I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts system
R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font" and found two
code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:
DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);
Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test system.
Any idea how to detect this?
Thanks!
Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

I believe you can simply check the PixelsPerInch property of your main
form.

Regards,
Ross.

Message
From: "Cosmin Prund" <pcosmin (AT) adicomsoft (DOT) ro>
To: "Moderated discussion list about programming with Borland's Delphi"
<delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:55 AM
Subject: Detecting Large Fonts

I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts
system
R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font" and found
two
code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:

DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);

Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test system.

Any idea how to detect this?
Thanks!

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Cosmin,
I picked this up on the web some time back. It worked on an XP system set
to large fonts. I'm not using it now, but as I recall it worked for me.

function hasLargeFonts : Boolean;
{
Returns a boolean indicating whether or not the user has
Large Fonts enabled in Display Properties.
}
var
liPPI : longInt; // holds pixels per inch for canvas
hCanvas : HDC; // device context for current canvas

const
LGFPPI = 120; // PPI when LgFonts active
begin

hCanvas := getDC( 0 ); // get current canvas
try
liPPI := getDeviceCaps( hCanvas, LGPIXELSX );
finally
releaseDC( 0, hCanvas ); // prevent leaks
end;
result := ( liPPI = LGFPPI ); // compare and return

end; // hasLargeFonts

Message
From: "Cosmin Prund" <pcosmin (AT) adicomsoft (DOT) ro>
To: "Moderated discussion list about programming with Borland's Delphi"
<delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 10:55 AM
Subject: Detecting Large Fonts

I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts
system
R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font" and found
two
code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:

DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);

Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test system.

Any idea how to detect this?
Thanks!

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

That would make sence. Unfortunatelly PixelsPerInch says 96 on both my
"normal fonts" developement machine AND on my "Extra Large Fonts" test
machine.

Ross Levis wrote:
I believe you can simply check the PixelsPerInch property of your main
form.

Regards,
Ross.

Message
From: "Cosmin Prund" <pcosmin (AT) adicomsoft (DOT) ro>
To: "Moderated discussion list about programming with Borland's
Delphi" <delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 3:55 AM
Subject: Detecting Large Fonts
--
I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts
system
R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font" and
found two
code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:

DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);

Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test
system.

Any idea how to detect this?
Thanks!

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

I also found this code, and an other variation (as I've sayd - I'm allready
using GetDeviceCaps) but it unfortunatelly says 96 on both my "normal font"
developement machine and on my "Extra Large Fonts" test machine :-(

ShowMe Software wrote:
Cosmin,
I picked this up on the web some time back. It worked on an XP
system set to large fonts. I'm not using it now, but as I recall it
worked for me.

function hasLargeFonts : Boolean;
{
Returns a boolean indicating whether or not the user has
Large Fonts enabled in Display Properties.
}
var
liPPI : longInt; // holds pixels per inch for canvas
hCanvas : HDC; // device context for current canvas

const
LGFPPI = 120; // PPI when LgFonts active
begin

hCanvas := getDC( 0 ); // get current canvas
try
liPPI := getDeviceCaps( hCanvas, LGPIXELSX );
finally
releaseDC( 0, hCanvas ); // prevent leaks
end;
result := ( liPPI = LGFPPI ); // compare and return

end; // hasLargeFonts

Message
From: "Cosmin Prund" <pcosmin (AT) adicomsoft (DOT) ro>
To: "Moderated discussion list about programming with Borland's
Delphi" <delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org>
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2005 10:55 AM
Subject: Detecting Large Fonts
>
>
>I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts
>system
>R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font" and
>found two
>code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:
>>
>DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);
>>
>Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test
>system.
>>
>Any idea how to detect this?
>Thanks!
>>
>
>Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org
>
>

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

I think I'm on the right track with this solution but for some raison it
feels like a "hack".

My conclusion is that on WinXP changing to Large Fonts doesn't actually
change the display driver's DPI, it simply does as it says: it increases
standard fonts. In order to detect rather Large Fonts is enabled or not I'm
simply reading the height for "Message Box Font" and I'm comparing that to
the hight for the same font without Large Fonts enabled.

the few systems I tested the font for the system message box when large
fonts is NT enabled is Tahoma 8 point (11 pixels); the same systems with
Large Fonts enabled I get Tahoma 10 point (16 pixels).

