Screen Resolution 1

[VBApprentice]

What is the preferred screen resolution to design VB forms at? I want to be able to run my application on the variety of resolutions available. And how do I handle those computers that display at a higher resolution than my forms are designed at?

 

[CodeFish]

Hi VBApprentice,

This is a popular question in many forums - on different web sites.

Most views I have come across, including my own say you should set a minimum spec for your software which includes the screen resolution.

You should design your forms for 600x800 resolution. Machines which don't have this resolution and will have problems with fitting the form on the screen will be 480x600. They should be told that they should change their screen resolution manually.

Higher resolutions like 1024x760 will display you form within view but it will obviously be smaller.

You can change the screen resolution via code (which I could post if you wish) but this can in some cases disrupt the machine, be incompatiable with the graphics card or cause inconvience to the user. Even if you change the resolution back to what it was may not do it properly.

Regards,

Codefish

 

[BBaggins]

I'd guess that at least 10% of the Windows users out there are still running 640x480 on 14" monitors. Sad, but true.

Unless your program needs large forms, you may not want to write of those (millions of) potential users.

If possible, design your forms for VGA resolution to maximize your potential user base. If you just can't do what you need to do in 640x480, then it's reasonable to set a minimum requirement of 800x600 -- if you think your users will want your application badly enough to upgrade their hardware if necessary.

 

[chiph]

I've seen 800x600 as a minimum in some other forums.

What I've done to prevent myself from building forms that are too big is create a monochrome bitmap with boxes at 640x480 and 800x600. I then set that as my desktop bitmap and run VB in SDI mode (Tools | Options | Advanced)

Chip H.

 

[petermeachem]

Chip, you are a clever lad. That's really simple. It's obvious when you think of it. Peter Meachem
peter@accuflight.com