Missing Combo Box -- Why?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Fay Kalyus
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Fay Kalyus

I prepared a Delphi program for a client that uses an extremely standardized
set of forms. None of my other clients have had a problem with them, but
this particular client says that a combo box is missing on one of the forms.

The form in question is generated dynamically, because I have to open
several instances of it -- it's a file browser. The combo box lets the user
select a line width. You can see precisely the same user interface in my
freeware "text filter" program TextHarvest
(http://members.aol.com/getmydata/pc-sample.htm). Hundreds (maybe
thousands) of people have used that program without difficulty. Yet when
this client installs TextHarvest, lo and behold, the combo box is missing
from that, too.

The client is running Windows XP. Upgrading to SP2 did not fix the problem.

Does this problem ring any bells?

- Timothy Campbell
www.tc123.com
 
DL said:
Are you saying it works OK on other winxp installations, or that it doesnt
work on winxp?
Click to expand...

Is he using Large Fonts? I have had instances of the GUI misbehaving
when using Large Fonts (dialogs, etc.are cut off).

Just a wild guess here...
 
DL said:
Are you saying it works OK on other winxp installations, or that it doesnt
work on winxp?
Click to expand...

It works on every version of Windows you can think of -- just not this
client's installation, and she's tried it on two of her computers, before
and after installing SP2.

I invite anybody to try out my freeware text file culling utility
TextHarvest to see if they can reproduce the problem. The link is:

http://members.aol.com/getmydata/pc-sample.htm

(Even if you don't duplicate the problem, at least you get a useful
utility.)

The missing combo box should appear in the lower-left corner of the file
browser.

- Timothy Campbell
www.tc123.com
 
V Green said:
Is he using Large Fonts? I have had instances of the GUI misbehaving
when using Large Fonts (dialogs, etc.are cut off).
Click to expand...

She doesn't sound like somebody who does a lot of tweaking, but I will ask
her about that.

I know of the problem you are mentioning. I hate "Large Fonts". But when
they are used, everything tends to get messed up, not just one control.

I'm not optimistic that this is the answer, but at least it's a lead.
Thanks for suggesting it.

- Timothy Campbell
www.tc123.com
 
Woo-hoo! You're a genius, V Green! I managed to duplicate the problem
myself by turning on "Large Fonts".

The user didn't report any other missing controls, I would assume, because
she didn't know they were there!

I think you've nailed it! Many thanks!

- Timothy Campbell
www.tc123.com
 
Fay Kalyus said:
Woo-hoo! You're a genius, V Green! I managed to duplicate the problem
myself by turning on "Large Fonts".

The user didn't report any other missing controls, I would assume, because
she didn't know they were there!

I think you've nailed it! Many thanks!

- Timothy Campbell
www.tc123.com
Click to expand...

please, no "genius" here, just another poor MS user
battling stupid GUI wierdness that I can't program
around either.

Learned this the hard way programming in VB years ago,
I now query system metrics on app startup and "suggest"
that things may not run as they should unless the user stops
using large fonts.

I guess that this means that there's STILL stuff hard coded into
the OS and/or runtimes for whatever development environment
you're using that assume that nobody uses Large Fonts.

How stupid is that...
 
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