A.  In Delphi 4 and 5 and C++Builder 4, you can use the components contraint properties to limit resizing.  Otherwise, GTSizer resizes ALL resizeable components on a form or none of the components on a form.  If you do not wish to allow the users to resize the controls you can disable the sizing feature for the form and all controls so that only the resolution independence is maintained.  (Set GTForm1.Enabled := False; in the OnActivate event of the GTForm).  Alternatively, you can set the form's border style to something other than sizeable.  It is possible to maintain a static font, though, by setting the Tag property of the component. (see "viewing more grids" below)

A.  Yes.  Use the IgnoreTag property of the GTSizer and the Tag property of the DBGrid.  The IgnoreFont property allows you to determine the value you wish the GTSizer to look for in the component's Tag property.  The GTSizer will not resize the font of any component where its Tag property contains the same value as the GTSizer's IgnoreFont property value.  For example, if you use the default value of 1 for IgnoreTag and set the DBGrid's Tag property to 1, the GTSizer will not resize the font, thus showing more columns and rows when the form is resized.  If you are already using the value 1 in the component's Tag property, you can change the default to any other value by entering the new value in the GTSizer's IgnoreTag property.

A.  No.  The Windows menu bar is governed only by Windows itself.  This is native WinAPI behavior--not Delphi.  Menu bars will be smaller at higher resolutions and larger at lower resolutions. This is also applicable to the form's title bar.

A.  No.  Icons and glyphs are static in size and were not designed as resizeable.  Because the GTSizer does not typically change the native behavior of components, it does not resize them.  Keep this in mind, since the speedbutton will resize.  Shrinking a form can cause the static glyph to cover or overlap the edges of the resized speedbutton and alter its three-dimensional look.

A.  Basically, it depends on how your program is written.  If what you are writing onto the canvas is not an object, it is erased when resized.  If what you are writing onto the canvas is an object (in other words, has a memory location or class declaration), it should resize.

When the GTSizer resizes the fonts (whether shrinking or expanding), its reference point is taken from the current font size.  If you change the font after a resize event, the next resize event will be based on the then current font size.  The GTSizer does not look for a specific font size but rather increments up and down--so if the font size is too large to begin with, it may continue to be too large--or vice versa.

A.  Yes.  The GTSizer resizes all native Delphi resizeable components as well as their fonts (unless specifically directed to ignore font resizing).  It ignores any non-visual components, since they are not resizeable.  Be aware that some components either have sizing limitations or may not be designed as a resizeable component.  It is best to use a TrueType font (i.e. Arial, Times New Roman), rather than Delphi's default (MS Sans Serif), because they have more point sizes and therefore have greater scaleability.

A.  There are several possible causes. The GTSizer takes a design time "snapshot" of the size and placement of each visual component so it knows how to adjust them at run time.  If components appear shrunk in the upper left corner of the form, it means the snapshot needs to be updated or changed. The two most common occurences are as follows:
 

The unit was open, but the form stayed closed: If you open the unit but not its associated form, Delphi may override the form sizes GTSizer stores.   To avoid this from happening, we recommend that you always open the form when you open its associated unit.  Alternatively, you could leave all units and forms open (if your project is small).  You could also make it a habit that before closing a form, set GTUpdate to true and close the associated unit as well as the form.

The form size is changed or components are added/deleted/moved:  When the developer increases the form's size and adds or moves components into the new form space, GTSizer needs to update its design time "snapshot".  Select the GTSizer's GTUpdate property from the object inspector, set it True, then click OK when GTSizer prompts it has updated. 

Using Visible Controls hidden from view: First, keep in mind that the GTSizer looks for the placement of ALL visual controls, whether you see them on your form at design time or not. Developers may have an errant control lurking on their form or may intentionally be hiding visible controls in the periphery.

For example, say you initially have a form size with a width of 600. You place an edit label at 550, but since you won’t use it until run time when you change the size of the form, you shrink the width of your form to 500. The control is now hidden in the form's periphery. The GTSizer knows that you have an edit label at 550 and will force the form size larger to accommodate it. So, do not mix visual and non-visual controls in the form’s periphery.

Position visual controls where you want them to appear on the form. You can then turn its visible property on or off. Or, if you want certain controls to appear at run time, try adding them dynamically, after the form has been opened--and be sure to use the GTSizer's DynamicControls method. If you’re unsure how to dynamically add controls, look at our example, GTRTMDem in the GTDemo directory.

Using Form Inheritance:The problem will appear on descendant forms. When creating an ancestor form, be sure to bring the right and bottom sides of your form as close as possible to the components on the form. You can widen and lengthen the descendant form to accommodate the new controls introduced there. Alternatively, you can set whatever size you want your ancestor form to be, drop a panel on your ancestor form, set the panel’s visible property to false, and set its align property to alBottom.

