Re: Video card/screen resolution question... - C# Discussion Boards

8-Feb-05 5:16

I would appreciate it if somebody could kindly provide the current settings for modern video cards with regard to screen resolution? The values that I currently have are as follows:

640 x 480
800 x 600
1024 x 768
1152 x 864
1280 x 1024

Would appreciate a listing for more modern video card settings. My video card was made circa 1997. To provide the requested assistance, please go to the Start menu, select Control Panel, select Display, select Settings, then look in the control group Screen Area, and then drag the slider control from left to right. The values for the screen areas of the video card should be displayed in the control group area for each setting of the video card at each place that the slider control stops. At least, that is my understanding of how it is done on my computer given my O/S of Windows 2000 Professional. Would appreciate knowledgeable feedback regarding current screen resolutions of modern video cards.

New_Phoenix

Dave Kreskowiak8-Feb-05 6:26

Dave Kreskowiak

8-Feb-05 6:26

Mine is capable of about 45 different resolutions all the way up to 1920 x 1440. No, i'm not listing them here.

A better bet woul;d be to use DirectX and interrogate the driver that the user has installed to see what it supports, instead of taking a Poll...

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

new_phoenix8-Feb-05 7:47

8-Feb-05 7:47

The reason that I need them in a hard-coded fashion is that the application requires them to be hard coded for calculation purposes. While the application in development does not require direct interpretation of the user's video card settings at this point, it may be a useful technique as the application evolves. I would really appreciate somebody to provide me with the current video card settings for modern computers, even if there are 45 settings.

While I understand that makes sense for some applications to do as you suggest and to use DirectX and to thereby interrogate the driver that the user has installed to see what it supports, this approach tends to introduce a whole host of uncontrollable variables into the equasion upon which the application depends. In developing an application, it makes sense to try to control as many variables as possible so that the application behaves in an expected manner. That is not an unreasonable request, is it? I would rather prefer to have all of the resolution settings up front to perform the calculations so that the application could behave in an expected manner rather than taking my chances with the results of an interrogation of a user's installed drivers for this application's purpose. This better ensures the development of an application that has a successful outcome, wouldn't it?

However, since I personally do not understand how to use DirectX, and since you do have that understanding, would really appreciate it if you would kindly provide a more detailed explanation as to how to implement the technique of utilizing DirectX to interrogate the driver that the user has installed? At some point, I do indeed believe that this information would be very valuable in the development of applications, and others on the board might be interested in hearing about the method as well.

Another alternative to my request would be to provide a listing that might just include the more common settings that video cards could have, that is, settings that most video cards support. To keep the list smaller, I would request that weeds out the video card resolution settings in which the drivers don't support the higher resolutions with a higher color depth. It should only take a few minutes when you are not busy. Thanks

Dave Kreskowiak8-Feb-05 7:54

Dave Kreskowiak

8-Feb-05 7:54

And, somehow, values obtained from the video card driver are not usable in your calculations???
This doesn't make any sense...

On top of that, some drivers don't support higher resolutions with a higher color depth.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

new_phoenix8-Feb-05 11:40

8-Feb-05 11:40

The reason that I need the video card's resolution settings in a "hard-coded" format is that the application requires them to be hard coded for calculation purposes. While the application in development does not require direct interpretation of the user's video card settings at this point, it may be a useful technique as the application evolves. I would really appreciate somebody to provide me with the current video card settings for modern computers, even if there are 45 settings, preferably the resolution settings that are most common to all video cards and not those that are specific to individual video card manufacturers.

While I understand that makes sense for some applications to do as you suggest and to use DirectX and to thereby interrogate the driver that the user has installed to see what it supports, this approach tends to introduce a whole host of uncontrollable variables into the equasion upon which the application depends. In developing an application, it makes sense to try to control as many variables as possible so that the application behaves in an expected manner. That is not an unreasonable request, is it?
You could see what I mean, that if the variables were left to chance interpretation by a driver DirectX interrogation, that it could potentially compromise the integrity and even the viability of the application itself?

I would rather prefer to have all of the resolution settings up front to perform the calculations so that the application could behave in an expected manner rather than taking my chances with the results of an interrogation of a user's installed drivers for this application's purpose. This better ensures the development of an application that has a successful outcome, wouldn't it?

