Resizable or fixed application?

[doctorjellybean]

I have seen some applications which can't be resized, no maximized option. Some of them are so small, especially on my widescreen that it is a pain in trying to read everything.

This made me wonder what is accepted as good design. On the one hand a fixed size means everything displays the way it is designed. The flipside of the coin is that the user's screen resolution might be smaller than the designed parameters.

If I want to design an application to be fixed, what sort of dimensions are reasonably safe? 800 x 600? Or should I design it to be resizeable?

 

[DelphiAaron]

i would recomend a minimum size of 1024x768.

most people by now would have 1280x1024 but best to play it safe.

plus a 1024x768 window running on a 1280x1024 display looks ok.

Aaron

 

[Griffyn]

Most people I know use 800x600 - this is the default size for WinXP. Older people also prefer lower resolution to aid readability.

It depends on your application. If it were a tool for programmers, then feel free to use a big window. Otherwise I'd try to use something resizable.

 

[Duoas]

Listen, whether we like it or not we must decide based upon which part of the population we can tolerate being unable to use our program.

Browser Display Statistics

You might as well plug that "Unknown" column on the right into the 640x480 column. That's 5..6% of the population.

Surely you are aware that Delphi forms are designed to be automatically scalable?

Hope this helps.

 

[doctorjellybean]

Duoas (Programmer)
Surely you are aware that Delphi forms are designed to be automatically scalable?

I've heard this before, but really never went into it. I've just did a quick Google, and can't seem to find anything. I know I can adjust the form itself by using the Align property, but it is all the controls on the form(s) itself which have to adjust too which worries me.

 

[Griffyn]

Investigate the user of the Align and Anchors properties. Have a play and see how they work when resizing a form. To keep groups of controls together, use a TPanel control. Use TSplitter between TPanels to allow the user to size portions of the form to their liking (ie, for a vertical info bar or something).

Everything can be set up at design time, and is a fundamental of good form design.

 

[doctorjellybean]

Thanks Griffyn!

I think it'll be safe to design it at 800x600 minimum and then it can be resized upwards. I found a nice 3rd party component (ResizeKit) which scales all the components on the form accordingly. Pity there is no freeware equivalent.

 

[doctorjellybean]

Do I design the application in a 800x600 screen resolution, or design it at 800x600 in my current resolution(1680x1050)?

Running D2007 at 800x600 is not a nice sight

 

[Duoas]

Pity there is no freeware equivalent.

You don't need 3rd party components. Just change the PixelsPerInch property to something appropriate. I believe you can get the current ppi from Windows using GetSystemMetrics().

Hope this helps.

 

[Duoas]

You might find this website to be of use:

http://delphi.about.com/od/standards/a/aa030700a.htm

 

[doctorjellybean]

Thanks Duoas

In that article, there is one item which I find impossible to do in D2007.

Set the form's Position property to something other than poDesigned.

As far as I can tell, one can't move the form at design time.

I should be adding my old CRT monitor as a second display this week, which I will set at 800x600 so I can see what it looks like.

 

[Duoas]

The Position property is listed in the Object Inspector (in the default layout, it is the lower-left window). Just select one of the other things, like poScreenCenter or the like.

If you do want to use the silly poDesigned you can position your window. In the lower-right corner of the Form Editor window you'll see a couple of little boxes. Click it.

The problem with using poDesigned is that not only the form's position but its size will always be automatically set to whatever you designed it when created, ruining the effects of the automatic scaling.

Hope this helps.