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11# 概述
22
33LCL 會自動修改 controls 的大小和位置,所以它會根據字體,主題,文字和其他內容來自動適應。如果你想讓你的程式在多個平台上執行,或者程式裡的 captions 有多個語言。那麼,你的 controls 需要正確地適應本地環境. LCL 不僅允許你用快速的第一設計模式(用滑鼠在 form 上移動 controls),也允許你之後再改動一些主要的屬性來使得 controls 自動適應後來的內容變動。
44
55- Fixed design: 當在 designer 裡放置好 control 後,它就預設地啟用. Control 的位置相對它的父組件是固定的. Control 的大小和位置(Left, Top)可以被程式員改變。你可以自由地用滑鼠移動 control 或改變其大小。
66- Aligned: 對齊的 controls 會根據設定填充父組件的頂部,底部,左邊,右邊的剩餘空間或者整個剩餘空間。
77- Anchored: 你可以在 control 的邊上(left, top, right, bottom)拋錨,錨住父組件或者另一個 control. 一旦錨住後, LCL 就會使得拋錨的那個邊和被錨住的組件的距離固定。
88- Layout: controls 可以自動地依據行列對齊(例如 TRadioGroup)
99- Custom via OnResize: 自己處理 OnResize, OnChangeBounds 事件,你就可以自己安排 controls 了。
1010- Custom controls: 自己寫 controls, 那麼你就可以按你需要覆寫幾乎所有 LCL 行為了。
1111
1212## 優先級規則
1313
14141. Constraints
15152. Align
16163. Anchors
17174. ChildSizing.Layout
18185. AutoSize
19196. OnResize, OnChangeBounds - 要注意的是,如果你設定的 bounds 和上述規則有衝突,那麼程式會進入無窮迴圈。
2020
2121## 常用屬性
2222
2323一些用來配置 autosizeing 的重要屬性:
2424
2525- Left, Top, Width, Height
2626- AutoSize: autosize 另 LCL 自動地更改 control 的寬和高。
2727- Anchors: 創建一個錨。例如,將一個 ComboBox 錨在一個 Label 的右邊。
2828- Align
2929- Constraints: 設定寬和高的最小值和最大值。
3030- BorderSpacing: 設定被錨住的 control 之間的空間。
3131- ChildSizing: 設定子 control 的 layout 和空間。
3232
3333上述法則的內部原理在此有描述: [[LCL AutoSizing]].
3434
3535# Fixed design
3636
3737這是預設設定. Anchors 屬性會被設定成 \[akLeft, akTop\], 也就是說, LCL 不會改變 Left, Top. 如果 AutoSize 為 false, 那麼 Width 和 Height 也會保持不便。如果 AutoSize 為 true, 那麼 Width 和 Height 會改動以適用內容。例如, TLabel.AutoSize 預設是 true, 因此,改變 Caption 就會重設 label 的大小. TButton.AutoSize 預設為 false, 所以改變 Caption 不會重設按鈕的大小。當你將 Button.AutoSize 設成 true 後,這個按鈕會在每次 Caption, 字體,主題改變後縮小或增大。要注意的是,這種改變不總是立即進行的。例如,在 FormCreate 時,所有 autosizing 動作會懸掛。 你可以在任何時候改變 Left, Top, Width, Height 屬性。
3838
3939# AutoSize
4040
4141`AutoSize` 這個布林屬性出現在許多類中;它允許 control 自動進行大小的調整以適應它包含的文本或圖形,也允許最有效地使用可用的空間。這是創建跨平台窗體的一個非常重要的機制。
4242
4343通常, AutoSize=true 後,會為可見 control:
4444
4545- 如果可能,它改變 control 的大小到 preferred size. 例如,一個 TButton 的寬度和高度被改變大小以適應它的 caption, 而對於 TEdit, 只改變高度. TEdit 的寬度不會自動改變大小。你可以手工改變它。可參考下 GetPreferredSize.
4646- 它同時移動所有固定位置的子 control。最左邊的子 control 會移到 Left=0 (依賴於 BoarderSpacing), 最上邊的子 control 會移到 Top=0.
4747
4848## Difference to Delphi
4949
5050Delphi 的 AutoSize 僅在特定的屬性改變時作用。例如,當 TLabel 的 Font 被改變時. LCL 的 AutoSize 總是有效的。例如,在 Delphi 裡,一個 AutoSize=true 的 Label 仍然可以設置大小(可能造成部分或全部 Caption 無法顯示), 這在 LCL 中是不會出現的,因為 AutoSize 總是起作用。另外,隱藏的 controls 不會被改變大小。
5151
5252## AutoSize and resizing the control
5353
5454當 AutoSize=false 按鈕就會呈現固定的大小。
5555
5656![](/wiki-images/1/1f/Autosize1.png)
5757
5858當對 button 設置 AutoSize=true, 那麼這些 buttons 就會被增大或縮小以適應文字或主題框架。
5959
6060![](/wiki-images/7/75/Autosize_on.png)
6161
6262如上圖的 OK 按鈕所示, AutoSize 並不會將按鈕縮小到儘可能小。它使用GetPreferredSize 來獲取建議大小,這個函數又會調用 CalculatePreferredSize. 預設的 TWinControl 實作會查詢 widgetset, 它可能設定了建議的 width 和 height. 每個 control 都能覆寫 CalculatePreferredSize. 例如, TImage 就覆寫它並返回圖片的大小。如果沒有沒有建議的 width(或 height), 那麼就返回 0, LCL 會保持 width(height), 除非 ControlStyle 標記 csAutoSize0x0 被設置(這個標記當前只被 TPanel 使用).
6363
6464TWinControl 計算它所有的 controls 的大小,然後利用這個值來計算它自己的建議大小。
6565
6666當一個 control 的左錨和右錨都錨到其他對象,那麼它的 *寬度就是固定的*(動態的固定,依錨住的對象的位置變動而改變)。例如,當 *Align=alTop*(Align 屬性可看作一個快速設置錨的屬性,會覆蓋錨的設置), 這個 control 就的左錨就錨住它的父對象的到左邊界,右錨就錨住它的父對象的右邊界。之後它的寬度就隨父對象而改變了。如果 *Parent.AutoSize* 是 true 的話,那麼 *Parent* 將會實用這個 control 的建議寬度來計算它自己的建議寬度,參閱 [[Autosize / Layout|Align and AutoSize]]. 如果沒有可用的建議寬度,那麼就使用最後設置的邊界(**BaseBounds** 或者 **ReadBounds**). 如果邊界為設置,那麼就調用 **GetControlClassDefaultSize** 方法。對於 **Height** 也是同樣的機制。
6767
6868Constraints(約束)總是起作用,且優先級更高。
6969
7070## AutoSize and moving child controls
7171
7272When AutoSize=false you can place and move controls freely:
7373
7474![](/wiki-images/7/75/Autosize_on.png)
7575
7676When AutoSize=true child controls with fixed positions are moved to fit.
7777
7878![](/wiki-images/d/d9/Autosize_panel_on.png)
7979
8080Both buttons on the panel were moved by the same amount to top and left, so that there is no space left to the left and top. If the buttons would have BorderSpacing\>0 or the Panel.ChildSizing.LeftRightSpacing\>0 the buttons would be moved so that the defined space is used.
8181
8282Only child controls with the following values are moved:
8383
8484- Anchors=\[akLeft,akRight\]
8585- AnchorSide\[akLeft\].Control=nil
8686- AnchorSide\[akTop\].Control=nil
8787- Align=alNone
8888
8989The moving of the child controls depend on the propert [[Autosize / Layout|ChildSizing.Layout]]. The layout is applied in the method TWinControl.AlignControls which can be overridden. For example TToolBar overrides that and defines a flow layout where controls that do not fit are put into subsequent lines.
9090
9191Controls can disable the moving of child controls by setting the ControlStyle flag csAutoSizeKeepChildLeft and csAutoSizeKeepChildTop (since 0.9.29).
9292
9393## AutoSize and Forms
9494
9595Forms without Parent are controlled by the window manager and can therefore not be placed or resized freely. Setting the size is only a recommendation and might be ignored by the window manager. For example you might set the Width of a Form to 1000 and the widgetset might answer with a resize to 800. If you set the Width in OnResize you might create an endless loop. That's why the LCL TForm disables AutoSize when the widgetset resizes the form.
