LiveCode Forums.

When pursuing scaling, consider the impact on appearance of standard controls.

If you make a layout for a 4" phone and run it on an 11" tablet, buttons designed to be the expected size for a thumb become large enough for a fist.

If you're in a position to exclude some screen sizes from your distribution this won't matter as much. But with the full range of screens people use it might.

And then there's the question of screen ratio, esp with orientation change. Again, if you're in position to restrict the user rotating their device while using your app it may not matter. But given how often tablets are used in landscape and phones in portrait, it's worth thinking about.

Perhaps the best way to make layout decisions is to look at the apps you already have on your phone.

Find apps that have functionality and/or layouts similar to what you envision for yours, and see how those designers have made their layout decisions. Run the app on small and large devices, noting what gets scaled, what gets resized, and what gets repositioned. Also rotate your phone and see how the app's layout responds to the new screen dimensions.

LiveCode is flexible enough to handle a wide range of layout options. The hardest part isn't implementing any of them, but choosing which to use.

Let the apps you're already enjoying being your guide to good design.

@Richard You are correct in general, but for this specific use case I think the solution needed is just being able to shrink due to the pixel size difference between monitors.

bwmilby wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 8:00 pm @Richard You are correct in general, but for this specific use case I think the solution needed is just being able to shrink due to the pixel size difference between monitors.

Perhaps it is. I'm unfamiliar with the details of how the app is intended to be used.

Where scaling produces results like those we see in similar apps, it's probably a good choice.

bwmilby wrote: Tue May 31, 2022 8:00 pm ... but for this specific use case I think the solution needed is just being able to shrink due to the pixel size difference between monitors.

Yes that's correct:

redfield wrote: Sun May 22, 2022 7:34 pm Is there a common way in Livecode to adjust windows (and their contents) of Desktop apps, according to the screen size?

However the kind of scaling I am aiming at seems to be too complicated or at least not achievable with the GM. I guess I will create two Stacks, one that looks "good" on a high resolution monitor and one for a lower resolution monitor, and let the user choose.

It’s a good guess that what you want to achieve is doable through the GM and resizeStack handlers.

But no one can help unless you provide a visual cue as to what the result you’re after actually is.
At this point everyone trying to help is just guessing as to what “the kind of scaling you’re aiming at” actually is.

If you’re looking to resize both text size and field size, that is again very doable but needs extra work (although can be abstracted to a behaviour). Otherwise it’s a good educated guess that using the methods mentioned above can provide dynamic scaling you’re after.

As Richard suggested, what don’t you just provide an image or stack to illustrate what you’re after, and I’m sure you’d receive several more than a couple of recommendations on how to implement….

Profiles may be another option although the IDE does not really support their use in the GUI. You didn’t mention if you tried the scale option.

Since this is for desktop, do try Brian's suggestion and see how scalefactor works for you. If your stack has images I'd start with a layout that looks good at high resolution since scaling down usually looks better than scaling up.

redfield wrote: Wed Jun 01, 2022 10:54 am I guess I will create two Stacks, one that looks "good" on a high resolution monitor and one for a lower resolution monitor, and let the user choose.

Ah, thank you. I understand now: the problem isn't that your objects need to move, but simply that LiveCode needs to provide resolution independence on the desktop as it has on mobile for years.

Hi-res monitors have been around for a while now. If LC isn't providing resolution independence automatically on Windows that should be a bug report.

In the meantime, the suggestions for scaleFactor are the best workaround.