Considering the user might manually change the fonts to make them larger or
easyer to read (not necesarily by selecting Large Fonts), scaling the
application in proportion to the change in hight of this fonts makes sense.

Unfortunatelly automatic scaling of Delphi forms (via the Scaled property)
seems to work in proportion with the DotsPerInch reading and for this raison
my forms don't seem to automatically scale on XP.

For anyone interested in this problem take a look at SystemParametersInfo
with SPI_GETNNCLIENTMETRICS as parameter.

Cosmin Prund wrote:
I'm looking for a way to detecting rather I'm running on a LargeFonts
system R on a normal font system. I googled for "detect large font"
and found two code samples both trying to detect large fonts using:

DPI := GetDeviceCaps(DC, LGPIXELSX);

Unfortunatelly this code returns 96 on my WinXP Large Fonts test
system.

Any idea how to detect this?
Thanks!

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Unfortunatelly automatic scaling of Delphi forms (via the Scaled property)
seems to work in proportion with the DotsPerInch reading and for this raison
my forms don't seem to automatically scale on XP.

All you need to do to support large fonts in delphi is to make sure
Scaled is TRUE and AutoScroll is FALSE. If you have anchored controls
(such as [akTop, akRight]) these may require special placement for the
Large Font application.

Setting those 2 properties will solve 95% of your Large Font issues.
Note with bsDialog style forms, the properties are set correctly.

cheers,
Jeremy

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Cosmin Prund wrote:
I also found this code, and an other variation (as I've sayd - I'm allready
using GetDeviceCaps) but it unfortunatelly says 96 on both my "normal font"
developement machine and on my "Extra Large Fonts" test machine :-(

Just so you know, this is not as simple an issue as it may appear
and you're not alone:

Stephen Posey
slposey (AT) concentric (DOT) net

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Jeremy North wrote:
[]
All you need to do to support large fonts in delphi is to make sure
Scaled is TRUE and AutoScroll is FALSE. If you have anchored controls
(such as [akTop, akRight]) these may require special placement for the
Large Font application.

Setting those 2 properties will solve 95% of your Large Font issues.
Note with bsDialog style forms, the properties are set correctly.

Jeremy.

I must admit this is the exact opposite of what I do! I can't stand the
layout of the form being changed outside my control, so Scaled = False for
me. I try and test the application on a Large Fonts system to ensure
there is room for the text.

BTW: I'm using Delphi 5, and part of my form initialisation sequence is to
set DesktoFont = True. Even now, many commercial applications seem to
stick with the horrible unsmoothed fonts rather than simply honouring what
font the user has already chosen. (I'm a great fan of ClearType, even
when using a CRT).

Cheers,
David

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

This becomes a VERY interesting problem. my system, after selecting Large
Fonts, there's no change in the DPI but there's a change in the actual font
size for "Message Box"; I tryed reading the DPI using all the tricks I know,
it's allways 96. Also reading this mailing list it seems I'm the NLY one
that doesn't get a change in DPI when switching to Large Fonts!

The problem with fonts changing without actually changing DPI is that
Delphi's code for automatically scaling forms on load will not work.

Like many other programmers I allways avoided the Large Font problem (by
setting Scaled = False) but that will no longer work and that's because of
LCD displays: All the LCD's I've seen work at a native resolution that's too
high for anyone using reading glasses, and there are lots of people using
reading glasses! CRT monitors people that need to have taller fonts can
always run a lower resolution. This is not possible on LCD's so the only
solution is "Large Fonts".

At the moment I'm manually scaling my forms (using ScaleBy) in proportion
with the change in message box font size. So far this worked very well and
it has a few benefits: I can scale frames created at run time! Delphi by
itself will only scale stuff that's on the form at design time. You allready
noticed the only refference to Scaled in the Forms unit is in the code for
ReadState.