9696
9797That means AutoSize for forms stops when the user resizes the form or if the window manager does not like the bounds. For example some Linux window managers have features like magnetic sides which resizes windows in relationship to other windows.
9898
9999### Force an auto sizing of a form
100100
101101You can start/execute a new AutoSize by doing:
102102
103103``` pascal
104104Form1.AutoSize := False;
105105Form1.AutoSize := True;
106106```
107107
108108### Compute the size of an autosized form in advance
109109
110110When placing an autosized form you might need the size of the form before showing it. Autosizing requires the handle. You can compute the size of a form before showing it with:
111111
112112``` pascal
113113From1.HandleNeeded;
114114Form1.GetPreferredSize(PreferredWidth,PreferredHeight);
115115```
116116
117117**Note**: The window manager and form events might change the size. The preferred size does not include the form's window borders. This is a planned feature.
118118
119119# Anchor Sides
120120
121121Controls have four sides: akLeft, akTop, akRight and akBottom. Each side can be anchored to the parent or the side of another sibling (a control with the same parent). Anchoring means **keeping the distance**. The default is Anchors=\[akLeft,akTop\]. Vertical anchors are independent of horizontal anchors. Some properties like Align and Parent.AutoSize have higher precedence and can change the behaviour.
122122
123123## Anchored to Parent or Nil
124124
125125Anchoring to Nil (the default) has almost the same effect as anchoring to the Parent. Both try to keep the distance to a side of the Parent's client area. Anchoring to Nil uses the distance of the last SetBounds call, while Anchoring to Parent uses the BorderSpacing value.
126126
127127There are four combinations of akLeft,akRight (akTop,akBottom):
128128
129129- **akLeft, no akRight**: the control's **Left** is fixed and not changed by the LCL. The right side is not anchored, so it follows the left side. That means the **Width** is kept too.
130130- **akLeft and akRight**: the control's **Left** is fixed and not changed by the LCL. The right side is anchored to the Parent's right side. That means if the Parent is enlarged by 100pixel then the control's **Width** is enlarged by 100pixel too.
131131- **akRight, no akLeft**: the control's left side is not anchored, so it will follow its right side. The right side is anchored. That means if the parent is enlarged by 100pixel then the control is moved to the right by 100pixel.
132132- **no akLeft and no akRight**: neither sides are anchored. The position of the center of the control scales with the parent. For example if the control is in the middle of the parent and the parent is enlarged by 100 pixel, then the control is moved 50pixel to the right.
133133
134134### Changing the size of the parent of an anchored control
135135
136136A GroupBox with a Button: ![](/wiki-images/6/60/Anchors1.png)
137137
138138When the GroupBox is enlarged the distance of the anchored side is kept:
139139
140140With akLeft, no akRight: ![](/wiki-images/0/05/Anchors_akLeft.png)
141141
142142With akLeft and akRight: ![](/wiki-images/6/66/Anchors_akLeft_akRight.png)
143143
144144With akRight, no akLeft: ![](/wiki-images/d/d3/Anchors_akRight_no_akLeft.png)
145145
146146Three buttons in a groupbox: ![](/wiki-images/4/48/Anchors_no_akLeft_no_akRight_small.png)
147147
148148With no akLeft and no akRight their centers are scaled: ![](/wiki-images/7/7b/Anchors_no_akLeft_no_akRight_big.png)
149149
150150### Changing the size of an anchored control
151151
152152When changing the Width of an anchored control, for example via the Object Inspector or via code *Button1.Width:=3*, you can see the difference between anchoring to *Parent* and anchoring to *Nil*. Anchoring to Parent will resize and move the Button1, while anchoring to Nil will only resize. For example:
153153
154154#### Anchored to nil
155155
156156![](/wiki-images/b/bd/Anchored_right_nil_resize1.png) A Button1 anchored \[akTop,akRight\], AnchorSide\[akRight\].Control=nil
157157
158158![](/wiki-images/a/a0/Anchored_right_nil_resize2.png) Setting the Width to a smaller value will shrink the button, keeping the button's *Left*, increasing the distance of the right side.
159159
160160![](/wiki-images/1/16/Anchored_right_nil_resize3.png) When the Groupbox is resized the button will keep the new distance.
161161
162162**Explanation:** setting the **Width** is equivalent to calling SetBounds(**Left**,Top,**NewWidth**,Height). That's why the *Left* is kept. This is Delphi compatible.
163163
164164#### Anchored to Parent
165165
166166![](/wiki-images/4/45/Anchored_right_parent_resize1.png) A Button1 anchored \[akTop,akRight\], AnchorSide\[akRight\].Control=Button1.Parent
167167
168168![](/wiki-images/0/04/Anchored_right_parent_resize2.png) Setting the Width to a smaller value will shrink the button, keeping the right distance, changing the button's *Left*.
169169
170170## Anchored to sibling
171171
172172You can anchor to neighbor controls. The following example shows:
173173
174174- you can anchor a label's left to the left of a button
175175- anchor a label's top to the bottom of a button
176176- anchor the center of a label to the center of a button
177177
178178![](/wiki-images/e/ee/Anchorsides_example1.png)
179179
180180![](/wiki-images/b/ba/Anchorside_example2.png)
181181
182182For more details and how to setup anchors see: [[Anchor Sides]].
183183
184184![](/wiki-images/6/6d/Anchoreditor.png)
185185
186186## BorderSpacing
187187
188188The BorderSpacing properties controls the minimum amount of space around a control. The properties are:
189189
190190- Around: this amount in pixel is added to Left, Top, Right, Bottom.
191191- Left: space in pixel on the left side of the control
192192- Top: space in pixel above the control
193193- Right: space in pixel on the right side of the control
194194- Bottom: space in pixel below the control
195195- InnerBorder: this amount in pixel is added twice to the preferred width and height. Some controls override the calculation and ignore this property. An example where it works is TButton. With InnerBorder you can make a button bigger than needed.
196196- CellAlignHorizontal: This is used in table layouts like ChildSizing.Layout=cclLeftToRightThenTopToBottom. If the control is smaller than the table cell, this property defines where to align the control: to the left ccaLeftTop, to the right ccaRightBottom or in the middle ccaCenter.
197197- CellAlignVertical: same as CellAlignHorizontal but for vertical alignment.
198198
199199### BorderSpacing rules
200200
201201- Around is added to Left,Top,Right,Bottom
202202- The horizontal space between two controls (LeftControl, RightControl on Parent) is the maximum of
203203 - LeftControl.BorderSpacing.Right + LeftControl.BorderSpacing.Around
204204 - RightControl.BorderSpacing.Left + RightControl.BorderSpacing.Around
205205 - Parent.ChildSizing.HorizontalSpacing
206206
207207For instance if LeftControl.BorderSpacing.Right = 3 and LeftControl.BorderSpacing.Around = 4, then there is at least 7 pixel space between the two controls. If RightControl.BorderSpacing.Left = 4 and RightControl.BorderSpacing.Around = 4 then the space will be at least 8. If Parent.ChildSizing.HorizontalSpacing = 10 then the space will be at least 10.
208208
209209Note: The space can be even bigger, if the controls have constraints that don't allow to expand.
210210
211211A common example is anchoring a Label to an Edit.
212212
213213![](/wiki-images/1/1e/BorderSpacing_Anchors.png)
214214
215215The Label center is vertically anchored to the Edit. The Edit's left side is anchored to the right side of the Label. Both have BorderSpacing.Around=6. This results in 6 pixel space between the Label and the Edit and 6 pixel space left of the Label and 6 pixel space right of the Edit. There is 6 pixel space above and below the Edit as well.
216216
217217- The left space between a control and its parent (Label1 on GroupBox1) is the maximum of
218218 - Label1.BorderSpacing.Left + Label1.BorderSpacing.Around
219219 - GroupBox1.ChildSizing.LeftTopSpacing
220220
221221- The right space between a control and its parent (Edit1 on GroupBox1) is the maximum of
222222 - Edit1.BorderSpacing.Right + Edit1.BorderSpacing.Around
223223 - GroupBox1.ChildSizing.RightBottomSpacing
224224
225225- When a control's center is anchored to another control, for example the above Label is centered vertically to the Edit1, then all spacings are ignored.