Using a Scrollbox: If you are using a container component such as a scrollbox, it may be necessary to scroll to the rightmost or bottom-most of the component, set GTUpdate to True, then scroll back to the leftmost or topmost before compiling. This is only in cases where the container would normally exceed the bounds of the form if all its contents were

Using a large image:  An image which is wider or longer than the form size may cause this problem when the image's stretch property is False.  The image component may also inadvertently extend beyond the form's boundaries.

A:  If your form and components look fine with your current align settings, don't worry about it.  This recommendation is primarily there for those instances where the align setting may cause one control to overlap other controls.

A.  The GTSizer supports left and right text alignments for labels.  Center alignment (taCenter) is not supported.  However, there is a workaround.  Use a panel and shrink it to the desired size.  Enter the text you wish to appear in the Panel's Caption property.  Change the BevelOuter and BevelInner Properties to bvNone.  The panel will look like a standard label and automatically centers the text.

A:  Most resizeable visual components which inherit from TControl should be compatible.  Note that some vendors have limited the resizing capability of their controls.  Also, some may have descended from components which are not resizeable.  It may be necessary to add the control in the GTDBSizr if the GTSizer does not recognize the component properly to resize it.  You should check with your vendor to see if there are any sizing limitations.  If it is a container component, the Form must be the owner of the contents in order to properly resize the container as well as its contents.

A.   Some components descend from Delphi components which are not resizeable.  In those instances, the GTSizer will not be able to override the static behavior.  Also, some vendors have limited or altered the resizing capability of their controls.

If it is a container component, the Form must be the owner of the contents in order to properly resize the contents.

It may be necessary to add the control to the GTDBSizr.PAS file and use the GTDBSizr (or create your own file if you don’t use the BDE).  Follow the example in the GTDBSizr.PAS file for YourControl’s-class,  replacing YourControl’s-class with the name of the component you are using. Copy this piece of code as many times as you need for each control. Compile the GTDBSizr code.  Then recompile your component library so that the changes are incorporated (or remove the GTSizer from the component palette and add the GTSizer back to the component palette--the component library will recompile)

If the font is not resizing correctly then you will need to add the control to the GTDBSizr.PAS file and use the GTDBSizr (or create your own file if you don’t use the BDE). Follow the example in the  GTDBSizr.PAS file for YourControl’s-class, replacing YourControl’s-class with the name of the control you are using. Copy this piece ofcode as many times as you need to for each control. (Keep in mind thatif the control does not have a font property, the GTSizer won’t be able to resize the font.)

A.  The control you are using probably inherits from or is similar to Delphi’sstring grid. Delphi’s string grid was not built to resize; it allows only thefonts to be resized--not columns and rows.

A.  Sizing limitations may be present in many third party components. This is one specific example. Apparently the vendor has limited the resizing capability of their component. Although the GTSizer cannot change theselimitations, a work around for this situation is as follows:  drop a panel on your form then place the TOvcNotebook on the panel and set the align property to alClient. This forces the notebook to resize with the panel.

This is a problem inherent with the DBLookupCombo. We compensated for this behavior in the native Delphi DBLookupComboBox, but are unable to do so for every third party component which inherits from this control. We can customize the GTSizer for you if necessary, for a small fee.

A:  Try this.  If the increase in height is about 50% more than what you would like, then this line of code may have an effect:  DBExtender1.Height := DBExtender.Height *0.5;    Put it in the GTOnResize event of the GTForm.  In Delphi 4 and 5 you can also use the component's contrain properties to set maximum height/width.

A:  Keep in mind that the GTSizer remembers the form size and component placements from design time.  After the forms are displayed, the GTSizer needs to know when components are programmatically deleted,  added, moved, or whose size increases or decreases at run time, or when a label's text changes.  The DynamicControls method is what does this.  It is also used when the form's size is programmatically changed without resizing the components, after the form is displayed.  For example, if you change the size of the controls at run time, invoke the Dynamic Controls method to inform the GTSizer that there have been changes to the sizes of the controls within the form since design time.  It is not necessary to use DynamicControls when you set a component's visible property to true or false. You might want to take a look at our example in the GTRTMDEM directory.

For runtime changes to controls, you must first invoke FormReset to reset the form to load time size, then change the control's size, position, add or delete, or change the text, then call the DynamicControls method.

  begin
    GTForm1.FormReset;
     {resize, create, delete, move, change text of controls as desired}
    GTForm1.DynamicControls;
  end;

After the form has been displayed, to programmatically change the size of the form without resizing the components, first set Enabled to False, do your size chnages, then call Dynamic Controls, and then set Enabled to True.

  begin
    GTForm1.FormReset;
    GTForm1.Enabled := False;
    {change the size of the form and perhaps any other control changes}
    GTForm1.Dynamic Controls;
    GTForm1.Enabled := True;
  end;

A:  The GTForm can be used on any form, including those with database access.

