Standard Form Colors for All Windows PCs

[Sorrells]

Standard Form Colors for All Windows PCs ???

Hi, I hope this turns out to be an interesting question for some of you. I am currently programming in WinXP/AccessXP.

When developing a commercial application, it may end up on a win98 to WinXP O/S with monitor resolutions and RAM varying greatly. In addition, it appears that the O/S general color scheme asserts itself by default more and more as new O/S versions come on-line.

I am concerned that if I get to specific in my form colors, they may not reproduce well on PCs not as powerful as mine, or earlier O/Ss. I also worry about the impact of the O/S color scheme and how it can be controlled, if desired, within Access.

So ultimately I am looking for advice as to (1) the color palette that would work within Win98 O/S and up with various resolutions and (2) how to keep control of the color scheme in WinXP when installing a run time application.

Wishing all a merry Christmas!

 

[ghudson]

It might be dull but sticking with the classic grey background color will give your application a more professional look. Obviously that is my opinion.

But if you really want different form background colors then you should stick with the color pallet that is displayed [not custom color number combinations] within Access and choose your colors from those "Basic" color options. That should limit any color problems no matter what version of Windows the user has.

HTH

 

[Oldsoftboss]

Setting yuor form - detail back color and other back colors to -2147483633 will use windows default settings for 3D objects, therefore when a user changes there color scheme access will follow without having miscellanious colors here and there.

As for the screen resolution, there are resizing threads available here. Try this one for a start.

http://www.access-programmers.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=43919&highlight=resize+screen

I design all my apps for 600 x 800 at the moment.

HTH
Dave

 

[Sorrells]

ghudson and Oldsoftboss, Thanks for your comments!

I think I did not make myself clear enough. I am designing in resolution 1024x768 and 32-bit True Color. I did start in 800x600 but found, for me using the Litwin/Getz resizer, that the forms were too small in the highest resolutions. Since this app is not for the web but installs on PCs, I moved up. All but one form still displays well in 800x600 and better in the higher resolutions.

But this is not my point of concern or knowledge I am seeking. Access has available in versions 97 and up the 'custom color' palette in its greatest diversity. My gut feeling is in sync with ghudson, that assurance of consistency of color across PC configurations comes only from the primary selection of colors and staying away from the custom palette.

However, I feel certain that my client will want the greatest number of color options possible. So, one of my questions is what PC configurations will support the widest, then next widest, etc. ranges of color. Associated with this question is one of PC demographics; how many PCs are in actual operation at the various configurations?

I am not even sure which variables determine the level of color capability but suspect the amount of RAM. In control panel/display there are 4 color settings. These must be driven by monitor resolution capability as well as RAM. I am not sure how windows does it.

On this PC I have 1/2 MB of RAM and I can go from the lowest to the highest resolution without losing' 32-bit True Color. I know this is not true for PCs with less RAM. So where would I go to get this kind of information? What causes and where are the breaks in what a PC can handle due to its configuration?

PC population dynamics are another area that could assist in determining the target audience. My standard resolution is 1024x768. What % of all PCs currently in use does this represent? How about 1154x864 or hanger-ons to 800x600? A lot of times, it seems like laptops have a resolution world of their own!

To be honest, I didn't realize that 800x600 could take 32-bit true color till this post! So, if I knew the RAM threshold to maintain a color level and the number of PCs currently able to maintain this, we might have good justification for making the full color palette available!

I've searched the web for PC demographics like this to no avail. But you would think this is fairly essential information for commercial programmers! I must not be querying correctly.

Ultimately, my client would sacrifice 20 - 25% of potential users if the statistics indicated the other 75% would have WYSIWYG at full color.

All of the above is independent of (I think) the question of how the O/S interacts with Access to determine the color scheme of the title bars. Can this be overridden?