Form Resizer

Below is a simple example of the reszier in action. As the user has increased the size of the window:

the width of fields has increased - notice how the Class Venue field was not larger enough to display all the text until the user expanded the width of the form.
the subform in the tabbed section at the bottom of the screen has increased in height as the user expanded the height of the form - notice how there was not enough space to show all the Registered Clients until the user expanded the height of the form.
some fields have not changed width - the numeric fields 'Spaces Available', 'Cost per Attendee' have moved right to allow the fields on their left to expand in width but they have not changed width themselves (they were already as wide as they needed to be).

Sample Form: Small Screen

Sample Form: Large Screen

Add the resizer class module (see below for pricing/ordering) and a couple of lines of code to your form and you can then specify whether your controls should move, grow (or both) and by how much in the tag property of each control. Your form controls will then resize 'intelligently' as the user maximises, restores or drags the form window into a new size/shape.

Key Benefits

Give your application a professional look and allow users to make the most of their investment in large, high resolution screens while still supporting users with smaller, lower resolution screens (or visual impairments)
This is not a 'zoomer' that simply increases the font and control size (and looks worse and worse as the resolution and monitor size increase). Your controls actually move/grow with the form so users who have high resolution screens get the benefit of additional 'working-space'.
You (the developer) decide which controls will grow and by how much by simply entering values into the control's tag property.
Source code available. Add this to your Access file and distribute your application normally. No need to create special install routines to register components.
Works for all controls and with subforms.

How to Use (Code)

Add the resizing class to your Access mdb (see download/pricing details below). In any form you want to have dynamically resize, create a reference to the class in the declarations section as follows:

Dim frmResize As New clsFormResize

Then add the following code to the Load event of the form:

frmResize.Init Me.Form

And ensure that the Resize event is listed (even if it just contains comments):

Private Sub Form_Resize()
'Holder for resize event
End Sub

That's it! That is all the code you need (there is one extra line needed if you have a subform with controls you want to resize as the parent form is resized).

How to Use (Setting Grow and Move proportions)

Design the form to the smallest size that you wish it to appear (usually 800x600). If the form is resized smaller than this, the controls will not resize, but will behave normally (i.e. being hidden by the limits of the form size).

For any control that you wish to move/resize add one (or more) of the following commands to the tag property (you can add one of each, simply separate each with a comma and a space).

MoveXn	Moves the control left/right when the form size is increased/decreased horizontally.
MoveYn	Moves the control up/down when the form size is increased/decreased vertically .
GrowXn	Increases/decreases the width of the control when the form size is increased/decreased horizontally.
GrowYn	Increases/decreases the height of the control when the form size is increased/decreased vertically .

The value n is a decimal up to the value 1 and is the proportion of form's growth that you want the control to grow by. For example, if you have a button in the top right corner of the form and want it to stay the same distance from the right edge of the window when it is resized, set the tag property to "MoveX1".

If you have two controls side by side and wish each to grow equally as the form is resized, set the left control's tag property to "GrowX0.5", while setting the right control's property to "MoveX0.5, GrowX0.5".

Download Demo

This is a simple demo with a single screen. Download the zip file and extract the ResizeDemo.mdb and open it. A form for entering company information will appear, simply resize the screen to see how the system works.

I have locked down the code, but you can get into the design of the form and view/modify the Tag properties to see how flexible the system is (see above for valid tag options).

This download also shows the Custom Navigation Bar also available on this site. This bar does everything the built in Access bar does plus has a button for clearing any filters that may have been applied to the form (button only becomes enabled if a filter is applied). The Navigation bar is larger than the built-in Access version and can be placed anywhere on the screen. Please download and experiment - let me know if you have any questions!

Download ResizeDemo Zip file

Pricing

Buy the full source code that supports all grow/move values. You can simply add this source code to your mdb file to get the full features of the Form Resizer. No need to create special install routines to register components, this is entirely an Access VBA based solution wrapped up in a single Class module. Tested on Access 2000, XP and 2003.

The cost of the full version is only £10 (payment via paypal). Please send an email to the address at the top of the page and the payment details will be forwarded to you.