Subject: Re: Setup window size: a suggestion
From: Don Dwiggins <[email-masked]>
To: [email-masked]
Date: 10 Sep 2002 08:02:23 -0700

>> MoveWindow() makes the window bigger, but does not change the positions
>> of the Next/Back/etc buttons.  I think what I'll end up doing is
>> MoveWindow()'ing them as well, once I figure out where to MoveWindow()
>> them to.

> How about a simple rule: anchor the top elements (title, icon, category,
> etc) to fixed positions relative to the top of the window, and the bottom
> elements (buttons, user url input, etc) to fixed positions relative to the
> bottom of the window.  On resize, recompute the positions relative to the
> new window size.  If you want to be more discriminating, divide the
> elements of a dialog into top-left, top-right, bottom-left, and
> bottom-right, and follow the above rule.  I know it sounds kind of
> obvious, but sometimes the obvious needs to be said, or it'll be
> overlooked.  No offense intended or implied.

I'm not familiar with the code and issues surrounding setup, but I just had
a thought:

It may be overkill for the problem, but how about using wxWindows for the
setup GUI (http://www.wxwindows.org/)?  It has layout managers to handle
resizing, and there are tools available to help design the windows (although
I've found in using wxPython that it's pretty easy, using the managers, to
compose a window from a pencil sketch.  In fact, one could prototype the
application in wxPython, then do the final coding in C++ to eliminate the
Python dependency.)

FWIW,
-- 

Don Dwiggins
[email-masked]
"I heard the grating shrieks and clanks of a locomotive while the engineer 
heard the smooth symphony of a thousand moving parts."  
  -- Emil Gobersneke, as reported by Lon Badgett

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