screen specs in the first line and then applying those specs to the form...whatever form it is.

I sure hope this works. It would save me a lot of time and trouble. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure that I could release an app for general distribution that could not accommodate variable screen specs.

Anyway, I'll give it a shot later in the week and let you know how it goes.

Thanks again,
Tom

[G Gabriel]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

If I read the script correctly, you're fetching the screen specs in the first line and then applying those specs to the form...whatever form it is.

Correct.
Now there is one downside to this:
If you already have some other scripts in the OnActivate event of a form, it will be overwritten (not permanently).
To get around that, you could first read those events then attach mine at the end. I will modify this function to do that..later..

[[email protected]]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

G Gabriel,

I found some spare time and tested your script in my autoexec file in the Code area. I already had a script there, so I put yours behind it. Other than a minor syntax error (right paren on the next to last line) it did not produce an error.

However, I tested the script by changing my screen resolution from 1280x1024 to 1024x768, leaving the text size at Medium (in Windows 7). I was hoping that your script would put the form in the center of the screen but it did not do that. In fact, it didn't seem to have any impact on the form at all and so, when I went to the larger res (10x7), the form got larger and traveled to the southeast corner of the screen and about 10% of the form was chopped off.

I must have done something wrong, but I can't figure it out. All I really want the script to do is put all forms in the center of the stage. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tom

[G Gabriel]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

The script is not meant to center the form but rather resize it according to the screen resolution.
The forms are anchored at the top left of the screen. So, when you change the size,
the right lower corner will moves to Florida, or New Jersey depending on which way the wind is blowing
and which way you tell it to go. But if you wish to move Seattle further inland, you can add few more
lines to my script to adjust the left & top dimensions of the form. And leave the fonts alone.

[[email protected]]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

I'm thinking that you mean I would make a list of all the possible screen resolutions and then test each one noting where I want the x and y coordinates to line up with the upper left hand corner of the form is concerned and then make x and y statements on your scripts for each one? Is that correct?

Is it possible to have a generic "center" command embedded in the autoexec as Mike was talking about earlier?

[G Gabriel]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

I'm thinking that you mean I would make a list of all the possible screen resolutions

Not.
Here is the idea:
1-First you measure the screen resolution whether the user is using a standard,
a custom resolution and whether the user is you or someone in Tanzania. It doesn't matter.

2-Now that you have the screen resolution, we will translate that into inches. Let's say we
come up with 24x12 inch.
3-Now we will size the form down to say 20x10 or whatever size you think is suitable.
The form size is relative to the screen size. So in a smaller screen, the size will be less.
4-To center the form, we will adjust the left margin to half the difference between the screen
size and the form size. So in this case, if the screen size is 24 wide and the form size is 20 inch
wide, we will make the left margin for the form 2 inch. Do the same thing for the height, half the difference.
So in my script you need to add few more lines to adjust the left margin and the top.

Is it possible to have a generic "center" command embedded in the autoexec as Mike was talking about earlier?

From the looks of it, the script runs when you open each form, i.e. you can add that to a script that opens the form.
of each form. I don't think you could do that in v8 (mass update in autoexec) but can speak to v10. In the end, the script won't be much different.

[G Gabriel]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

So, it will be something like this:

Function Form_Resize as V()
v_DPI=ui_info(4)
x=int((ui_info(0)-10)/v_DPI)
y=int((ui_info(1)-10)/v_DPI)
'Let's say we want the formsize to be 80% of the screen
L=x*.4
T=y*.4
lst=a5_form_enum()
for each foo in lst
eval(foo+".code.OnActivate") = eval("SYS_ID_RESIZE("+foo+","+x+","+y+")"
eval(foo+".left"=L
eval(foo+".top"=T
next
End Function

[G Gabriel]

Re: Screen resolution & sizing

Look into:
<FORM>.WINDOW_POSITION()
It might do exactly what you want with a lot less trouble.
You could incorporate it in the initial UDF.

[[email protected]]

Re: Screen resolution &amp; sizing

I will look into the window_position() function. That sounds a lot closer to something that I could master.

A friend suggested I look at the examples within Alpha Sports and notice how the screens within are anchored. He also suggested that I don't maximize the forms and see what happens with that.

I'll check into all of these suggestions on Wednesday.

Thanks again for all your help.

Tom

[[email protected]]

Re: Screen resolution &amp; sizing

Just so everyone knows, the only really clean way to resolve this issue is to simply change the borders of the background and set the form as close to the northwest corner as you can. As lower screen resolutions are introduced, the form moves towards the southeast corner, proportionally to the screen specs. However, a screen would have to fall below 800x600 res to fall off the screen and I can't imagine anyone actually still using a 640x480 res. If there is someone out there using that, I'll just have to pass on the sale.

I'll move all my forms (again), but this is the only way that I can see making the app usable for all screen resolutions and keeping it stable so I don't have to add a lot of backgtound code.

[Al Buchholz]

Re: Screen resolution &amp; sizing

Just so everyone knows, the only really clean way to resolve this issue is to simply change the borders of the background and set the form as close to the northwest corner as you can. As lower screen resolutions are introduced, the form moves towards the southeast corner, proportionally to the screen specs. However, a screen would have to fall below 800x600 res to fall off the screen and I can't imagine anyone actually still using a 640x480 res. If there is someone out there using that, I'll just have to pass on the sale.

I'll move all my forms (again), but this is the only way that I can see making the app usable for all screen resolutions and keeping it stable so I don't have to add a lot of backgtound code.

film at 11?

[SMARTII]

Re: Screen resolution &amp; sizing

Don't pass on that sale!
Tell them that 1280x1024 style flatscreen Monitor will "Greatly Reduce the Carbon Footprint".
Everything marketed today "reduces carbon footprint". Whether it works as advertised is beside the point.
Toliet paper is the latest. And it's shaded Green!
The first time I see a reduced carbon Tampon ad, the Go-Green TV goes Thru the Low Carbon window!
Soon we will have negative Carbon & that which grows Green will turn brown. That which is brown will turn green.
Maybe Making the A5v9 Green icon was to symbolize "Reduced Carbon" Software?

Just so everyone knows, the only really clean way to resolve this issue is to simply change the borders of the background and set the form as close to the northwest corner as you can. As lower screen resolutions are introduced, the form moves towards the southeast corner, proportionally to the screen specs. However, a screen would have to fall below 800x600 res to fall off the screen and I can't imagine anyone actually still using a 640x480 res. If there is someone out there using that, I'll just have to pass on the sale.

I'll move all my forms (again), but this is the only way that I can see making the app usable for all screen resolutions and keeping it stable so I don't have to add a lot of backgtound code.