PRB:CFormView/Dialogs Sized Larger Under Win32s/WinNT 3.50

 Last reviewed: July 10, 1997
Article ID: Q157142
2.00 2.10 2.20 4.00 4.10 WINDOWS NT kbprg kbtool kbprb

The information in this article applies to:

  • The Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC), included with: Microsoft Visual C++, 32-bit Edition, 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, 4.0, 4.1

SYMPTOMS

CFormViews and Dialogs will appear larger when running under Win32s or versions of Windows NT earlier than 3.51. This can cause problems if the dialog template was sized so it would fit on a screen in 640x480 resolution or if special sizing was done.

CAUSE

Win32s and versions of Windows NT before 3.51 used bold fonts for dialogs. Because dialog templates are designed in dialog units, and dialog units are based on the average font size, this will cause the dialogs to be resized.

WORKAROUND

The easiest workaround is to create two dialog templates; one sized for Windows 95 and Windows NT 3.51 or later, and one sized for Win32s and Windows NT version 3.5 or earlier. All of the controls on the two dialog templates should have the same ID so they can be used interchangeably with the same CFormView or CDialog class.

The sample code below demonstrates this workaround with a default Visual C++ 4.x AppWizard-created CFormView derived class.

STATUS

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION

The font is automatically changed to bold inside the Windows dialog manager under Win32s and Windows NT version 3.5 and it is not possible to change this behavior. Furthermore, it is not possible to specify a bold version of a font or to use the same font on all platforms because the font is specified only by its typeface name in the dialog template.

It is easy to change the font inside the dialog or CFormView after it is displayed by calling CWnd::SetFont(). However, this will not resize the dialog because it is sized based on the font specified in the dialog template.

While it's possible to resize the dialog in the OnInitDialog(), all of the controls will also need to be resized. This can be tedious and slow if there are a lot of controls in the dialog template.

The following steps show the changes necessary to use multiple dialog templates in a Visual C++ 4.x AppWizard-created project.

Sample Code

  1. Add a static member variable in the CFormView or Dialog to hold the template that is used: 

       //////////////////////////////////////////
   // CFormViewView.h

   class CFormViewView : public CFormView
   {

       /// .... Standard code omitted

   public:
       //{{AFX_DATA(CFormtestView)
       enum{ IDD = IDD_FORMVIEW_REGULAR };
           // NOTE: the ClassWizard will add data members here
       //}}AFX_DATA
       static int m_nIDD; //The ID for the dialog template that is used

   // Attributes
   public:

       /// .... Standard code omitted

   };

  2. Initialize the static member variable, and change the constructor of the CFormView derived class to use it: 

       ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   //
   // CFormViewView.CPP

   //construction/destruction

   //Set the default dialog template to IDD_FORMVIEW_REGULAR
   int CFormViewView::m_nIDD = IDD_FORMVIEW_REGULAR;

   CFormViewView::CFormViewView()
       : CFormView(m_nIDD) //Use the static member variable for the
                           // template
   {

       /// .... Standard code omitted

   }

  3. Before any CFormViews/Dialogs are created, check the version, and use the appropriate template: 

       ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
   ///
   // CFormViewApp.CPP

   BOOL CFormViewApp::InitInstance()
   {
       /// .... Standard code omitted

      //Check version
      OSVERSIONINFO osvi;
      memset(&osvi, 0, sizeof(OSVERSIONINFO));
      osvi.dwOSVersionInfoSize = sizeof (OSVERSIONINFO);
      GetVersionEx (&osvi);

      //Set alternative template based on platform
      if ((osvi.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32s) ||
          ((osvi.dwPlatformId == VER_PLATFORM_WIN32_NT) &&
           (osvi.dwMajorVersion == 3) && (osvi.dwMinorVersion < 51)))
         CFormtestView::m_nIDD = IDD_FORMVIEW_BOLD;

       // Dispatch commands specified on the command line
       if (!ProcessShellCommand(cmdInfo))
           return FALSE;

       return TRUE;
   }

KBCategory: kbprg kbtool kbprb
KBSubcategory: MfcUI
Additional reference words: 2.00 2.10 2.20 4.00 4.10 W32s kbdsd
Keywords : MfcUI kbprb kbprg kbtool
Technology : kbMfc
Version : 2.00 2.10 2.20 4.00 4.10
Platform : NT WINDOWS

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Last reviewed: July 10, 1997
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