The 65% sizing with 96dpi display setting is almost illegible
Customizing the dialog appearance
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Adjusting the size of dialog elements
Adjusting the size of dialog elements
Different monitor resolutions and settings in Windows, different monitor sizes, different eye sights and personal preferences make it difficult to develop dialog-oriented applications having optimum appearances under all of these various circumstances. Windows' resizing support does not apply to such dialogs; increasing the size of the dialog window alone does not suffice, the sizes of controls (buttons, boxes, etc.) don't change by resizing.The following special key combinations have to be entered by pressing and releasing one of the particular keys while holding down the left-side Alt key; either the standard or the extended (right-side) part of the keyboard can be used to request a function.
| Increasing the size: | Alt+ |
| Decreasing the size: | Alt- |
The standard width of the main dialog window is 665 pixel with the "normal" display setting, which is 96dpi.
If the display setting is "large", 120dpi, then the same window is 758 pixel wide and with 144dpi
(this is a "custom" setting, it corresponds a 150% magnification) this window is 945 pixel wide.
Note, that these settings have nothing to do with the monitor resolution.
The 945 pixel wide window may appear smaller on a high-resolution monitor, than the 665 pixel wide
window on a low-resolution monitor.
The main dialog window captures in the on-line tutorial and later in this chapter are 617 pixel wide; this is the size with 144dpi display setting when the CryptoBola JPEG dialog size is decreased to 65%.
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The 65% sizing with 96dpi display setting is almost illegible |
| the 144dpi display setting more than makes up for the 50% sizing: this window is still small, but legible |
| this is the result of sizing 90% with display setting 96dpi |
The font sizes will be adjusted together with the size of dialog components. However, this adjustment may not be ideal under all circumstances, so it too can be adjusted by the user.
| Increasing the font height: | Alt up-arrow |
| Decreasing the font height: | Alt down-arrow |
| Increasing the font weight: | Alt* |
| Decreasing the font weight: | Alt/ |
Changing the font height is virtually unlimited; it can be increased so much that the texts do not fit on the buttons, and decreased until it becomes illegible. The font weight (boldness or thickness) has three or four different settings, depending on the font size.
Examples of different font size and weight settings (all windows with 80% sizing and 144dpi display setting):
| this is a relative large but light font, just fitting on the buttons |
| here the window and control sizes are the same, now with a bold font, slightly smaller than above to fit the bold letters on the buttons |
The size and weight adjustments can be done only in the main dialog, and they effect the main dialog as well as the edit- and the passphrase-dialoges.
Independently of the above options, the rich edit dialog can be resized any time by simply dragging a side or a corner of the dialog box. This effects only the size of the edit window, not the buttons and texts.
At the end of the dialog all the above settings will be recorded in Windows Registry; next time these settings will be immediately applied.
Selecting color schemes
Windows offers some options to change the appearance of dialogs, but that is not really much. Although this is less than critical for working, CryptoBola JPEG offers a set of color- and pattern-combinations (color schemes) for the dialog components. One can "step through" these schemes and stop at the most appealing.| Applying the next color scheme: | Alt right-arrow |
| Applying the previous color scheme: | Alt left-arrow |
The color scheme can be selected separately for the main dialog as well as for the subdialogs (passphrase, edit/view).
Reverting to the initial settings is possible from the main dialog:
| Resetting all options to the standard: | Alt Home |
At end of the dialog all the above settings will be recorded in Windows Registry;
these settings will be applied when the program gets started next time.
Here are a few examples for the color schemes:
| Note that the coloration in the edit box is the result of the rich text format, not of the color scheme |
Home Modified: 2005-03-28