DPI Bug: I use a 1920x1200 monitor with the display set at 139 DPI. Nearly all applications work fine with this, but there's a small problem with 2X that is almost certainly caused by this DPI setting. In the Options dialog, the OK and Cancel buttons cannot be clicked on with the mouse. In the first two tabs (General and Window), there are widgets at the bottom of the dialog which are overlayed by the OK and Cancel buttons. I'm able to work around this by using the keyboard Tab to move from one widget to the next, and hitting spacebar on the OK button to press it.
Question about tab names: Is there a way to turn off the "@ C:\" in the tab names? Between the window title and having six tabs open, the UI is very cluttered with "@ C:\", and it is surprisingly distracting. I only have one drive partition, so it is also very unnecessary.
Thanks for the great product. I've been looking for a better file browser for a long time, and hopefully after a bit more evaluation time I'll make the switch to 2X.
DPI bug, question about tab names
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johnallengreen
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- Location: Abbotsford, BC, Canada
i take it you are talking about xplorer2 not 2x(explorer)
i've heard a few people talking about this option dialog problem. I thought it was fixed... and certainly i can't reproduce it
(i assume you are using the latest version 1.4)
anyway the workaround is to use <enter> key (or <esc> to cancel). You don't need to move the focus to the ok button, just click anywhere that doesn't accept key input, e.g. any checkbox
there's no way to eliminate @ C from tab names
i've heard a few people talking about this option dialog problem. I thought it was fixed... and certainly i can't reproduce it
(i assume you are using the latest version 1.4)
anyway the workaround is to use <enter> key (or <esc> to cancel). You don't need to move the focus to the ok button, just click anywhere that doesn't accept key input, e.g. any checkbox
there's no way to eliminate @ C from tab names
FWIW - I cannot reproduce that either (when I set 1920x1200 resolution on my viewsonic monitor). The dialogbox buttons are fine for me & I see no anomalies. (xplorer2 v 1.4.0.1 on win XP sp2)
btw - check your main font setting (on Tools | Options | Window tab)
You should be using a 'modern' font like Tahoma.
PS - dpi should have no bearing, as it is related to physical screen size only and does not play into what the image processor does to manipulate the relative dot position of layered items on the screen.
btw - check your main font setting (on Tools | Options | Window tab)
You should be using a 'modern' font like Tahoma.
PS - dpi should have no bearing, as it is related to physical screen size only and does not play into what the image processor does to manipulate the relative dot position of layered items on the screen.
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johnallengreen
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- Location: Abbotsford, BC, Canada
DPI
Hi, from my experience (lots) the screen resolution has nothing to do with widgets not ending up where you expect them - it's DPI and Windows font settings that cause problems.
I didn't change the font, it's the application default. I double checked it anyway, and yes, it's using Tahoma.
I've seen widget position rendering problems due to DPI settings with various graphical libraries, including Delphi and Progress (a 4GL). I haven't seen any .Net applications with problems. Using a "layout" rather than hard-coded X and Y coordinates tends to work better too, for example, widgets rendered in Eclipse by SWT work great at any DPI. I don't know what GUI library Explorer2 is written with, but I imagine that whatever it is, there's a workaround for this sort of problem.
On XP, you find your DPI settings here: Control Panel -> Display -> Settings -> Advanced -> General.
With regard to getting rid of "@ C:\", can I submit that as a request for making it configurable?
I didn't change the font, it's the application default. I double checked it anyway, and yes, it's using Tahoma.
I've seen widget position rendering problems due to DPI settings with various graphical libraries, including Delphi and Progress (a 4GL). I haven't seen any .Net applications with problems. Using a "layout" rather than hard-coded X and Y coordinates tends to work better too, for example, widgets rendered in Eclipse by SWT work great at any DPI. I don't know what GUI library Explorer2 is written with, but I imagine that whatever it is, there's a workaround for this sort of problem.
On XP, you find your DPI settings here: Control Panel -> Display -> Settings -> Advanced -> General.
With regard to getting rid of "@ C:\", can I submit that as a request for making it configurable?
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johnallengreen
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- Location: Abbotsford, BC, Canada
DPI testing PS
PS: You need to reboot after changing DPI. Although some of the visuals change immediately after you make the change, Windows and most applications don't fully change all of the widget, fond, and layouts to suit the new DPI until after a reboot.
If I get a chance I'll temporarily change my DPI back down to a Windows XP default, and see if the problem goes away. I'll let you know.
If I get a chance I'll temporarily change my DPI back down to a Windows XP default, and see if the problem goes away. I'll let you know.
Thanks, johnallengreen, for pointing out that DPI is something that can matter.
Because the name and its action didn't make sense to me, I did some investigation.
I had the mistaken idea (as a hardware engineer) that the DPI setting should control the Dots per Inch resolution of the display -- which it does not. In fact it works backwards.
Silly me -- this is a software concept / virtual reality, where DPI is a scale factor merely named "Dots per Inch". It controls the rendering scale of fonts, such that the physically displayed font size will match its 'named' point size correctly (as if printed on paper) when the DPI 'setting' matches the physical dots-per-inch of the monitor you are using. As such it works opposite to my intuition: a higher DPI settings makes fonts bigger on the screen; whereas a higher dots-per-inch screen resolution makes everything smaller on the screen.
So I learned something new today, and have now set up my screens for higher resolution to better appreciate my new digiphoto hobby, and improved the readability of my fonts at the same physical size.
(Except on web sites which have text displayed as pictures, or otherwise not scalable -- like most of this BBS content
)
PS: Even with my new high screen resolution and compensating DPI setting, I still see no problems with the x2 options menu & buttons.