226226
227227- When a control's left side is anchored to the left side of another control (i.e. they are aligned with the left side), then the space is the maximum of
228228 - Control1.BorderSpacing.Left + Control1.BorderSpacing.Around
229229 - Control2.BorderSpacing.Left + Control2.BorderSpacing.Around
230230
231231Here is a more complex example:
232232
233233![](/wiki-images/9/9c/Borderspacing_anchors2.png)
234234
235235The important parts of the lfm code:
236236
237237``` pascal
238238 object GroupBox1: TGroupBox
239239 AutoSize = True
240240 Caption = 'GroupBox1'
241241 TabOrder = 0
242242 object Label1: TLabel
243243 AnchorSideLeft.Control = GroupBox1
244244 AnchorSideTop.Control = Edit1
245245 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrCenter
246246 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
247247 Caption = 'Label1'
248248 end
249249 object Edit1: TEdit
250250 AnchorSideLeft.Control = Label1
251251 AnchorSideLeft.Side = asrBottom
252252 AnchorSideTop.Control = GroupBox1
253253 AnchorSideRight.Control = GroupBox1
254254 AnchorSideRight.Side = asrBottom
255255 Anchors = [akTop, akLeft, akRight]
256256 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
257257 TabOrder = 0
258258 Text = 'Edit1'
259259 end
260260 object Label2: TLabel
261261 AnchorSideLeft.Control = GroupBox1
262262 AnchorSideTop.Control = Edit1
263263 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrBottom
264264 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
265265 Caption = 'Label2'
266266 end
267267 object ComboBox1: TComboBox
268268 AnchorSideLeft.Control = Label2
269269 AnchorSideTop.Control = Label2
270270 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrBottom
271271 AnchorSideRight.Control = GroupBox1
272272 AnchorSideRight.Side = asrBottom
273273 Anchors = [akTop, akLeft, akRight]
274274 BorderSpacing.Right = 6
275275 TabOrder = 1
276276 Text = 'ComboBox1'
277277 end
278278 object CheckBox1: TCheckBox
279279 AnchorSideLeft.Control = GroupBox1
280280 AnchorSideTop.Control = ComboBox1
281281 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrBottom
282282 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
283283 Caption = 'CheckBox1'
284284 TabOrder = 2
285285 end
286286 object Label3: TLabel
287287 AnchorSideLeft.Control = GroupBox1
288288 AnchorSideTop.Control = Edit2
289289 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrCenter
290290 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
291291 Caption = 'Label3'
292292 end
293293 object Edit2: TEdit
294294 AnchorSideLeft.Control = Label3
295295 AnchorSideLeft.Side = asrBottom
296296 AnchorSideTop.Control = CheckBox1
297297 AnchorSideTop.Side = asrBottom
298298 BorderSpacing.Around = 6
299299 TabOrder = 3
300300 Text = 'Edit2'
301301 end
302302 end
303303```
304304
305305### BorderSpacing and Align
306306
307307BorderSpacing works with Align. In the example below there is a Memo1 with Align=alTop and a Memo2 with Align=alCLient.
308308
309309- Normally the two Memos would fill the whole GroupBox.
310310- But the Memo1 has BorderSpacing.Around=10, so there 10 pixel space around Memo1.
311311- The Memo2 has BorderSpacing.Top=20. The space between Memo1 and Memo2 is the maximum, which is the 20 from Memo2.
312312- Memo2 has also BorderSpacing.Right=50 so there is 50 Pixel space right of Memo2.
313313- The GroupBox can define default space for all its child controls via ChildSizing.LeftRightSpacing/VerticalSpacing/HorizontalSpacing. In this example it does not (all 0).
314314
315315![](/wiki-images/1/13/Borderspacing_align1.png)
316316
317317# Align
318318
319319The Align property works pretty much like in Delphi and can be used to quickly fill an area. For example to let a TListBox fill the entire area of its Parent, set ListBox1.Align=alClient. The align values alTop, alBottom, alLeft and alRight will place controls without overlapping if possible. That means all controls with Align in alLeft,alTop,alBottom,alRight will not overlap if there is enough space.
320320
321321The algorithm works as follows:
322322
323323- First all controls with alTop are put to the top of the client area. If there are several controls with alTop the last added/moved will be put topmost. The algorithm will try to avoid overlapping and keep the height of the control, while expanding the width to maximum. AnchorSides of the left, top and right sides are ignored. The bottom AnchorSide works normal. Borderspacing and Parent.ChildSizing spaces are considered, so you can define space around each aligned control.
324324- Then all controls with alBottom are put to the bottom of the client area. Otherwise it works analog to alTop.
325325- Then all controls with alLeft are put to the left of the client area between the alTop and alBottom controls. Otherwise it works analog to alTop.
326326- Then all controls with alRight are put to the right of the client area between the alTop and alBottom controls. Otherwise it works analog to alTop.
327327- If there is a control with alClient it will fill the remaining client.
328328- If there is more than one control with alClient they will be placed at the same position, overlapping each other. Use the Visibility property to define which one is shown.
329329
330330![](/wiki-images/e/e6/Autosize_align.png)
331331
332332## Align and BorderSpacing
333333
334334The space of BorderSpacing and of the parent's ChildSizing is applied to aligned controls. The memo below has Align=alClient.
335335
336336![](/wiki-images/b/b4/Autosize_align_borderspacing.png)
337337
338338## Align and Anchoring
339339
340340The free side of an aligned control (e.g. the right side of a **Align=alLeft**) follows the anchoring rules. If the anchor is not set, then the control will keep its **Width**. If the anchor is set, then the **Width** will change.
341341
342342## Align and AutoSize
343343
344344A control aligned with alLeft or alRight expands vertically, and will use its designed width. If *AutoSize* is set to *true*, then the *Width* will be the preferred width. The button below has *Align=alRight* and *AutoSize=true*.
345345
346346![](/wiki-images/3/35/Autosize_align_autosize.png)
347347
348348## Align and parent AutoSize
349349
350350A control aligned with alClient fills the remaining space. A parent control with *AutoSize=true* will expand or shrink to enclose its children exactly. What happens if you combine these two properties? Say you put a button with Align=alClient into a groupbox with AutoSize=true?
351351
352352![](/wiki-images/b/b1/Autosize_nested1.png)
353353
354354The LCL uses the *preferred size* of the buttons and expands or shrinks the groupbox accordingly:
355355
356356![](/wiki-images/2/28/Autosize_nested2.png)
357357
358358## alCustom
359359
360360This Align value exists for custom AutoSize algorithms and is treated by the LCL almost like alNone. Controls with alCustom are not moved by the LCL but by your custom control. You have to override CalculatePreferredSize and DoAutoSize.
361361
362362## Order of controls with same Align
363363
364364Controls with same Align are added in the following order. On alLeft the control with the lowest Left wins, for alTop the lowest Top, for alRight the biggest Left+Width, for alBottom the biggest Top+Height. If two controls have the same coordinate the one last moved (calls to SetBounds or SetParent) wins. Controls can override CreateControlAlignList to change the order or override DoAlignChildControls to handle the whole Align.
365365
366366Note: Before 0.9.29 controls at the same coordinate were put in Z order. This resulted in reordering in some cases and had to be fixed. There is one incompatibility: If you added several controls with alTop or alLeft without specifying bounds the controls are put at 0,0 and therefore the last added wins, where formerly the first won.
367367
368368# Layout
369369
370370## Rows, columns and lines
371371
372372You can align child controls in rows and columns using the ChildSizing properties. For example:
373373
374374- ChildSizing.Layout=cclLeftToRightThenTopToBottom
375375- ChildSizing.ControlsPerLine=3
376376- AutoSize=false (the groupbox does not fit the childs)
377377
378378![](/wiki-images/1/10/Autosize_layout_lefttoright.png)
379379
380380The **Layout** property defaults to cclNone. If you set **Layout** to another value, every child, that has *normal* anchors, will be aligned. *Normal* anchors means:
381381
382382- Anchors=\[akLeft,akTop\]
383383- AnchorSide\[akLeft\].Control=nil
384384- AnchorSide\[akTop\].Control=nil
385385- Align=alNone
386386
387387The value **cclLeftToRightThenTopToBottom** will put the first child at top, left, the second to the right, and so forth. This is a **line**. The property **ControlsPerLine** defines when a new line is started. In the above example each line (row) has 3 controls. There are 12 controls, so there are 4 lines (rows) each with 3 controls (columns). If *ControlsPerLine* is 0 it means unlimited controls per line - there would be only one row with all childs.
