Form Size when targetting other machines.

[Chris Dunaway]

I have been tasked with creating an application that will be run on a
PC with an LCD touch screen at a resolution of 1280x1024.

Unfortunately, the development machine given to me only goes up to
1024x768 . The IDE will not allow me to set the form's size higher
than the resolution of my machine.

I have requested new video hardware, but we're a fairly large company
and I don't know if my request will be granted.

How can I develop for larger screen sizes? I know I can design it at
1024x768 and try to change the size in code, but this makes the design
process tedious.

Is there anything that can be done? Why did Microsoft impose this
limit?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Earl]

Instead of asking why Microsoft imposed this limit, I would be asking why
your company imposed the limits it did on you. While I'm no Microsoft
apologist, I think it's retarded for anyone to ask an employee to do a job
without providing them with the proper tools. Such is the hazard of working
for "fairly large companies" that have morons in charge.

 

[Chris Dunaway]

And, unfortunately, I am a "small cog" in the machine. I guess the
main reason is budgetary. With a large company with so many
developers, it is not necessarily cost effective to keep everyone in
the "latest and greatest" hardware. I was pretty surprised that they
allowed us to use VS2005 since this is primarily a COBOL/MAINFRAME
evnironment!

Anyway, it looks like I may get a better monitor anyway because there
is another project for which someone needs it.

I still think the IDE should allow you to develop for larger monitor
sizes even if you can't run them.

 

[amal]

i suppose you could do ur best with the Anchor and such properties,
if handled properly with the help of frames, they would resize properly
at higher resolutions,
but it sure depends on the form that you want to build.
Hope you get the display ASAP

 

[Roger]

As the parent poster said, design your form so that the controls are
sized dynamically. The Anchor properties are one way of doing this.
Personally, I prefer to use the DockStyle property. By using lots of
Panel objects and docking them appropriately, you can create an
interface that will look correct at any size (within reason).

If your main problem is just how to get the form that large at startup,
you can set the WindowState property to Maximized.

If you really need the larger resolution in order to fit all of the
required controls, you're going to need a bigger monitor. But I would
argue that very few user interfaces should ever be that large; if you
need more space, consider using tab pages or a Wizard-style dialog to
put things on multiple pages.

- Roger

 

[Chris Dunaway]

Well, the app will use an LCD touch screen at that resolution and there
will only be one form.

It looks as though I will get a new monitor after all.

Thanks for all the suggestions

 

[Nick Hounsome]

Well, the app will use an LCD touch screen at that resolution and there
will only be one form.

It looks as though I will get a new monitor after all.

Thanks for all the suggestions

What you specified is not a resolution anyway.

The resolution depends on the actual physical size of the screen as well as
the number of pixels and is roughly the size of a pixel.

This is not just being pedantic - a finger is not measured in pixels but in
centimetres or imches - to make a usable touch screen app you will need to
design it to have buttons that are the correct size so you not only need a
monitor with the right number of pixels - it should be the same size as the
target too.

P.S. high resolution is overkill for a touch screen unless you are planning
on showing photos.

 

[Brian Smith]

If your program is only to be run on a 1280x1024 screen then its
essential you test it in exactly that configuration. In general, windows
forms apps will look perfectly OK on any screen resolution, but there
are exceptions depending on the controls you use, font sizes etc..

As a general point, developing on a 1024 screen is taking meanness to a
new level - many professional developers use dual monitors these days.
Certainly the VS IDE needs a decent amount of screen space to work
effectively. You spend all day looking at the damn thing - tell your
employer to buy you a new 20" monitor and a decent video card. It'll pay
for itself in productivity.

brian smith

 

[Otis Mukinfus]

If your program is only to be run on a 1280x1024 screen then its
essential you test it in exactly that configuration. In general, windows
forms apps will look perfectly OK on any screen resolution, but there
are exceptions depending on the controls you use, font sizes etc..

As a general point, developing on a 1024 screen is taking meanness to a
new level - many professional developers use dual monitors these days.
Certainly the VS IDE needs a decent amount of screen space to work
effectively. You spend all day looking at the damn thing - tell your
employer to buy you a new 20" monitor and a decent video card. It'll pay
for itself in productivity.

brian smith

[snip]
Exactly!

Otis Mukinfus
http://www.arltex.com
http://www.tomchilders.com