I am develping this application and unable to decide how the end product 
should be designed taking into account different screen resolutions the 
users will using.  

Using 800 x 600 kills the appearance of my application.  1024 x 768 is 
what works best and the forms look very good.  

What is the general rule when designing and application and one has to 
make a decision on screen resolution ?  How should I make the decision as 
to what screen resolution to base my final product on.  Can I desing for 
more than one screen resolution ?

Also if possible can someone write me a routine that will check the users 
computer and inform them to use 1024 x 768 if their screen resolution is 
less.

I could display a form with this info each time the application starts but 
I would prefer not to do it that way

There is software already developed that permits your forms to be viewed
in different screen resolutions.  The one I use and I found to be the
most comprehensive is ShrinkerStretcher by Peter De Baets.  You can
download a demo at http://www.peterssoftware.com/ss.htm.

I develop in 800x600 because I find that most clients like that
resolution.  Even with using ShrinkerStretcher I develop in 800x600.

If you have a lot of information being displayed in 1024x768 but does
not work in 800x600, you might want to look at using the Tab Control to
break the data up into more maneagable (pleasing to the eye) pieces.

John V. Ruff - The Eternal Optimist :-)
Always Looking For Contract Opportunities

www.noclassroom.com
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    and your plans will succeed."  Proverbs 16:3





-----Original Message-----
From: Howard Stone [mailto:ququmber@h...] 
Sent: Sunday, August 25, 2002 7:02 PM
To: Access
Subject: [access] screen resolution


I am develping this application and unable to decide how the end product

should be designed taking into account different screen resolutions the 
users will using.  

Using 800 x 600 kills the appearance of my application.  1024 x 768 is 
what works best and the forms look very good.  

What is the general rule when designing and application and one has to 
make a decision on screen resolution ?  How should I make the decision
as 
to what screen resolution to base my final product on.  Can I desing for

more than one screen resolution ?

Also if possible can someone write me a routine that will check the
users 
computer and inform them to use 1024 x 768 if their screen resolution is

less.

I could display a form with this info each time the application starts
but 
I would prefer not to do it that way

<< I develop in 800x600 because I find that most clients like that
resolution.  Even with using ShrinkerStretcher I develop in 800x600.

If you have a lot of information being displayed in 1024x768 but does
not work in 800x600, you might want to look at using the Tab Control to
break the data up into more maneagable (pleasing to the eye) pieces. >>

I agree with John.  One of things that I don't like about our IT people's 
habits is the tendency to "overfill" a screen with too much.  They 
generally put too many fields, buttons, controls on a screen and make the 
fonts 8 pt., 10 if we're lucky.  Tab controls is an excellent idea.

Making your screen resolution 800x600 as default forces you to keep the 
forms as simple as possible.  Also, keep the font sizes large enough to 
read.  With every incarnation of Windows, font sizes seem to be 
shrinking.  I'm constantly increasing the defaults to prevent myself from 
squinting at the monitor.  I prefer 10 pt., 12 for titles/headers.

Keep your color schemes simple and mostly neutral.  Color is a great tool 
to highlight something that needs attention, but don't make the forms look 
like a clown exploded.  :)   Also, if you're programming something for a 
large crowd, be aware of red/green colorblindness issues.

Greg