How to: Set the Design Area for a Form

You can set the maximum design area for the Form Designer in the Options dialog box.

To set the maximum design area for a form

1. From the Tools menu, choose Options.

2. In the Options dialog box, choose the Forms tab.

3. In the Maximum design area box, choose the pixel coordinates for the maximum design area.

   Tip

   If you select None, the Form Designer does not impose a limit on the size of form you design.

For more information, see Forms Tab, Options Dialog Box.

When you set the maximum design area, the background of the Form Designer is white within the design area boundaries and gray in areas beyond the maximum design area. If you develop applications on a monitor with a resolution of 1024 x 768, for example, you can set your design resolution to 640 x 480 and know that the forms you design will always fit on 640 x 480 screens.

Within the design area, be sure to account for standard window attributes such as toolbars. For example, in a 640 x 480 screen, a form with a status bar and one toolbar docked at the top or the bottom of the screen can have a maximum height of 390 pixels.

Note   The required pixel amounts above will vary if themed windows are used.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Manage Multiple Instances of a Form

How to: Create Forms with Local and Remote Data

How to: Set Form Templates

Other Resources

Working with Forms

Creating Forms