Text size in compiled exe file changes - tutorial needed!

[Ola_A]

Hello, can anybody explain how to handle text sizes in control and list boxes to make them predictable in the end application?

I just got very frustrated when a compiled labview exe file that has been running nicely on a test PC for some days completely changed the size of most text elements when I moved it to the first production machine!

It all started with my upgrade of the development system from   LV2015 to LV2015sp1 and at the same time change to a new laptop. All text was bigger in the front panels.

I got some help from support to understand this, but much had to be corrected manually. I learnt to not use the windows 7 enlarge to 125% or 150% for example.

The exe I built and run on the development machine looked quite similar to when run inside the development system.

But when I installed the program on a test PC all text was smaller... I had to go over all controls again , and enlarge the text to make it visible.

And now finally when I took the working exe file from the test system to production system the text was bigger again...

Clearly there is something I don't understand here, hopefully someone can enlighten me! I have mainly let the font stay on "15p application font " or whatever the standard setup is, just changing the size when needed.

Versions

All systems are Windows 7 swedish, all run in 64bit windows.

Labview is 2015sp1 32 bit (tried on the old dev system with 2015 32 bit - same result)

Runtime is LV2015f1 and f3 since I did not find any 2015SP1 runtime.

[Alexander_Sobolev · Accepted solution]

Set current font to something fixed (standard windows 7 font is Segoe UI, in XP it was arial). Do not use system, dialog, application fonts on front panel. Most of the controls use application font. So Ctrl+A -> set fixed font.  Internal elements of the controls (graph axis fonts, type defs) sometimes need to be adjusted manually.

Check vi does not have checkmarks on vi properties -> window size page (maintain proportions for different display resolutions, scale as window resizes).

[RavensFan · Accepted solution]

Don't use those system fonts on the block diagram either.

Develop on XP with its smaller fonts, and you've aligned the nodes on your block diagram nicely.  Open in Win 7 and you find your wires aren't as nice because some nodes such as bundle/unbundle and property nodes have grown because of the text size.

If you do use the symbolic fonts in your front panel and made them more specific by way of settings in LabVIEW.ini, make sure you copy those same settings over to the executable's .ini file.

[SmithGo]

I didn't know this was even a problem.  This is very good information to know, that we should set the fonts.  Thank you!

[Ola_A]

Thanks Alexander and RavensFan! I think I understand most things now, and also why I have not been able to solve it.

I did some tests, and found out that as soon as I avoid the standard of "application 15p" everything is fine. If I happen to use "application 15p" the result is really, really unpredicatble.

One question is still around, how does this "Use as front panel default/Use as block diagram default "  setting on the font settings work? I would guess that if I set "Segoe 12p" as standard for both any new controls or block diagram objects? Is that all, or does it set some kind of default for the end application?

In the test I  made some controls, changed the text font and size like

1. "application font 15p" = no change
2. "application font 18p"
3. "Segoe 15p"
4. "Segoe 18p"

I then run and compile the program with windows enlarge settings set to 100%, 125%(normal) or 150%.

It turns out that for 2, 3, and 4 the text size is ok. The whole front panel is shown enlarged at 125% or 150% (ar runtime), but it doen not matter if I compile it with settings of 100%, 125% or 150%.

But for 1. where I kept the default " application font 15p" I never got the text to be the same size in the compiled app as in the development system

It is even more crasy, when I first run the app at 100% the text in (1) was smaller. At the end of the test, when I had changed windows size from 100% to 125% (+ log out) to 150% (+ log out) to 100% (+ restart) the same text was bigger that in development system.

So as already been said, just avoid the standard text settings, and set the font manually!!!

What killed me is that I set only the size to 12, 14, 15, 18, 24, keeping the font at "application". This lead to the text I have at 12, 14, 18, 24 beeing ok, but the text I have at 15p gets resized.

With this new knowledge I will go through my latest project once again and hopefully I will now be in change of the text size!

Ola

[RavensFan]

I believe the "use as default" setting is what is used for any newly created controls.  Anything already on the front panel or block diagram stays the same.

What is tricky about the font sizes is that they don't match the Windows sizes (a 15 in one is not the same as a 15 in the other), and also some LabVIEW font sizes map to the same Windows font size.

See http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Font-size-standardization/idi-p/1405022 (and be sure to kudo it as well.)

[Alexander_Sobolev]

I believe "Use front panel default" applies to labels, captions, free labels of new VIs. It does not apply to internal control font (value of string/numeric, graph axis, etc). These are parts of control as it has been designed and we do not have access to these templates!!!