Different Computers, Same Resolution, Same VI, Different Looking VIs

[CasonSwRI]

I am having trouble with my vi looking the way I want it to. It looks perfect on my dev computer but all the text and boxes are the wrong size on a few of my test computers. All computers are 1024x780 WinXP....

Whats going on?

Thanks

PS Crappy picture but, thats MSPaint for you.

[Will.D]

It looks as though it's the font size that's changed, not the size of the boxes...

[CasonSwRI]

The text fields look taller and the LEDs look bigger to me. But the font is definately the main problem.

[AnalogKid2DigitalMan]

The one on the left looks like XP skins, while the one on the right looks like 'classic' style. Could that the issue or a contributing factor?

[Will.D]

I dunno if the LEDs look bigger to me, but the text fields being taller I think is a consequence of the font size.

I looked through all the build properties and options, as well as VI Properties and haven't found anything that (I think) would cause that... I'm sure someone with more experience would know though.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

[CasonSwRI]

I tryed changing the Application and System Font to something all computers have (Assuming the default font might not be on the computer with the weird looking application). This did not seem to take affect and I still have the problem. The font changing in LV seems screwy to me.

[Will.D]

I know this is probably annoying, but try changing the font to something noticably different on the development machine, rebuild, and try it on the exe machine, and see if the change was scaled, or whether the font is the same size as it has always been.

[Donald]

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@CasonSwRI wrote:
I tryed changing the Application and System Font to something all computers have (Assuming the default font might not be on the computer with the weird looking application). This did not seem to take affect and I still have the problem. The font changing in LV seems screwy to me.

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It's late and my brain is closing down, but if it's a built executable that you're running on your "test computers", you could explicitly set the System font, App font etc in the exe's INI file.

Check out Mads' post here for an explanation better than I can write.

[rolfk]

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@CasonSwRI wrote:
I am having trouble with my vi looking the way I want it to. It looks perfect on my dev computer but all the text and boxes are the wrong size on a few of my test computers. All computers are 1024x780 WinXP....

Whats going on?

Thanks

PS Crappy picture but, thats MSPaint for you.

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This proplem is most often caused by different settings for the font in the display settings. Go to Display Properties->Appearence->Font Size. Here you can select Normal, Large and Extra Large. this setting will basically zoom every single font with a certain factor so that the font size you select in the application is not anymore correct. This setting typically is used for those (IMO stupid) settings where you have a enormous resolution on a device which is way to small for that resolution (such as 1500*1280 on a 15" screen). To allow text to be still readable Windows introduced this scaling factor to enlarge fonts.

Another location where fonts can be enlarged would be the settings for handicapped. While the principle works the same it is again a different setting in Windows which influences the font size of any and all applciations on that machine.

Apple in earlier days avoided this whole mess by having fixed size resolutions depending on the model of monitor attached to the computer. This was one reason why it was actually more suitable for DTP and other graphical applications although some people felt that Apple was limiting them in their free choice of how bad they wanted to look their applications on screen.

Rolf Kalbermatter

Message Edited by rolfk on 06-30-2005 02:53 AM

[Will.D]

To quote the LabVIEW Development Guidelines Manual...

"The actual font used for the three standard fonts (application, dialogue, and system) varies depending on the platform. For example, when working on Window, preferences and video driver settings affect the size of fonts. Text might appear larger or smaller on different systems, depending on these factors. To compensate for this, allow extra space for larger fonts and enable the Size to Text option on the shortcut menu. Use carriage returns to make multiline text instead of resizing the text frame.

To prevent labels from overlapping objects because of font changes on multiple platforms, allow extra space between controls. For example, if a label is to the left of an object, justify the label to the left and leave some space to the right of the text. If you center a label over or under an object, center the text of that label as well. Fonts are the least portable aspect of the front panel so always test them on all target platforms"

I know that's more or less already been said, but at least now you know what NI recommends doing about it... hope this helps,

Geoff