388388
389389You can see that the rows have different sizes, each row has the size of the biggest control and that the controls are resized to column width. There is no space between the rows. The space in the image comes from the used theme, not from the LCL.
390390
391391## Fixed space between rows and columns
392392
393393You can add space between with these properties:
394394
395395- ChildSizing.VerticalSpacing - Space between rows
396396- ChildSizing.HorizontalSpacing - Space between columns
397397- ChildSizing.LeftRightSpacing - Space on the left and right of *all* columns
398398- ChildSizing.TopBottomSpacing - Space above and below of *all* columns
399399
400400The above example with ChildSizing.VerticalSpacing=6, ChildSizing.HorizontalSpacing=15, ChildSizing.LeftRightSpacing=30, ChildSizing.TopBottomSpacing=10, AutoSize=true
401401
402402![](/wiki-images/a/a9/Autosize_layout_parentspacing.png)
403403
404404Additionally you can add individual space for each control with its BorderSpacing properties.
405405
406406## Enlarge
407407
408408The above example resized the GroupBox to the needed space. If your GroupBox has a fixed size or if it is not freely resizable, for instance if the GroupBox should fill the whole width of the form, then the childs should enlarge. There are several modes. The default mode *ChildSizing.EnlargeHorizontal=crsAnchorAligning* is to not enlarge anything. The space on the right side will be unused.
409409
410410- crsAnchorAligning - do not use the extra space
411411- crsScaleChilds - multiply the width/height with the same factor
412412- crsHomogeneousChildResize - add to each width/height the same amount
413413- crsHomogeneousSpaceResize - add to each space between the childs the same amount
414414
415415### crsScaleChilds
416416
417417ChildSizing.EnlargeHorizontal=crsScaleChilds, ChildSizing.EnlargeVertical=crsScaleChilds, AutoSize=false
418418
419419![](/wiki-images/b/b0/Autosize_layout_scalechilds.png)
420420
421421For example if the ClientWidth is twice as big as needed, then every child will be twice as big.
422422
423423### crsHomogeneousChildResize
424424
425425ChildSizing.EnlargeHorizontal=crsHomogeneousChildResize, ChildSizing.EnlargeVertical=crsHomogeneousChildResize, AutoSize=false
426426
427427![](/wiki-images/3/39/Autosize_layout_homogeneouschildresize.png)
428428
429429For example if the ClientWidth is 30 pixel bigger than needed, then every child will be 10 pixel broader.
430430
431431### crsHomogeneousSpaceResize
432432
433433ChildSizing.EnlargeHorizontal=crsHomogeneousSpaceResize, ChildSizing.EnlargeVertical=crsHomogeneousSpaceResize, AutoSize=false
434434
435435![](/wiki-images/9/96/Autosize_layout_homogeneousspaceresize.png)
436436
437437For example if the ClientWidth is 40 pixel bigger than needed, there will be 10 pixel space on the left, right and between each child.
438438
439439## Shrink
440440
441441Shrinking works similar to enlarging. You can set different modes if there is not enough space for controls. **ShrinkHorizontal**, **ShrinkVertical**.
442442
443443## Individual cells
444444
445445In the above examples all controls were resized the same, each filled the whole *cell*. A *cell* is the space in a specific row and column. Normally a control fills the whole cell space. This can be changed with the properties **BorderSpacing.CellAlignHorizontal** and **BorderSpacing.CellAlignVertical**.
446446
447447For example set the *BorderSpacing.CellAlignHorizontal* of the fifth button to **caCenter** you will get this:
448448
449449![](/wiki-images/d/d3/Autosize_layout_cellhorizontal_cacenter.png)
450450
451451There are four possible values for CellAlignHorizontal/CellAlignVertical:
452452
453453- caFill: the child control fills the whole width (height) of the cell
454454- caCenter: the child control uses its preferred width (height) and will be centered in the cell
455455- caLeftTop: the child control uses its preferred width (height) and will be leftaligned in the cell
456456- caRightBottom: the child control uses its preferred width (height) and will be rightaligned in the cell
457457
458458![](/wiki-images/c/c0/Autosize_layout_cellalign.png)
459459
460460# Custom layout with OnResize / OnChangeBounds
461461
462462Sometimes the LCL layout is not sufficient. The below example shows a GroupBox1 with a ListBox1 and a Memo1. The ListBox1 should fill one third of the space, the Memo1 takes the rest.
463463
464464![](/wiki-images/4/4b/Autosize_onresize.png)
465465
466466Whenever the GroupBox is resized the ListBox1.Width should be one third. To achieve this set the OnResize event of the GroupBox1 to:
467467
468468``` pascal
469469procedure TForm1.GroupBox1Resize(Sender: TObject);
470470begin
471471 ListBox1.Width := GroupBox1.ClientWidth div 3;
472472end;
473473```
474474
475475### Common mistake: Wrong OnResize event
476476
477477Do not put *all* your resizing code into the Form OnResize event. The Form OnResize event is only called when the Form was resized. The child controls (e.g. a GroupBox1) is resized later, so the GroupBox1.ClientWidth has still the old value during the FormResize event. You must use the GroupBox1.OnResize event to react to changes of GroupBox1.ClientWidth.
478478
479479### Common mistake: Width instead of ClientWidth, AdjustClientRect
480480
481481The Width is the size including the frame. The ClientWidth is the inner Width without the frame. Some controls like the TPanel paints a further frame. Then you have to use AdjustClientRect. The same example, but instead of a GroupBox1 the ListBox1 is in a Panel1:
482482
483483``` pascal
484484procedure TForm1.Panel1Resize(Sender: TObject);
485485var
486486 r: TRect;
487487begin
488488 r := Panel1.ClientRect;
489489 Panel1.AdjustClientRect(r);
490490 ListBox1.Width := (r.Right - r.Left) div 3;
491491end;
492492```
493493
494494# Custom Controls
495495
496496When you write your own control, you can override and fine tune many parts of the LCL autosizing.
497497
498498## SetBounds, ChangeBounds, DoSetBounds
499499
500500**SetBounds** is called when the properties Left, Top, Width, Height, BoundsRect is set or the user calls it directly. SetBounds updates the BaseBounds and BaseParentClientSize, which are used by anchoring to keep the distance. For example loading a Form with TMemo and the lfm contains TMemo's Left and Width, then SetBounds is called two times for the memo. When the user maximizes a window, SetBounds is called for the form, but not for the Memo, keeping the BaseBounds of the Memo. If the Memo is anchored to the right, the Width of the Memo is changed based on the BaseBounds and BaseParentClientSize. Keep in mind that the given aLeft, aTop, aWidth, aHeight might not be valid and will be changed by the LCL before applied. Delphi calls SetBounds more often. SetBounds calls ChangeBounds with KeepBase=false.
501501
502502**ChangeBounds** is called whenever the position or size of the control is set, either via the properties or by the layouter of the LCL. SetBounds calls internally ChangeBounds with KeepBase=false, while the LCL layouter calls it with KeepBase=true. Override this for code that might change the preferred size or resizes other controls. Keep in mind that the given aLeft, aTop, aWidth, aHeight might not be valid and will be changed by the LCL before applied. You can call this function.
503503
504504**DoSetBounds** is a low level function to set the private variables FLeft, FTop, FWidth, FHeight. Do not call this function, only the LCL calls it. It also updates FClientWidth and FClientHeight accordingly. Override this to update the content layout of the control, for example scroll bars. As always: do not paint here, but call Invalidate and paint in OnPaint or override Paint.
505505
506506**DoAdjustClientRectChange** is called by the LCL and the LCL interface, when the ClientRect has changed and the Width and Height were kept.