And as I am sure you must have the latest display drivers for your graphics card & monitor, that wouldn't be the issue here.
Because the name and its action didn't make sense to me, I did some investigation.
I had the mistaken idea (as a hardware engineer) that the DPI setting should control the Dots per Inch resolution of the display -- which it does not. In fact it works backwards.
Silly me -- this is a software concept / virtual reality, where DPI is a scale factor merely named "Dots per Inch". It controls the rendering scale of fonts, such that the physically displayed font size will match its 'named' point size correctly (as if printed on paper) when the DPI 'setting' matches the physical dots-per-inch of the monitor you are using. As such it works opposite to my intuition: a higher DPI settings makes fonts bigger on the screen; whereas a higher dots-per-inch screen resolution makes everything smaller on the screen.
So I learned something new today, and have now set up my screens for higher resolution to better appreciate my new digiphoto hobby, and improved the readability of my fonts at the same physical size.
(Except on web sites which have text displayed as pictures, or otherwise not scalable -- like most of this BBS content
) PS: Even with my new high screen resolution and compensating DPI setting, I still see no problems with the x2 options menu & buttons.
And as I am sure you must have the latest display drivers for your graphics card & monitor, that wouldn't be the issue here.
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johnallengreen
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- Joined: 2006 Jan 04, 20:07
- Location: Abbotsford, BC, Canada
Changing DPI does have an impact
Hi,
I just tried changing my DPI setting to XP "Normal" (96 DPI) and rebooted, and the problem went away. Changing back to my "custom" setting of 139 DPI (and rebooting) and the problem came back as before.
I sure wish I knew what the difference was, or how I could help y'all reproduce the error.
I had a look at my "Appearance" settings (colors, fonts, and font sizes). I'm not doing anything unusual there - I'm just using a default XP theme. (Font settings can have an impact in widget layouts in some old GUI libraries. I'm not sure if they have an impact on modern ones - my experience with writing GUIs is getting stale.)
Yes, the DPI setting can be a wonderful thing. It's great to take advantage of the full resolution capabilities of your monitor and graphics card, but still be able to see icons and read the text. It's a shame that Microsoft has that little gem so hidden away. Most people don't seem to know about it. I suspect that they historically kept it hidden away precisely for the same reason as our current discussion - some applications don't quite handle it perfectly.
Firefox works pretty well with a higher DPI - and there's a setting right in Firefox for picking it's own DPI setting, so that pages and fonts render with something comfortable for your eyes. In Opera (my choice) there are nice hot keys (9 and 0) for scaling entire pages (images and fonts) up and down. It mostly works good, but there's always the odd web page that gets a little messed up.
I just tried changing my DPI setting to XP "Normal" (96 DPI) and rebooted, and the problem went away. Changing back to my "custom" setting of 139 DPI (and rebooting) and the problem came back as before.
I sure wish I knew what the difference was, or how I could help y'all reproduce the error.
I had a look at my "Appearance" settings (colors, fonts, and font sizes). I'm not doing anything unusual there - I'm just using a default XP theme. (Font settings can have an impact in widget layouts in some old GUI libraries. I'm not sure if they have an impact on modern ones - my experience with writing GUIs is getting stale.)
Yes, the DPI setting can be a wonderful thing. It's great to take advantage of the full resolution capabilities of your monitor and graphics card, but still be able to see icons and read the text. It's a shame that Microsoft has that little gem so hidden away. Most people don't seem to know about it. I suspect that they historically kept it hidden away precisely for the same reason as our current discussion - some applications don't quite handle it perfectly.
Firefox works pretty well with a higher DPI - and there's a setting right in Firefox for picking it's own DPI setting, so that pages and fonts render with something comfortable for your eyes. In Opera (my choice) there are nice hot keys (9 and 0) for scaling entire pages (images and fonts) up and down. It mostly works good, but there's always the odd web page that gets a little messed up.
Issue confirmed here:
With DPI set to 139, OK and Cancel overlay the "Item in zip/FTP" area, and are not clickable. My default DPI is 120: no issue there.
OS: Win XP Pro SP2
Video adapter: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor: NEC MultiSync LCD1970NX (1280x1024)
I can post a screenshot, if it helps.
Note: I have seen similar issues with some other apps even at 120 DPI -- none of these apps was really valuable to me, so I did not bother to report the issue or try to find a fix.
Greetings,
Demetris
With DPI set to 139, OK and Cancel overlay the "Item in zip/FTP" area, and are not clickable. My default DPI is 120: no issue there.
OS: Win XP Pro SP2
Video adapter: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor: NEC MultiSync LCD1970NX (1280x1024)
I can post a screenshot, if it helps.
Note: I have seen similar issues with some other apps even at 120 DPI -- none of these apps was really valuable to me, so I did not bother to report the issue or try to find a fix.
Greetings,
Demetris
Yep!nikos wrote:is that monitor of the "laptop" variety?
i mean those flat ones that only work best in the resolution (pixels) they were designed for
BTW, LCD monitors also work well with submultiple values (e.g. 640x512 for 1280x1024). For all other resolutions that are not "native" they use interpolation, hence the degradation in quality.
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johnallengreen
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- Location: Abbotsford, BC, Canada
If it is just a matter of widget layout not having room, you can always use a resource hacker application to resize all of the windows & dialogs. I know with ResHacker I resized mine and removed some of the dialog that I didn't want. Plus it gives you a real time example of what it will look like so you will not have to do trieal and error.