Windows Standalone Too Big for the screen

[trailboss]

I have a splash screen that connects to some stacks but in my STANDALONE in Windows, the screen and the stacks are too big for the screen. What do I put in my stacks and splash screen to make them properly viewable on a Windows machine as a standalone? Will Linux be a problem too?
Thanks...
https://www.tomhascallcole.com/windows% ... il%202.jpg
https://www.tomhascallcole.com/windows% ... il%201.jpg

[richmond62]

Presumably when you developed your thing you set it to a specific window size, and the machine running Windows you subsequently tried it out on has a smaller screen resolution.

Will Linux be a problem too?

This has got NOTHING to do with which operating system your standalone is running on, and EVERYTHING to do with the scale of your screen resolution.

I do my development on computers with very large screen resolutions (I am typing this on something with 5120 x 2880 pixels).

MOST of my day-to-day work is meant to be displayed on 1024 x 768 pixel monitors (with computers running a type of Linux) in my EFL school: so I make sure that all my stacks conform to 1024 x 768 pixels even though I develop them on a "socking great monster".

[trailboss]

Thanks for answering so soon.

What code can I write in the stacks that will insure they'll run on most (or all) machines without this problem?
Tom

[richmond62]

I don't think you need to write any code at all: but what you do need to do is work out the minimum screen resolution of the computers you are targeting, and set the size of your stacks to that size (including taking into account space for 'screen furniture' such as menu bars and taskbars).

[dunbarx]

Wouldn't setting the rect of the card window to the screenRect do the job?

Craig

[stam]

Wouldn't setting the rect of the card window to the screenRect do the job?

Craig

I suspect @trailboss may be alluding to the layout on the screen - I mean on windows the 'maximise window' button essentially does this for you.
But it doesn't change the layout. I suspect what the OP is really asking about is a responsive layout.

I know you know all of the below well Craig, but I'm including a high level summary for the benefit of @trailboss.

There are a few ways to adapt your app to varying screen sizes - some more complex than others.
If the aim is to stick to the same scale of objects, one can use the on stackResize handler to reposition/resize objects. This is complex and arduous, especially if you have no experience doing this.

The Geometry manager kinda works and does the same thing quicker but is quirky and if an error occurs it can scatter the objects to the 4 corners of the globe, so would only recommend this if the developer already had experience in how to manage this. As for the responsiveLayout external - I personally cannot recommend this at present, it's problematic and has so little documentation as to be unusable, for me anyway.

Perhaps the simplest way to make your app fit a smaller screen is to adjust the the scaleFactor of the stack to a smaller value, eg 0.7 (the default is 1). This enlarges or shrinks the stack proportionally (the scaleFactor can be set in code or using the stack's property inspector - it's in the first panel 'basic')
One could look at checking size compared to the screenRect in the on resizeStack handler and adjusting the scaleFactor accordingly or have some other scheme to automatically magnify/shrink the stack as needed.

Personally I usually use some combination of stackResize handler and the Geometry manager. I always start by defining the smallest possible size required by the stack and then set the min width/height in the stack's properties to these - in general it's easier to grow things proportionally than squeezing them into a small card where things may begin to overlap. I then implement in various ways how objects on the card will resize and/or reposition. In this, it's useful to group objects to minimise the about of work needed (i.e. move a group of controls instead of each individually).

If creating a busy app, this will take up a large chunk of time and code. The way around this (and I'll admit I've done this some apps where it's been usable and time has been critical) is to change the scaleFactor of the stack and not bother with resizing/repositioning controls.

HTH
Stam

[dunbarx]

@Stam.

I use "scaleFactor". Works like a charm, almost magically. In one case, I create CAD-like drawings from whole cloth for my company, and made a slider control to adjust the size on the fly in order to fit nicely into a fixed template. The look and feel of each drawing is different, and it is subjective how closely that drawing should fit into he template.

@Trailboss. Try this.

Craig

[trailboss]

Scalefactor seems great. Just makes a smaller-sized stack, pictures and everything. Thank you very much one and all.
Trailboss