507507
508508**WMSize** exists for Delphi/VCL compatibility. It is called by the LCL interface and on every change of bounds.
509509
510510## AdjustClientRect
511511
512512The method AdjustClientRect can be overriden by your custom controls and affects Align, ChildSizing.Layout and AnchorSides. It does not affect the meaning of Left, Top and does not affect normal anchoring (for example setting).
513513
514514When you want to draw your own frame, then the child controls should be aligned within these frames. For example TPanel draws a frame and reduces the client area by overriding the method **AdjustClientRect**:
515515
516516``` pascal
517517 TCustomPanel = class(TCustomControl)
518518 ...
519519 protected
520520 ...
521521 procedure AdjustClientRect(var aRect: TRect); override;
522522 ...
523523
524524procedure TCustomPanel.AdjustClientRect(var aRect: TRect);
525525var
526526 BevelSize: Integer;
527527begin
528528 inherited AdjustClientRect(aRect);
529529
530530 BevelSize := BorderWidth;
531531 if (BevelOuter <> bvNone) then
532532 inc(BevelSize, BevelWidth);
533533 if (BevelInner <> bvNone) then
534534 inc(BevelSize, BevelWidth);
535535
536536 InflateRect(aRect, -BevelSize, -BevelSize);
537537end;
538538```
539539
540540### AdjustClientRect and Align
541541
542542AdjustClientRect can be used to reduce the client area used by all autosize operations. For example TPanel uses AdjustClientRect to reduce the client area by the borderwidth:
543543
544544![](/wiki-images/c/ca/Adjustclientrect_align.png)
545545
546546The Button1 in the screenshot was created with Align=alClient. ChildSizing.Layout is affected too.
547547
548548When anchoring to a parent via AnchorSides the AdjustClientRect is used too:
549549
550550``` pascal
551551 Button1.AnchorParallel(akTop,0,Button1.Parent);
552552```
553553
554554The Button1's top side is anchored to the top side of the parent's client area. If the AdjustClientRect adds 3 to the Top the Button1.Top will be 3 (3 plus 0).
555555
556556## Own AutoSize
557557
558558When *AutoSize* is set to true the control should be resized to the preferred size if possible.
559559
560560### Preferred Size
561561
562562The new size is fetched by the LCL via **GetPreferredSize** which calls **CalculatePreferredSize**, which can be overridden. For example let's write a **TQuadrat**, which is a TShape, but its height should equal its width:
563563
564564``` pascal
565565 TQuadrat = class(TShape)
566566 protected
567567 procedure CalculatePreferredSize(var PreferredWidth,
568568 PreferredHeight: integer; WithThemeSpace: Boolean); override;
569569 end;
570570...
571571procedure TQuadrat.CalculatePreferredSize(var PreferredWidth,
572572 PreferredHeight: integer; WithThemeSpace: Boolean);
573573begin
574574 PreferredHeight:=Width;
575575end;
576576```
577577
578578The method CalculatePreferredSize gets two var parameters: *PreferredWidth* and *PreferredHeight*. They default to 0 which means: there is no preferred size, so the LCL will not change the size. The above function sets *PreferredHeight* to the current *Width*. The boolean parameter *WithThemeSpace* is deprecated and always false.
579579
580580**Important**: CalculatePreferredSize must not change the bounds or any other value of the control that can trigger an autosize. Doing so will create a loop.
581581
582582Computing the *PreferredWidth/Height* can be expensive. Therefore the LCL caches the result until *InvalidatePreferredSize* is called for the control. In our example the *PreferredHeight* depends on the *Width*, so we must invalidate when the *Width* changes:
583583
584584``` pascal
585585 TQuadrat = class(TShape)
586586 protected
587587 ...
588588 procedure DoSetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer); override;
589589 end;
590590...
591591procedure TQuadrat.DoSetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer);
592592begin
593593 inherited DoSetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight);
594594 InvalidatePreferredSize;
595595 // Note: The AdjustSize can be omitted here, because the LCL does that after calling DoSetBounds.
596596end;
597597```
598598
599599The LCL will automatically trigger the autosizing when the bounds have changed, so the example is complete.
600600
601601The default TWinControl implementation of CalculatePreferredSize queries the widgetset, which might return a preferred width and/or height. Each control can override the CalculatePreferredSize method. For example TImage overrides it and returns the size of the Picture. If no preferred width (height) is available the returned value is 0 and the LCL will keep the current Width (Height). If 0 is a valid size for your control, you must set the ControlStyle flag csAutoSize0x0 (ControlStyle:=ControlStyle+\[csAutoSize0x0\];). An example is the LCL control TPanel.
602602
603603### AdjustSize
604604
605605When the preferred size depends on a new property, then every time the property changes the auto sizing must be triggered. For example:
606606
607607``` pascal
608608procedure TQuadrat.SetSubTitle(const AValue: string);
609609begin
610610 if FSubTitle = AValue then exit;
611611 FSubTitle := AValue;
612612 InvalidatePreferredSize;
613613 AdjustSize;
614614end;
615615```
616616
617617# Reduce overhead with DisableAutoSizing, EnableAutoSizing
618618
619619Since Lazarus 0.9.29 there is a new autosizing algorithm, that reduces the overhead and allows deep nested dependencies. Up to 0.9.28 DisableAlign/EnableAlign and Disable/EnableAutoSizing worked only for one control and its direct childs.
620620
621621Each time you change a property the LCL triggers a recompute of the layout:
622622
623623``` pascal
624624Label1.Caption := 'A'; // first recompute
625625Label2.Caption := 'B'; // second recompute
626626```
627627
628628The recompute will trigger events and send messages. To reduce the overhead you can suspend the autosizing:
629629
630630``` pascal
631631DisableAutoSizing;
632632try
633633 Label1.Caption := 'A'; // no recompute
634634 Label2.Caption := 'B'; // no recompute
635635finally
636636 EnableAutoSizing; // one recompute
637637end;
638638```
639639
640640The calls of Disable/EnableAutoSizing must be balanced. Only when EnableAutoSizing was called the same time as DisableAutoSizing the autosizing will start.
641641
642642Since 0.9.29 the Disable/EnableAutoSizing work for the whole form. This means every call of DisableAutoSizing suspends the autosizing for **all** controls on the same form. If you write your own control you can now use the following:
643643
644644``` pascal
645645procedure TMyRadioGroup.DoSomething;
646646begin
647647 DisableAutoSizing; // disables not only TMyRadioGroup, but the whole form
648648 try
649649 // delete items ...
650650 // add, reorder items ...
651651 // change item captions ...
652652 finally
653653 EnableAutoSizing; // recompute
654654 end;
655655end;
656656```
657657
658658Which basically means: you do not have to care. Just call Disable/EnableAutoSizing.
659659
660660Note: this is wrong:
661661
662662``` pascal
663663Button1.DisableAutoSizing;
664664Label1.EnableAutoSizing; // wrong: every control has its own counter
665665```
666666
667667## DisableAutoSizing and Form bounds
668668
669669DisableAutoSizing has another useful effect under asynchronous Window Managers like the ones under Linux. Each time a form is resized or moved the bounds are sent to the widgetset (DoSendBoundsToInterface). Even if the form is not shown the Handle is resized. The window manager often treats these bounds only as proposal, the window manager has its own logic and often only the first bounds sent are used. The second, third or further moves may be ignored. With DisableAutoSizing you can make sure that only the final bounds are sent to the widgetset making the form bounds more reliable.
670670
671671# Example: a button panel
672672
673673This example combines several of the LCL layout mechanisms to create a panel with three buttons: a *Help* button to the left and *Ok* and *Cancel* buttons to the right. We want the panel to be at the bottom of the form filling the entire width. The buttons and the panel are autosized to fit all fonts and themes.
674674
675675Step 1: Create the panel and set its Align property to alBottom. Add three TBitBtns.
676676
677677![](/wiki-images/7/7e/Autosize_example_buttonpanel1.png)
678678
679679Set the *Kind* properties of the BitBtns to show the glyphs. You might need to set GlyphShowMode to gsmAlways to see them on your platform. Set the BitBtn's *AutoSize* property to *True*, which will shrink/enlarge the buttons to fit perfectly around the glyphs and text. Depending on your theme and platform you might notice that the buttons have different heights.
