EWriter setup

Nothing is perfect! This is where you can post your ideas and wishes for functions you'd like to see in Help & Manual. Current version only please (H&M7).

Moderators: Alexander Halser, Tim Green

Post Reply
User avatar
Martin Wynne
Posts: 2656
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 3:21 pm
Location: West of the Severn, UK

EWriter setup

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

The EWriter setup options include the Window size.

But this is set in pixels, which isn't very convenient. Nowadays users have a wide range of systems, from older monitors to massive 4K screens. Setting a size which will fit conveniently on an old 1024x768 display makes it far too small on a hi-res screen, especially now it is dpi-aware - so no adjustment by Windows. I know users can drag the window wider, but it doesn't make a very good first impression.

It would be better if the size had an option to be set as % of the primary monitor screen size.

Even better would be a context call from the application to set the window size directly. :)

regards,

Martin.
User avatar
Alexander Halser
EC-Software Support
Posts: 4098
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 7:24 pm
Location: Salzburg, Austria
Contact:

Re: EWriter setup

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

But this is set in pixels, which isn't very convenient.
Nope. This is relative pixels, always has been. A percentage value won't work well because of the many different monitor aspect ratios out there. We internally store the "initial size" of the ebook window as relative pixel values based on 96 dpi. The DPI-to-pixel ratio comes closest to meet the many different monitors. You just don' notice anything as long as you test it locally. But you will see the difference if you run the ebook on a high-resolution system.

So, rest assured, it's already been take care of, works beautifully and always had.

(We should probably publish a blog article about how cool that is! But we take these little things so much for granted that it didn't even come to my mind that anyone would not expect it to be working properly.)
exeviewer-defaultsize.gif
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
User avatar
Martin Wynne
Posts: 2656
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 3:21 pm
Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: EWriter setup

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Alexander Halser wrote:Nope. This is relative pixels, always has been.
Hi Alexander,

I'm sorry, but I don't understand. What are "relative" pixels? The EWriter setup dialog clearly says "pixels". :?

I have set the EWriter width to 1000 pixels. If I set it any wider it is too big on old 1024-wide displays. But on my Surface Pro 3 (at 144dpi) it is clearly too small (see photo attached) -- it contains some large CAD-style screenshots and needs to be as large as possible:
ewriter_on_surface.jpg
If I could set it to be 85% of the screen width it would be just fine on all displays, and the user can then reduce it if preferred. I know I can set it Maximized, but that loses sight of the original application and prevents EWriter being dragged to the most convenient position.

I also noticed that when using separate data files on EWriter, the width is taken from the data file and not the original viewer exe. Which seems odd -- I had assumed that the data files would contain only the actual content.

Build 4060 running at 120dpi on Win7.

What would be really cool would be a context call to set the width and height directly. I could then pre-set the EWriter window to suit the topic being called -- smaller if it contains no large screenshots, larger if it does. :)

regards,

Martin.
You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.
User avatar
Martin Wynne
Posts: 2656
Joined: Mon May 12, 2003 3:21 pm
Location: West of the Severn, UK

Re: EWriter setup

Unread post by Martin Wynne »

Hi Alexander,

Ok, now I understand. The problem is that I'm running H&M at 120dpi.

I have now tried EWriter on a 1024-wide display set at 96dpi (not a setting I ever use) and it has come up 800 pixels wide instead of the 1000 which I set.

This means I can safely set it much wider than 1000 on my 120dpi system, up to say 1200, for the majority of users. This will then display at 960 wide at 96dpi.

I do think the dialog needs to explain this a bit better. When I read "pixels" I tend to assume it means, er, pixels. :?

regards,

Martin.
User avatar
Alexander Halser
EC-Software Support
Posts: 4098
Joined: Mon Jun 24, 2002 7:24 pm
Location: Salzburg, Austria
Contact:

Re: EWriter setup

Unread post by Alexander Halser »

This means I can safely set it much wider than 1000 on my 120dpi system, up to say 1200, for the majority of users. This will then display at 960 wide at 96dpi.
Yes, correct. Tim will modify the documentation, but I find "pixels" quite reasonable. Despite I define the dialog windows in H&M as X/Y pixels, the forms will scale proportionally on systems with different DPI values. That's quite normal and most people don't even spend a thought about this. We just made sure it works.
Alexander Halser
Senior Software Architect, EC Software GmbH
Post Reply