Also scaling my forms in proportion to "Message Box Font" has a hidden
advantage: Selecting Large Fonts is one way the user can inform Windows
he/she actually wants larger fonts, but the user can also manually customize
this font making it any size (s)he whishes!

For I'm going to go with this solution, running a few experiments on my
customers :-)

Rob Kennedy wrote:
Cosmin Prund wrote:
>That would make sence. Unfortunatelly PixelsPerInch says 96 on both
>my "normal fonts" developement machine AND on my "Extra Large Fonts"
>test machine.
>
PixelsPerInch tells the resolution of the screen on which the form was
designed. That way, the form will know how much to scale itself by
when it runs on a different screen.

But there are two PixelsPerInch properties. belongs to TForm.
That's no good. The other belongs to TScreen. Use that one to
determine the font size.

Also note that font size is no longer limited to just "small" and
"large." Many video drivers allow you to choose a resolution of your
own; 96 and 120 are common, but you can also find 200, or 126, or 108,
or any other value. Rather than ask, "Am I in large-font mode?" you
need to ask, "What font size am I in?" and then do some math to
compensate.

You can see how TForm accounds for font size by looking in
TCustomForm.ReadState, in Forms.pas. It adjusts the font size right
after its inherited call.

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

I try and test the application on a Large Fonts system to ensure
there is room for the text.

I guess you must have a lot of wasted space on your forms or do a lot
of control positioning manually then. What happens when the user
selects Very Large Fonts or even a default DPI? Do your forms cater
for this?

Your approach seems to not respect the end users need for having the
windows larger than they normally would appear. Can you post some
screenshots of how your apps that do this appear under Normal, Large
and Very Large fonts?

cheers,
Jeremy

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Yes, I've got the two confused. And I just realised how difficult it must be
supporting ALL possible appereance options. A more complex system for laying
out controls is required for this to work, I hope WinFX got this

Thanks everyone
(feeling really silly)

Rob Kennedy wrote:
Cosmin Prund wrote:
>This becomes a VERY interesting problem. my system, after
>selecting Large Fonts, there's no change in the DPI but there's a
>change in the actual font size for "Message Box";
>
Well, as I think I mentioned before, there are *two* settings in
Windows
XP for which "large fonts" is one of the possible values. There's a
"font size" option on the "Appearance" tab, which is nothing more
than a quick way of setting lots of font sizes on the "advanced"
dialog for
that tab. There's also a "DPI" setting on the "advanced" dialog of the
"Settings" tab. They are completely different settings. I think you
have them confused. You've set the "font size" option instead of the
"DPI" option. If it doesn't say "DPI" next to it, you've got the
wrong one (accounting for language differences, of course).
>
>Also scaling my forms in proportion to "Message Box Font" has a
>hidden advantage: Selecting Large Fonts is one way the user can
>inform Windows he/she actually wants larger fonts, but the user can
>also manually customize this font making it any size (s)he whishes!
>
Exactly. The choice of DPI is not the only way to set a font's size.
In fact, changing the DPI is a way of changing the appearance of a
font
without actually choosing a new size. An 8-point font at 96 DPI is
fewer pixels high than an 8-point font at 120 DPI, and since the size
of a
pixel doesn't change, the font appears bigger. The other way of making
the font bigger is by choosing something larger than 8 points.

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org

Jeremy North wrote:
>I try and test the application on a Large Fonts system to ensure
>there is room for the text.
>
I guess you must have a lot of wasted space on your forms or do a lot
of control positioning manually then. What happens when the user
selects Very Large Fonts or even a default DPI? Do your forms cater
for this?

Your approach seems to not respect the end users need for having the
windows larger than they normally would appear. Can you post some
screenshots of how your apps that do this appear under Normal, Large
and Very Large fonts?

Jeremy

Here are some sample screen-shots:

The only allowance I make for large text is to alter the forms if a
problem is reported. You can download some of the applications and test
them for yourselves. There is little manual control positioning.

My general principle is to try and respect all user settings (including
the DesktopFont), but as there is a lot of graphics in these applications,
perhaps the text is secondary.

Cheers,
David

Delphi mailing list -Delphi (AT) elists (DOT) org