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Sizing Individual Controls

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Use the sizing handles to resize a control. When the pointer is positioned on a sizing handle, it changes shape to indicate the direction in which the control will be resized. Active sizing handles are solid; if a sizing handle is hollow, the control cannot be resized along that axis.

You can also change the size of a control by snapping the control to guides or margins, or by moving one snapped control and guide away from another.

What do you want to do?

Size a control

Set the size of the combo box drop-down area

Make controls the same width, height, or size

Use guides and margins

Use the Layout Grid

To size a control

  1. Click the control, or select it with the TAB key.

  2. Drag the sizing handles to change the size of the control:

    • Sizing handles at the top and sides change the horizontal or vertical size.

    • Sizing handles at the corners change both horizontal and vertical size.

Tip   You can resize the control one dialog unit (DLU) at a time by holding down the SHIFT key and using the ARROW keys.

As you type a caption within a control, the control resizes to fit the text caption. You can disable this function by manually resizing the control with the sizing handles. To return to the automatic resizing of a control to fit the text within it, choose Size To Content from the Layout menu.

Setting the Size of the Combo Box Drop-Down Area

When you select a drop-down combo box or drop-down list box to size it, only the right and left sizing handles are active. Use these handles to set the width of the box as it is displayed initially.

You can also set the vertical size of the drop-down portion of the box.

To set the size of the combo box drop-down area

  1. Click the drop-down arrow at the right of the combo box.

    The outline of the control changes to show the size of the combo box with the drop-down area extended.

  2. Use the bottom sizing handle to change the initial size of the drop-down area.

  3. Click the drop-down arrow again to close the drop-down portion of the combo box.

Making Controls the Same Width, Height, or Size

You can resize a group of controls based on the size of the dominant control. You can also resize a control based on the dimensions of its caption text.

To make controls the same width, height, or size

  1. Select the controls you want to resize.

  2. Make sure the correct dominant control is selected.

    The final size of the controls in the group depends on the size of the dominant control. For more information on selecting the dominant control, see Selecting Controls.

  3. From the Layout menu, choose Make Same Size, then choose one of the following commands:

    • Make Same Width

    • Make Same Height

    • Make Same Size