680680
681681![](/wiki-images/4/49/Autosize_example_buttonpanel2.png)
682682
683683Set the *Align* property of the help button to *alLeft* and set the other two buttons' *Align* property to *alRight*. This will enlarge the buttons vertically and move them to the far left/right. alLeft/alRight has no effect on the width, so the buttons use their preferred width.
684684
685685![](/wiki-images/b/b6/Autosize_example_buttonpanel3.png)
686686
687687The Panel height is still fixed. Now set the panel *AutoSize* property to *True*. The panel now shrinks vertically to fit the tallest button.
688688
689689![](/wiki-images/3/36/Autosize_example_buttonpanel4.png)
690690
691691The *Ok* button has a short caption, so the button is very small. Set the button's *Constraints.MinWidth* to *75*. The button will now enlarge somewhat.
692692
693693![](/wiki-images/3/32/Autosize_example_buttonpanel5.png)
694694
695695Now add some space around the buttons. Set the panel's *ChildSizing.LeftTopSpacing/RightBottomSpacing/HorizontalSpacing* to *6*.
696696
697697![](/wiki-images/4/46/Autosize_example_buttonpanel6.png)
698698
699699Finally clear the *Caption* of the panel and set its *BevelOuter* to *bvNone*.
700700
701701![](/wiki-images/4/4e/Autosize_example_buttonpanel7.png)
702702
703703# Scrolling
704704
705705Some LCL controls like *TScrollBox*, *TForm*, *TFrame* allows to show scrollbars if the child controls do not fit. They inherit the behavior from their ancestor **TScrollingWinControl**.
706706
707707On a scrolling control the **logical client area** can be bigger than the **visible client area**. The *visible client area* is **ClientRect**. It always starts at 0,0 and its width and height is the inner area. For example in a TGroupBox it is the size of the area inside the frame. So the following is always true:
708708
709709``` pascal
710710ClientWidth <= Width
711711ClientHeight <= Height
712712```
713713
714714The **logical client area** is defined by the method **GetLogicalClientRect**. By default it is the same as *ClientRect*. When a child control is anchored to the right side, it uses the *logical client area*. *TScrollingWinControl* overrides this method and returns the *Range* of the scrollbars if they are bigger than the *ClientRect*. The **Range** can be set manually or automatically with *AutoScroll=true*. An example for *AutoScroll=true*:
715715
716716![](/wiki-images/d/db/Autoscroll_all_fit1.png)
717717
718718The upper button has a fixed Width of 200. The lower button is anchored to the right side of the panel. Therefore the child controls have a preferred width of 200. Because the panel is bigger than 200 the logical client area is bigger too and the lower button expands.
719719
720720Now the panel is shrinked, so that the ClientWidth gets lower than 200:
721721
722722![](/wiki-images/2/27/Autoscroll_not_fit1.png)
723723
724724The preferred width is still 200, so the logical client area is now 200 and bigger than the visible client area. The lower button has now a Width of 200 and the panel shows a horizontal scrollbar.
725725
726726## Scroll Position
727727
728728Changing the Position of a scrollbar does not change the Left, Top of child controls, does not change the logical client area and has no effect on autosizing. The child controls are only virtually moved.
729729
730730## Scrolling and AutoSize
731731
732732When AutoSize=true the LCL will expand the control to fit all child controls and no scrollbars are needed. If the control can not be expanded, then only the second action of AutoSize is executed: moving the child controls.
733733
734734# Docking
735735
736736Docking uses the described methods and properties of this page, see [[Docking]].
737737
738738# Splitter
739739
740740See [[TSplitter]].
741741
742742# TLabel.WordWrap
743743
744744**TLabel.WordWrap** changes the behavior of the preferred size of the label. **WordWrap=true** requires that the Width of the label is fixed, for example by anchoring the left and right size of the label. The preferred height of the label is then computed by breaking the Caption into multiple lines.
745745
746746# DPI auto-adjustment and absolute layout auto-adjustment
747747
748748Historically the LCL has been utilized mostly to design absolute layouts, despite the huge amount of options which Lazarus offers for flexible layouts, like Align, Anchors, etc, as described on the rest of this article. On top of that, it has also historically ignored the DPI of the target and instead utilized values in pixels to measure the left, top, width and height properties of controls. For desktop platforms and Windows CE this has worked reasonably ok, but with the advent of LCL support for Android this could no longer be ignored. Starts in Lazarus 0.9.31 the LCL can reinterprete the LCL absolute layout in pixels as a flexible grid. There are multiple modes to choose from and they will allow to reinterprete the pixel values as either really absolute, or as in being adjusted for the DPI or as in being considered simply a fraction of the form size.
749749
750750It is important to note that these new rules affect only controls which are positioned without Align and with the most standard Anchors only.
751751
752752In the case where the values will be adjusted for DPI, there is a new property: TCustomForm.DesignTimeDPI which should store the DPI value of the system where the form was designed. The positoning values will be expanded when the target DPI is larger then the design time DPI or reduced otherwise. The common value for desktop DPIs is 96 and is the default value given.
753753
754754property DesignTimeDPI: Integer read FDesignTimeDPI write FDesignTimeDPI;
755755
756756The way in which the layout is adjusted can be controlled with the property TApplication.LayoutAdjustmentPolicy
757757
758-` TLayoutAdjustmentPolicy = (`\
759-`   lapDefault,     // widgetset dependent`\
760-`   lapFixedLayout, // A fixed absolute layout in all platforms`\
761-`   lapAutoAdjustWithoutHorizontalScrolling, // Smartphone platforms use this one,`\
762-`                                            // the x axis is stretched to fill the screen and`\
763-`                                            // the y is scaled to fit the DPI`\
764-`   lapAutoAdjustForDPI // For desktops using High DPI, scale x and y to fit the DPI`\
765-` );`
758+```
759+ TLayoutAdjustmentPolicy = (
760+ lapDefault, // widgetset dependent
761+ lapFixedLayout, // A fixed absolute layout in all platforms
762+ lapAutoAdjustWithoutHorizontalScrolling, // Smartphone platforms use this one,
763+ // the x axis is stretched to fill the screen and
764+ // the y is scaled to fit the DPI
765+ lapAutoAdjustForDPI // For desktops using High DPI, scale x and y to fit the DPI
766+ );
767+```
766768
767769And the following new methods in TControl allow to force a layout-autoadjustment in a particular control and all its children or to control how particular descendents of TControl react to this:
768770
769771``` pascal
770772TControl = class
771773public
772774...
773775 procedure AutoAdjustLayout(AMode: TLayoutAdjustmentPolicy;
774776 const AFromDPI, AToDPI, AOldFormWidth, ANewFormWidth: Integer); virtual;
775777 function ShouldAutoAdjustLeftAndTop: Boolean; virtual;
776778 function ShouldAutoAdjustWidthAndHeight: Boolean; virtual;
777779```
778780
779781LCL-CustomDrawn-Android will call AutoAdjustLayout when the screen rotates, for example.
780782
781783# More details
782784
783785Many controls override *TControl.DoAutoSize* to perform the actual auto-sizing.
784786
785787IMPORTANT: Many Delphi controls override this method and many call this method directly after setting some properties.
786788
787789During handle creation not all interfaces can create complete Device Contexts which are needed to calculate things like text size.
788790
789791That's why you should always call *AdjustSize* instead of `DoAutoSize`.
790792
791793`TControl.AdjustSize` calls `DoAutoSize` in a smart fashion.
792794
793795During loading and handle creation the calls are delayed.
794796
795797This method initially does the same as *TWinControl.DoAutoSize*. But since `DoAutoSize` is commonly overriden by descendant components, it is not useful to perform all tests, which can result in too much overhead. To reduce this the LCL calls `AdjustSize` instead.
796798
797799When setting AutoSize = true the LCL autosizes the control in width and height. This is one of the most complex parts of the LCL, because the result depends on nearly a hundred properties. Let's start simple:
798800
799801The LCL will only autosize the *Width* (Height) if it is free to resize. In other words - the width is not autosized if:
800802
801803- the left and right side is anchored. You can anchor the sides with the **Anchors** property or by setting the *Align* property to alTop, alBottom or alClient.