However, since I personally do not understand how to use DirectX, and since you do have that understanding, would really appreciate it if you would kindly provide a more detailed explanation as to how to implement the technique of utilizing DirectX to interrogate the driver that the user has installed? At some point, I do indeed believe that this information would be very valuable in the development of applications, and others on the board might be interested in hearing about the method as well.

Another alternative to my request would be to provide a listing that might just include the more common settings that video cards could have, that is, settings that most video cards support. To keep the list smaller, I would request that weeds out the video card resolution settings in which the drivers don't support the higher resolutions with a higher color depth. It should only take a few minutes when you are not busy. If you prefer, kindly send me the video card resolution settings to me by clicking on the email link at the bottom. Thanks

Skynyrd8-Feb-05 13:34

Skynyrd

8-Feb-05 13:34

U could use managed directx to get the available modes.

I'm no DirectX guru so maybe there's a much easier way to do this, but using DirectDraw its pretty straightforward and didnt take too long to figure out a way:

using Dd=Microsoft.DirectX.DirectDraw;

public void GetModes()
{
    Dd.DisplayModesCollection modes=new Dd.DisplayModesCollection(Dd.GetDisplayModeFlags.StandardVgaModes | 
Dd.GetDisplayModeFlags.RefreshRates,null,new Dd.Device(Dd.CreateFlags.Default));
    modes.MoveNext();
    for (int i=0;i!=modes.Count;i++)
    {
        Dd.SurfaceDescription desc=(Dd.SurfaceDescription)modes.Current;
	Console.WriteLine(desc.Width.ToString() + " * " + desc.Height.ToString() + " "
 + desc.RefreshRate.ToString() + " " + (desc.PixelFormatStructure.AlphaBitDepth).ToString()
 + "bpp");
	modes.MoveNext();
    }
    Console.ReadLine();

}

new_phoenix10-Feb-05 5:34

10-Feb-05 5:34

Skynyrd:

With regard to the DirectX video card driver interrogation approach, it appears that the aforementioned code provides ALL of the resolutions provided by the end user's video card driver. Would you also kindly write the above code using windows/object code rather than the command console? I would also appreciate it if you would also write the code so that the code provides the "current" screen resolution that was "chosen" by the end user? Both could be very useful for addition to a code library at some point.

Also, what variable would I use to utilize the above code, would I use the variable "modes" and does the variable "modes" contain an array of the screen resolutions, and in what format, since the screen resolution contains the width and the height?

New_Phoenix

Skynyrd10-Feb-05 6:33

Skynyrd

10-Feb-05 6:33

Would you also kindly write the above code using windows/object code rather than the command console?

The DirectX.DirectDraw.DisplayModesCollection collection contains all the information u need of the available modes of ur gfx card. U simply have to iterate through its members.

These members are DirectX.DirectDraw.SurfaceDescription objects which have all the information you are looking for through its properties:

Hieght (in pixels)
Width (in pixels)
RefreshRate
etc.

Basically each DirectX.DirectDraw.SurfaceDescription in the collection represents a possible screen mode in the clients computer.

I just used the console so u could visibly see some of the output the collection can give u, but its up to you and how you manage the DisplayModesCollection collection and the SurfaceDescription objects contained within to extract the information u need.

would also appreciate it if you would also write the code so that the code provides the "current" screen resolution that was "chosen" by the end user?

I think u are referring to the screen resolution the user is using when running ur app?

If so, u dont need directX for that:

System.Windows.Forms.Screen.PrimaryScreen.Bounds

or

System.Windows.Forms.SystemInformation.PrimaryMonitorSize

will give u the resolution (through Width and Height) of ur primary system monitor.

How to secure communication between server and client ?

Daniel Turini8-Feb-05 16:04

Daniel Turini

8-Feb-05 16:04

Sorry, but I have two GeForce FX 5200. An el-cheapo video card, whose chipset is made by NVidia. I can create almost any resolution I want on each of these cards, as long as the monitor supports it.
And don't forget that I have two monitors plugged on my computer. I know people who use 3 and 4 monitors.
Your application don't need to support multiple monitors, but should at least not crash when run on a multiple monitor computer.

Yes, even I am blogging now!

DR_CHAOS8-Feb-05 4:56

DR_CHAOS

8-Feb-05 4:56

Hi
I am trying to build a online poker game with a server and a client.
I am programming the client and server in c#.
The user must install a client build with windows forms on his/hers computer.