The GTDBSizr (GTDBForm) has two purposes. (1)  It will allow sizing of the title font on a DBGrid. and (2) it allows you to add components which the GTSizer doesn't recognize.

The standard GTSizer (GTForm) does not resize the title font in a grid because we needed to create a generic version which would not require the BDE.  To access the title font of a DBGrid, the DBGrid must be specifically referenced.  Anytime Delphi sees "DB", it looks for the BDE.

If you have a resizeable third party component or your own custom resizeable component and the GTSizer does not appear to be resizing the fonts and/or the component properly, you can add it to the GTDBSizr.PAS file.  We included a couple of examples (in the GTDBSizr.PAS file using a Woll2Woll DBGrid and another for any other control). Follow the example in the GTDBSizr.PAS file for YourControl’s-class,  replacing YourControl’s-class with the name of the component you are using. Copy this piece of code as many times as you need for each control. Compile the GTDBSizr code.  Then recompile your component library so that the changes are incorporated (or remove the GTSizer from the component palette and add the GTSizer back to the component palette--the component library will recompile).

Note that if you do not use the BDE, you can create your own file to substitute for the GTDBSizr or comment out the portions of code in the GTDBSizr which refer to "DB".  If you do create your own file, follow the example of the declaration for the GTDBForm--and avoid any reference to "DB" in your new file.  Be sure to subsitute your file name for GTDBForm in the GTSizer's registration code file (GT16reg.pas or GT32reg.pas).

A:  Yes, by setting the GTSizer's SameSize property to True and setting the Form's Scaled property to False.  When SameSize is set to False (the default), the form is run proportionate to the resolution.  Forms and windows are usually displayed at different resolutions proportionate to the new resolution.  Run any application say, Word for Windows, or Delphi, or even Windows itself at different resolutions the forms appear smaller at higher resolutions and larger at lower resolutions.  With the SameSize property set to True, the GTSizer fights Windows default behavior so that the form fills approximately the same amount of screen space whether you are running at 1024x768 or 640x480.  Keep in mind that the GTSizer cannot override Windows control of form menu bars and title bars, so they will run proportionate to the run time resolution.

A:  Yes.  There are two ways to accomplish this.  (1) Use GTSizer's SameSize property or (2) use the form's WindowState property.  To use the SameSize property, fill your screen with your form (don't maximize) at design time.  Set the SameSize property to True.  To use the form's WindowState Property, leave the form at normal size at design time and programmatically set the WindowState property to wsMaximized.  (GTSizer works better when WindowState= wsMaximized is not set in the object inspector.)  The controls will be resized to fill the spaces created during maximize.  Set the form's position property to poDefault or poDefined.  Do not use poScreenCenter.  Note that this second method will not properly work on 640x480 if your form's design time size is larger than 640x480.

A form that is disproportionately wide will not fill the screen unless GTSizer's SizeBalancing is disabled.  The SizeBalancing feature increases the height by the same factor as the width.  You can either make your form's height/width ratio more proportionate, or disable SizeBalancing when the form is Maximized.

To turn off SizeBalancing, attach this code to your GTForm's Event:

    GTForm1.SizeBalancing := False;
 

A.  There are a few possible causes for this:  (1) Controls extend beyond the form’s length or width. Check  the width and length of your form as opposed to the position ofyour form. If your control extends even one pixel beyond the  form’s size, GTSizer, will adjust the sizing so that all controls are completelyvisible--hence the gap. Once you have repositioned the controls, it should be fine.

(2) Using GTSize32 v. 1.0 with Delphi 2 (internet enabled version) In this version of Delphi 2, Borland made numerous changes to the form. This affected the display size of the form at run time. The GTSize32 v 1.x patch counteracts this behavior.

(3) If you are using a native Delphi control within a native Delphi control that uses scrollbars (i.e. a scroll box),

A:  Yes.  To see a quick demonstration for yourself, be sure to compile our sample applications (included in the trial version too) at 800*600 small font then run them on 640/480 to 1280/1024--and everything in between--large font or small font.

A.  We have not tried fonts other than those found with Delphi, but if your fonts are scalable it should be fine with the GTSizer.  All the GTSizes does is resize the fonts. It does nothing else to the fonts.  The only requirement is that the fonts must be called 'Font'.  Although the GTSizer will resize non-TrueType fonts such as MSSans Serif (Delphi's default font), we do not recommend using them.  This is because they have fewer point sizes and do not scale as well as TrueType fonts.

A.  Remember that when SameSize is set to true, the GTSizer shrinks the form and components to fit at the lower resolutions.  This means that it must user a lower font point size also.  Even without GTSizer fonts will not appear as crisp at 640x480 as they do at 800x600 because there are fewer pixels per inch.  Therefore, when you develop at 800x600 (or higher) we do not recommend using a font point size any smaller than 10.  12 point is probably better.