802804- the *Width* is bound by the *Constraints* properties. The Contraints can also be overriden by the widgetset. For example the winapi does not allow resizing the height of a combobox. And the gtk widgetset does not allow resizing the width of a vertical scrollbar.
803805
804806Same for *Height*.
805807
806808The new size is calculated by the protected method **TControl.CalculatePreferredSize**. This method asks the widgetset for an appropriate Width and Height. For example a TButton has preferred Width and Height. A TComboBox has only a preferred Height. The preferred Width is returned as 0 and so the LCL does not autosize the Width - it keeps the width unaltered. Finally a TMemo has no preferred Width or Height. Therefore AutoSize has no effect on a TMemo.
807809
808810Some controls override this method. For example the TGraphicControl descendants like TLabel have no window handle and so cannot query the widgetset. They must calculate their preferred Width and Height themselves.
809811
810812The widgetsets must override the GetPreferredSize method for each widget class that has a preferred size (Width or Height or both).
811813
812814## Parent.AutoSize
813815
814816The above described the simple explanation. The real algorithm provides far more possibilities and is therefore far more complex.
815817
816818## Properties / Methods
817819
818820- Left
819821- Top
820822
821823If Parent\<\>nil then Left, Top are the pixel distance to the top, left pixel of the parent's client area (not scrolled). Remember the client area is always *without* the frame and scrollbars of the parent. For Delphi users: Some VCL controls like TGroupbox define the client area as the whole control including the frame and some not - the LCL is more consistent, and therefore Delphi incompatible. Left and Top can be negative or bigger than the client area. Some widgetsets define a minimum/maximum somewhere around 10.000 or more.
822824
823825When the client area is scrolled the Left and Top are kept unchanged.
824826
825827During resizing/moving Left and Top are not always in sync with the coordinates of the Handle object.
826828
827829If Parent=nil then Left, Top depend on the widgetset and the window manager. Till Lazarus 0.9.25 this is typically the screen coordinate of the left,top of the client area of the form. This is Delphi incompatible. It is planned to change this to the Left, Top of the window.
828830
829831Hint: Each time you change Left and Top the LCL moves instantly and recomputes the whole layout. If you want to change Left *and* Top use instead:
830832
831833``` pascal
832834with Button1 do
833835 SetBounds(NewLeft, NewTop, Width, Height);
834836```
835837
836838- Width
837839- Height
838840
839841The Size in pixels must not be negative, and most widgetsets do not allow Width=0 and/or Height=0. Some controls on some platforms define a bigger minimum constraint in Constraints.MinInterfaceWidth/Height. Instead of sizing a control to Width=0 and/or Height=0, set Visible=false or Parent=nil. During resizing/moving Width and Height are not always in sync with the size of the Handle object.
840842
841843- BoundsRect
842844
843845Same as Bounds(Left, Top, Width, Height).
844846
845847Common newbie mistake:
846848
847849``` pascal
848850BoundsRect.Left := 3; // WRONG: common newbie mistake
849851```
850852
851853This has no effect, because reading BoundsRect is a function. It creates a temporary TRect on the stack. The above is the same as
852854
853855``` pascal
854856var
855857 r: TRect;
856858begin
857859 r := BoundsRect; // fetch the bounds
858860 r.Left := 3; // change a value on the stack
859861end; // no change
860862```
861863
862864- ClientRect
863865
864866Left and Top are always 0,0. Width and Height are the visible size in pixels of the client area. Remember the client area is without the frame and without scrollbars. In a scrollable client area the logical client area can be bigger than the visible.
865867
866868- ClientOrigin
867869
868870Returns the screen coordinate of the topleft coordinate 0,0 of the client area. Note that this value is the position as stored in the interface and is not always in sync with the LCL. When a control is moved, the LCL sets the bounds to the desired position and sends a move message to the interface. It is up to the interface to handle moves instantly or queued.
869871
870872- LCLIntf.GetClientBounds
871873
872874Returns the client bounds of a control. Like ClientRect, but Left and Top are the pixel distances to the control's left, top. For example on a TGroupBox the Left, Top are the width and height of the left and top frame border. Scrolling has no effect on GetClientBounds.
873875
874876- LCLIntf.GetWindowRect
875877
876878After the call, ARect will be the control area in screen coordinates. That means, Left and Top will be the screen coordinate of the TopLeft pixel of the Handle object and Right and Bottom will be the screen coordinate of the BottomRight pixel.
877879
878880- FBaseBoundsLock: integer
879881
880882Increased/Decreased by LockBaseBounds/UnlockBaseBounds. Used to keep FBaseBounds during SetBounds calls.
881883
882884- FBaseParentClientSize: TPoint
883885
884886The Parent.ClientRect size valid for the FBaseBounds. FBaseBounds and FBaseParentClientSize are used to calculate the distance for akRight (akBottom). When the parent is resized, the LCL knows what distance to keep.
885887
886888- FBoundsRectForNewParent: TRect
887889
888890When changing the Parent of a control the Handle is recreated and many things can happen. Especially for docking forms the process is too unreliable. Therefore the BoundsRect is saved. The VCL uses a similar mechanism.
889891
890892- fLastAlignedBounds: TRect
891893
892894See TControl.SetAlignedBounds for an explanation. In short: It stops some circles between interface and LCL autosizing.
893895
894896- FLastChangebounds: TRect
895897
896898Used to stop calling ChangeBounds with the same coordinates. This happens very often.
897899
898900- FLastDoChangeBounds: TRect
899901
900902Used to avoid calling OnChangeBounds with the same coordinates. This reduces user defined autosizing.
901903
902904- FLastResizeClientHeight: integer
903905- FLastResizeClientWidth: integer
904906- FLastResizeHeight: integer
905907- FLastResizeWidth: integer
906908
907909Used to avoid calling OnResize with the same coordinates. This reduces user defined autosizing.
908910
909911- FLoadedClientSize: TPoint
910912
911913During loading many things are delayed and many things are set and worse: in the wrong order. That's why SetClientWidth/SetClientHeight calls are stored and set at end of loading again. This way the LCL can restore the distances (e.g. akRight) used during designing.
912914
913915- FReadBounds: TRect
914916
915917Same as FLoadedClientSize, but for SetLeft, SetTop, SetWidth, SetHeight.
916918
917919- procedure SetBoundsRectForNewParent(const AValue: TRect);
918920
919921Used to set FBoundsRectForNewParent. See above.
920922
921923- procedure SetAlignedBounds(aLeft, aTop, aWidth, aHeight: integer); virtual;
922924
923925As SetBounds but without changing the default sizes.
924926
925927- procedure SetInitialBounds(aLeft, aTop, aWidth, aHeight: integer); virtual;
926928
927929A smart version of SetBounds, reducing overhead during creation and loading.
928930
929931- procedure UpdateBaseBounds(StoreBounds, StoreParentClientSize, UseLoadedValues: boolean); virtual;
930932
931933Commit current bounds to base bounds.
932934
933935- procedure SetClientHeight(Value: Integer);
934936- procedure SetClientSize(Value: TPoint);
935937- procedure SetClientWidth(Value: Integer);
936938
937939Exists for Delphi compatibility too. Resizes the control, to get the wanted ClientRect size.
938940
939941- procedure ChangeBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer); virtual;
940942
941943This is the internal SetBounds. Applies constraints, updates base bounds, calls OnChangeBound, OnResize, locks bounds.
942944
943945- procedure DoSetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer); virtual;
944946
945947This really sets the FLeft, FTop, FWidth, FHeight private variables.
946948
947949- procedure SetBounds(aLeft, aTop, aWidth, aHeight: integer); virtual;
948950
949951This is the standard procedure overriden by many Delphi controls. TWinControl overrides it too.
950952
951953- - ignores calls when bounds are locked
952954 - lock the FBoundsRealized to avoid overhead to the interface during auto sizing.
953955
954956ChangeBounds is not locked this way.
955957
956958- Function GetClientOrigin: TPoint; virtual;
957959
958960Screen coordinate of Left, Top of client area.
959961
960962- Function GetClientRect: TRect; virtual;
961963
962964Size of client area. (always Left=0, Top=0)
963965
964966- Function GetScrolledClientRect: TRect; virtual;
965967
966968Visible client area in ClientRect.