The way i planned to do it was to let the users call webmethods on a webservice via https. The methods should contain the actions taken by a user like folding his cards or betting some money.

The server should then message all users at a table that a certain user taken a particular action.
The server to client communication is were the problem occurs because i dont know how to make the communication secure.
I have been looking at an open source ssl protocol from http://www.mentalis.org/soft/projects/seclib/[^] .
But the documentation on that protocol isnt that extensive.

I hope you can help me solve my problem about securing communication between server and client.
Also if you have some ideas to how i can make the most dynamic application then please tell me.

Flat Date Time Picker

ehammond8-Feb-05 4:46

ehammond

8-Feb-05 4:46

Does anybody have a compiled dll version of the Flat Date Time Picker control that has the source code listed elsewhere on this site?

I only have VB.net and I really need a flat date time picker Windows forms control. (I can't compile the C# file that is posted.)

Can someone help?

ehammond

Add Remove programmes

exhaulted8-Feb-05 4:06

exhaulted

8-Feb-05 4:06

Hi all, i've searched the forums but haven't been able to find anything on this topic so i thought i'd post this question.

I've written an Installer and Uninstaller for one of my applications that runs from a dongle, the installer reads from the dongle and only installs the files that the dongle has enabled which is why i have had to write an installer.

Now i need to know how to add my uninstaller to the add/romve programmes window in the control panel, anyone able to help??

Cheers

Kev

Owner process

Anonymous8-Feb-05 3:56

Anonymous

8-Feb-05 3:56

Hi All

I would like to retrieve the name of the executable that currently owns a com port. For example, I want to know that myprog.exe has com1 open. Does anyone know how to do this?

Re: Owner process

Judah Gabriel Himango8-Feb-05 4:52

Judah Gabriel Himango

8-Feb-05 4:52

Definitely not possible using the standard .NET API; as what you're doing requires low-level knowledge of the underlying OS. You might have better luck asking this question in a C/C++ forum, or a Win32 user group.

Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit.
Judah Himango

C# From from Unmanaged C++

erik567898-Feb-05 3:53

erik56789

8-Feb-05 3:53

I have an unmanaged C++ application and want to use managed C# forms. Converting the code to managed code and rewriting in C# are not options. Somehow I think that the CComPtr is a key but am not sure how to use it. Can anyone help?

-Erik

Dave Kreskowiak8-Feb-05 4:40

Dave Kreskowiak

8-Feb-05 4:40

I have to ask...Why do you want to use Windows Forms in C# if you're not going to rewrite the code to use them and not going to code anything in C#? AFAIK, you're going to have to rewrite the code no matter what if you want to use managed objects like Windows Forms.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

erik567898-Feb-05 4:46

erik56789

8-Feb-05 4:46

Actually here is a better description of what I'm doing.
I am writing a custom interface to manipulate some data in a CAD system.
The CAD system is written in C. I would like to use C# to manage the interface and only call the C routines when necessary to communicate with the CAD system. Since the CAD system has control to begin with I need to pass control to C#. To do this I first must have C bring up the C# form. I think I can handle the calls to C from C# once I have the form opened (I've found some articles). The best that I can find is that the CComPtr can be used but I don't seem to be having much luck. Does this make any more sense?

Judah Gabriel Himango8-Feb-05 4:47

Judah Gabriel Himango

8-Feb-05 4:47

While I don't know that it's possible to call into a running C++ application, you can call exported functions in a C++ dll using P/Invoke (http://pinvoke.net). Or if the C++ library uses COM, just add a reference to the dll in Visual Studio, which will call AxImp utility to create a wrapper of the COM dll usable in .NET. Or if you don't have Visual Studio, use the AxImp command line tool manually to generate a wrapper.

Tech, life, family, faith: Give me a visit.
Judah Himango

mav.northwind8-Feb-05 5:06

mav.northwind

8-Feb-05 5:06

Hi!

I think you have two options here, depending on what the CAD system allows you to do.

If you can create COM objects from within the CAD system then you can expose a C# class to COM (I've written a wizard to do just this: A COM class wizard for VS.NET 2003[^]). Then you can create instances of your (C#) class with regular CoCreateInstance() calls, like you would with other classes.

If you can't do this, you could write a Win32 DLL that exposes an entry function (TransferControlToMyCSClass) and in this function you can then instantiate and use your C# class via managed C++.

mav