Simplify dialog/banner sizing, defaults, and docs

[stevefal]

Even with the information on http://www.advancedinstaller.com/user-g ... theme.html, I find bitmap sizing still confusing in AI 7.2 UI, default settings and docs:

- If all Dlgs, DialogBitmap and BannerBitmap sizes are modifyable by the AI user (Enterprise edition), why should the Global Properties/Theme preview assume one certain size, and distort graphics that don't match it? For instance, my images are not not distorted in the dialog editor or my installer, but they are distorted in the preview.

- From the link, why are the "default sizes of images used by Advanced Installer" different than the "Actual dialog control sizes"? Shouldn't they be the same? How is a user who is creating graphics supposed to know which set of numbers to use?

-AI's default Dialog and Banner graphics don't match their corresponding control sizes. So In order to prevent their distortion, the controls are set to Fixed Size = True. But such a configuration results in the images staying small when the dialog grows under Windows Large Fonts, creating a mess (image not covering dialog area, text overlapping image edges). Who would ever want that?

I humbly suggest the following:

- Document the notion of AI's "Default Project" settings
- Standardize AI's default project dialog and banner bitmaps, and dialog and banner controls to round numbers 500x320 and 500x60.
- Adjust all AI default project dialog layouts to the new dialog/banner bitmap control sizes.
- Adjust dialog and banner bitmap controls to Fixed Size = False, so these full-width images scale properly under non-96DPI systems.
- Document that if you are using the the default project's dialogs and dialog/banner control settings, you should create bitmaps at exactly 500x320 and 500x60
- use GDI+ high-quality interpolation mode under Enhanced UI for stretching bitmaps when necessary (instead of jaggy stretchBlt)
- On Global Properties/Theme, show the images with stretching turned off, since actual runtime appearance depends on control size and Fixed Size settings anyway.

[Cosmin]

Hi,

If all Dlgs, DialogBitmap and BannerBitmap sizes are modifyable by the AI user (Enterprise edition), why should the Global Properties/Theme preview assume one certain size, and distort graphics that don't match it?

Unfortunately Windows Installer doesn't display correctly the banner and dialog images which have sizes that don't match the installation dialogs aspect ratio. This is why the Theme preview uses the recommended sizes to show the selected images. Note that dialogs cannot be customized for the Professional and For Java license (the users rely on the preview).

From the link, why are the "default sizes of images used by Advanced Installer" different than the "Actual dialog control sizes"? Shouldn't they be the same?

The default sizes are higher than the control sizes because this way the images have a better quality when using stretching. Using the actual control sizes may distort the images on machines with large fonts. The default sizes are optimized for general use (simple graphics with stretching).

How is a user who is creating graphics supposed to know which set of numbers to use?

If your theme uses simple graphics you can use the default sizes with stretching. However, if you are using high quality graphics or photos you can use the control sizes.

-AI's default Dialog and Banner graphics don't match their corresponding control sizes. So In order to prevent their distortion, the controls are set to Fixed Size = True. But such a configuration results in the images staying small when the dialog grows under Windows Large Fonts, creating a mess (image not covering dialog area, text overlapping image edges). Who would ever want that?

Each set of sizes work better in different scenarios. This is a limitation in the Windows Installer stretching algorithm. However, for the enhanced UI we will improve the stretching algorithm in a future version of Advanced Installer.

Document the notion of AI's "Default Project" settings

We will improve the help in the next version of Advanced Installer. Thank you for your suggestion.

Standardize AI's default project dialog and banner bitmaps, and dialog and banner controls to round numbers 500x320 and 500x60.
Adjust all AI default project dialog layouts to the new dialog/banner bitmap control sizes.

The current default sizes are optimized for best quality when using stretching. Using other sizes may result in image distortion. However, we will improve this in a future version of Advanced Installer.

Adjust dialog and banner bitmap controls to Fixed Size = False, so these full-width images scale properly under non-96DPI systems.

We will consider adding this improvement in a future version. Thank you for your suggestion.

Document that if you are using the the default project's dialogs and dialog/banner control settings, you should create bitmaps at exactly 500x320 and 500x60

We will improve the help in the next version of Advanced Installer.

use GDI+ high-quality interpolation mode under Enhanced UI for stretching bitmaps when necessary (instead of jaggy stretchBlt)

This improvement is on our TODO list and it will be available in a future version.

On Global Properties/Theme, show the images with stretching turned off, since actual runtime appearance depends on control size and Fixed Size settings anyway.

I added this improvement on our TODO list and it will be available in a future version. Thank you for your suggestion.

Regards,
Cosmin