967969
968970- function GetChildsRect(Scrolled: boolean): TRect; virtual;
969971
970972Returns the Client rectangle relative to the control's Left, Top. If Scrolled is true, the rectangle is moved by the current scrolling values (for an example see TScrollingWincontrol).
971973
972974- function GetClientScrollOffset: TPoint; virtual;
973975
974976Returns the scrolling offset of the client area.
975977
976978- function GetControlOrigin: TPoint; virtual;
977979
978980Returns the screen coordinate of the topleft coordinate 0,0 of the control area. (The topleft pixel of the control on the screen) Note that this value is the position as stored in the interface and is not always in sync with the LCL. When a control is moved, the LCL sets the bounds to the wanted position and sends a move message to the interface. It is up to the interface to handle moves instantly or queued.
979981
980982# FAQ
981983
982984## Why does AutoSize not work in the designer properly?
983985
984986In the designer controls can be dragged around and properties can be set in almost any order. To allow this and avoid possible conflicts, the AutoSizing is not updated on every change at design time.
985987
986988## Why does TForm.AutoSize not work when something changes?
987989
988990See [[Autosize / Layout|AutoSize and Forms]]
989991
990992## Do I need to call Application.ProcessMessages when creating lots of controls?
991993
992994Application.ProcessMessages is called by the LCL automatically after every message (e.g. after every event like OnClick). Calling it yourself is only needed if the changes should become visible to the user immediately. For example:
993995
994996\<DELPHI\>procedure TFrom.Button1Click(Sender: TObject); begin
995997
996-` // change width of a control`\
997-` Button1.Width := Button1.Width + 10;`\
998-` // apply any needed changes and repaint the button`\
999-` Application.ProcessMessages;`\
1000-` // do a lot of things that takes a long time`\
1001-` ...`\
1002-` // after leaving the OnClick the LCL automatically processes messages`
998+``` pascal
999+ // change width of a control
1000+ Button1.Width := Button1.Width + 10;
1001+ // apply any needed changes and repaint the button
1002+ Application.ProcessMessages;
1003+ // do a lot of things that takes a long time
1004+ ...
1005+ // after leaving the OnClick the LCL automatically processes messages
1006+```
10031007
10041008end;\</DELPHI\>
10051009
10061010## When enabling Anchors at runtime the control resizes, does not use the current values. Why?
10071011
10081012akBottom means: keep a distance to the bottom side of the parent. The distance to keep is defined by the base bounds. They are set at designtime or by runtime calls of SetBounds or UpdateBaseBounds.
10091013
10101014For example: A TListBox (Anchors=\[akLeft,aTop\]) at designtime has a bottom distance of 100 pixel. And a button to enable/disable the akBottom of the TListBox. Now start the application and press the button to enable akBottom. The 100 pixel distance will be activated, because this was the last time the programmer defined the base bounds of the TListBox. All other resizes were done by the LCL and are irrelevant. The programmers base bounds rules. You can resize the form and the 100 pixel will be kept. In order to use the current bounds as base bounds use:
10111015
10121016``` pascal
10131017ListBox1.UpdateBaseBounds(true, true, false);
10141018ListBox1.Anchors := ListBox1.Anchors + [akBottom];
10151019```
10161020
10171021Setting Anchors does not automatically call UpdateBaseBounds, because this would destroy the ability to change properties independently.
10181022
10191023## Resizing stringgrid columns in form's OnResize event does not work
10201024
10211025The Form's OnResize is triggered when the Form's Width, Height, ClientWidth or ClientHeight changes. This is per se independent of TStringGrid. Of course it often happens that both the Form and the TStringGrid are resized. This means using forms OnResize will often work, but not always. A prominent example where it always fails is when the theme is changed and you have a TStringGrid in a TGroupBox in a TForm. When the theme changed the form size is kept, so no Forms OnResize is triggered. But the TGroupBox changed, so the TStringGrid should be resized.
10221026
10231027Solution: Use the TStringGrid's OnResize.
10241028
10251029## Why is TForm.Width equal to TForm.ClientWidth?
10261030
10271031Mattias' notes:
10281032
10291033"There are historical and technical reasons.
10301034
10311035For forms without parent the Clientwidth equals the Width, because the real Width including the frame was not available on Linux ten years ago (at least not reliable on various window managers). I didn't test, but I heard it is now possible with gtk2. The main problem is the autosizing, because this needs the frame sizes before the form is mapped to the screen. It might be, that this is only available after an event, which means that you have to wait for it, which means trouble for ShowModal. Changing this breaks compatibility with a lot of existing LCL code, but for this we added the LCLVersion in the lfm files.
10321036
10331037For all other controls the rules is ClientWidth\<=Width. The Width is the ClientWidth plus the widget frame. The question is if the scrollbars belong to the frame. I would say yes and it was implemented that way some time ago. Apparently this has changed. See the current cursor problem on synedit."
10341038
10351039## I get an infinite loop / How to debug autosizing?
10361040
10371041Here are some notes, what other users made wrong and how to find out:
10381042
10391043### Differences to Delphi
10401044
10411045For Delphi users: Please read: [[Autosize / Layout|Difference to Delphi]]
10421046
10431047### Overriding a LCL method and triggering a recompute
10441048
10451049You override a method and tell the LCL to compute again, even if nothing changed. Check for AdjustSize, Realign, AlignControls, InvalidatePreferredSize. For example:
10461050
10471051``` pascal
10481052procedure TMainForm.SetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer);
10491053begin
10501054 // This will create an endless loop
10511055 InvalidatePreferredSize;
10521056
10531057 // This will create an endless loop too:
10541058 OtherComponent.Left:=10;
10551059 OtherComponent.Left:=20;
10561060
10571061 inherited SetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight);
10581062end;
10591063```
10601064
10611065Explanation: The SetBounds method is called often, even without changing anything. For example a "Left:=30;" will do so.
10621066
10631067Remedy: Check for changes:
10641068
10651069``` pascal
10661070procedure TMainForm.SetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight: integer);
10671071begin
10681072 if (Left <> ALeft) or (Top <> ATop) or (Width <> AWidth) or (Height <> AHeight) then
10691073 InvalidatePreferredSize;
10701074 inherited SetBounds(ALeft, ATop, AWidth, AHeight);
10711075end;
10721076```
10731077
10741078### OnResize/OnChangeBounds conflict with LCL properties
10751079
10761080You set bounds that bite the LCL properties. For example a TLabel.AutoSize is true by default. If you set the Label1.Width in an OnResize event, the LCL will recompute, resize the Label1 and call the OnResize again. Start your application in the debugger and reproduce the bug. When it enters the loop, pause the application and see the call stack. If you see one of your events or your methods start searching there. For example:
10771081
10781082``` pascal
10791083procedure TMainForm.FormResize(Sender: TObject);
10801084begin
10811085 // if Button1 is anchored or AutoSize=true then the following might create an endless loop:
10821086 Button1.Width:=100;
10831087end;
10841088```
10851089
10861090### LCL interface bug, custom widget
10871091
10881092Sometimes the LCL interface or your custom control has a bug and undoes the LCL bounds. Compile the LCL with -dVerboseIntfSizing. This will write the communication between LCL and the LCL interface. If a widget does not allow free resizing, it must tell the LCL via the Constraints. Search for SetInterfaceConstraints in the various LCL interfaces and TWSControlClass.ConstraintWidth/Height.
10891093
10901094### alCustom
10911095
10921096You use alCustom. This was only half implemented in earlier Lazarus versions, but some clever programmers used it to create some special effects. Now it is implemented and your program does not work anymore. Please see here what alCustom does: [[Autosize / Layout|alCustom]].
10931097
10941098# See also
10951099
10961100- [[Docking]]
10971101- [[Anchor Sides]]
10981102
10991103---
11001104*From the Free Pascal wiki, page "Autosize / Layout/zh TW", as it stood on 2020-02-09 after a change by Trev, out of the wiki's dump of 2024-05-26. Copyright stays with the author who wrote it, according to the old wiki's [[Licensing]] page. If you have concerns about this material, [message the admin](/wiki-contact).*

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