Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms 3.6.1

Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms

📖 Documentation: Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms guide · complete API reference · all AppDimens .NET packages

Responsive sizes for Windows Forms. Instead of hard-coding button1.Width = 120, write button1.Width = 120.SdpPx() and the size adapts to the form size and to the monitor DPI — and is recalculated every time the user resizes the form.

Same engine as Bodenberg.AppDimens.Maui.Sdps (Android sdp/ssp parity), packaged for Windows Forms with no .NET MAUI dependency.

Table of contents

1. How it works
2. Step 1 — Install
3. Step 2 — Initialize
4. Step 3 — Size your controls inside Apply
5. Complete example form
6. Pixels, points and dp — which helper?
7. Which function should I use?
8. Tips for the Visual Studio designer
9. Troubleshooting
10. Português (resumo)

How it works

• You keep the numbers you already use (120 for a button width, 14 for text…).
• AppDimens treats them as sizes on a 300-unit-wide reference screen and scales them to your form.
• Windows Forms works in pixels, so the helpers ending in Px convert the result to pixels for the current monitor DPI (100 %, 125 %, 150 %…), and helpers ending in Pt give font points.

Step 1 — Install

Visual Studio: right-click the project → Manage NuGet Packages… → Browse → search Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms → Install.

dotnet add package Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms

Step 2 — Initialize

In your main form constructor, after InitializeComponent():

using AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms;

public partial class MainForm : Form
{
    public MainForm()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        AppDimensWinForms.Initialize(this);   // ← sizes now follow THIS form
    }
}

Step 3 — Size your controls inside Apply

Put all your AppDimens sizing inside one Apply block. It runs immediately and again every time the form is resized or moved to a monitor with a different DPI:

using AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms;

AppDimensWinForms.Apply(this, () =>
{
    saveButton.Width  = 120.SdpPx();          // width in pixels
    saveButton.Height = 40.HdpPx();
    saveButton.Font   = new Font(saveButton.Font.FontFamily, 14.SspPt());  // font in points

    panel1.Padding    = DimenPx.Padding(16.Sdp());  // same padding on all sides
    pictureBox1.Size  = DimenPx.Size(48.Sdp(), 48.Sdp());
});

That's it. 🎉

Complete example form

using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms;

public class MainForm : Form
{
    private readonly Label _title = new() { Text = "Dashboard", AutoSize = true };
    private readonly Button _save = new() { Text = "Save" };
    private readonly FlowLayoutPanel _panel = new() { Dock = DockStyle.Fill };

    public MainForm()
    {
        Text = "AppDimens demo";
        ClientSize = new Size(900, 600);
        _panel.Controls.AddRange([_title, _save]);
        Controls.Add(_panel);

        AppDimensWinForms.Initialize(this);
        AppDimensWinForms.Apply(this, ApplySizes);
    }

    private void ApplySizes()
    {
        _panel.Padding = DimenPx.Padding(16.Sdp());
        _title.Font    = new Font(Font.FontFamily, 22.SspPt(), FontStyle.Bold);
        _save.Size     = new Size(120.SdpPx(), 40.HdpPx());
        _save.Font     = new Font(Font.FontFamily, 14.SspPt());
        _save.Margin   = DimenPx.Padding(8.Sdp());
    }
}

Pixels, points and dp — which helper?

Every one of the 30 functions has the three forms: Name(), NamePx(), NamePt().

Which function should I use?

Tips for the Visual Studio designer

• Keep designing visually; AppDimens only overrides the properties you set inside Apply.
• Avoid fighting the built-in scaling: set AutoScaleMode = AutoScaleMode.None (or Dpi) on forms whose sizes are fully controlled by AppDimens, so Windows does not scale the same controls twice.
• Docking/anchoring (Dock, Anchor, TableLayoutPanel) still work — AppDimens is for the sizes.

Troubleshooting

Português (resumo)

1. Instale: dotnet add package Bodenberg.AppDimens.Sdps.WinForms
2. No construtor do formulário, depois de InitializeComponent(): AppDimensWinForms.Initialize(this);
3. Coloque os tamanhos dentro de AppDimensWinForms.Apply(this, () => { ... }); — ele roda agora e a cada redimensionamento:
   • Larguras/alturas em pixels: botao.Width = 120.SdpPx();
   • Fontes em pontos: label.Font = new Font(label.Font.FontFamily, 14.SspPt());
   • Padding: painel.Padding = DimenPx.Padding(16.Sdp());

Links: Repository · WPF version · MAUI version