First, be sure that your fonts are TrueType fonts (i.e. Arial or Times New Roman).  Is the component's ParentFont property set to True?  If so, GTSizer's SameSize must also be set to True. If you don’t want to use the SameSize property, then you cannot use ParentFont and you must set the fonts individually on your form. (Keepin mind that you can select all components with a font property and setthe font name and size for all of them simultaneously.)

Are you using a Third Party component or custom component? If so, you may need to add your component to the GTDBSizr.pas file.   If the font you are using is a TrueType font and is not resizing correctly  then you will need to add the control to the GTDBSizr.PAS file and use  the GTDBSizr (or create your own file if you don’t use the BDE).  Follow the example in the GTDBSizr.PAS file for YourControl’s-class,  replacing YourControl’s-class with the name of the control you areusing. Copy this piece of code as many times as you need for eachcontrol. (Keep in mind that if the control does not have a font property,the GTSizer won’t be able to resize the font.)

A:  At this time, GenoTechs is a sole source for the GTSizer and does not have any agreements with international distributors for the GTSizer.  There are, however, numerous distributors who purchase the GTSizer on request from their clients.  GTSizer is also available through Programmers Paradise.

A:  We accept US purchase orders for quantity orders of six or more.  Otherwise, payment can be made via credit card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, or JCB), check drawn on a US bank, international money order, or electronic funds transfer.

A.  When your order is placed, we ship new files which need to be copied to your directory.  Any trial version files should be removed from your computer before installing the registered version.

A:  Code is included with the GTSizer only for giving the developer the ability to add third party controls or custom controls which the GTSizer does not recognize.  Source code for our sample applications are also included.  However, the core source code for the GTSizer is not included.

The GTSizer's default resolution feature is *relative* to the resolution or as we say, proportionate to the resolution.   If a form is developed in a high resolution and run in a lower resolution, it will naturally appear larger because there are fewer pixels per inch.  This is normal behavior for any application.   The GTSizer does not maintain the same form size regardless of the resolution, unless the GTSizer's SameSize property is set to True.

Therefore, if the form is large to begin with, it will be even larger when run at a lower resolution.  If you don't want to use the SameSize property, be sure your form's design height and width do not exceed 640x480.

A.  If your image can be resized without compromising its appearance, set the Stretch property of TImage to True.  If your image cannot be resized, leave the Stretch property to False and set the GTSizer's GTDisplayHeight and GTDisplayWidth to be the same as your form's ClientHeight and ClientWidth.  Be sure to set the form's Scaled property to False in either case.
 

A:  The GTSizer itself is less than 40k.  However, it does not add that much per form. Because of Borland's smart compiler and object orientation, one copy of the class structure is used for each application.  Other copies (instances or objects) of the class use the same source.

 A.  It is likely that you are adding or changing controls at runtime that werenot present at design time. You need to use the DynamicControls method to ensure that the GTSizer captures these changes.

A.  Unique to form inheritance, when a GTSizer icon is repositioned on a descendant form, it can cause a list index out of bounds error.  You must either leave the GTSizer in its original position on the form or before compiling, right click the GTForm icon and select "Revert to Inherited" from the popup menu.

A.  Because the GTSizer must look at each and every component of the form in order to resize, it can sometimes bring out an issue like "cannot focus a disabled or invisible control" that Delphi would otherwise ignore.  This problem can also occur without the GTSizer on tabbed notebooks. So, first test the form without the GTSizer to see if the error still occurs. If the problem only occurs when the GTSizer is on the form, ensure that something visible always has the focus.  In other words, before setting focus to a control, be sure it is visible first.   Note that tab stop must be set to true for TPageControl.  Our versions since January 1998 rarely have this problem.

A.  The GTSizer is version and product dependent, so you cannot use the same DCU for all versions of Delphi and/or C++Builder.  However, when you purchase one GTSize32 at full price, any other GTSize32 version is only $124.95 (+ s/h).

A:  To compile an application using GTSizer in both 16 and 32 bit version of Delphi, do this to the uses clause of a form.  (Note:  you can save the form as a Template and use it throughout your application.)

{$IFDEF WIN32} GTSize32, Windows, {$ELSE} GTSize16, WinTypes, WinProcs,
{$ENDIF}

A:  Windows--not GTSizer--controls how the taskbar behaves with an application.  It is a matter of which preferences the user selects for the TaskBar.

If the user selects the TaskBar option "Always on Top" (from the Start | Settings | TaskBar menu) the taskbar will never be hidden when the form is maximized.

If the user also has the "Auto hide" selection checked, the application can maximize and fill the space where the taskbar would normally be, but once the cursor is positioned where the taskbar is hiding, the taskbar will
make itself visible. However, while visible, the taskbar can cover the that portion of the application.