Wide-Monitor Tips [wiki.dlma]

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====== Wide-Monitor Tips ======

Bigger monitors present a problem in the context of [[wp>Fitts'_law|Fitts' law]] and [[http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/42/text_length.htm|reading comprehension]].  These are measurable productivity drains.  (Here's an interesting article from the Microsoft Office developers regarding the [[http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/08/22/711808.aspx|application of Fitts' law]].)

This page provides tips to help increase the benefit of having a wide monitor.

===== Sub Monitors =====

If you use an nVidia graphics card, then you can split your monitor into multiple sections into which you can maximize windows as if you had multiple monitors.

  - Open the nView Desktop Manager from display driver's advanced properties.
  - Select "User Interface"
  - Select the "Edit Gridlines..." button in the General category.
  - After configuring your gridlines, you can maximize to the submonitors by holding Alt when maximizing your windows.

Even if you don't have the nVidia card, there are [[http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=520186|alternative ways to sub-monitor maximize your windows]].


===== Tab Groups in Visual Studio =====

Visual Studio .NET (2003) doesn't seem to honor the above gridlines, though.  The next best thing is to use two vertical tab groups.  (Window->New Vertical Tab Group).

{{ :general:togglefiletabgroupsmall.png |}}

I've updated a version of my ToggleFile Add-In to open the files into alternating tab groups.  Now, hitting Ctrl+T opens the corresponding header or source file into the other pane.  It's very convenient.

The add-in exposes two commands:

^ Command  ^ Function  ^
| ToggleFile.Connect.ToggleFile  | Toggles between definition and declaration files in the same tab group. This is generally recommended for monitors of width 1024 or less. |
| ToggleFile.Connect.ToggleFileTabGroup  | Toggles between definition and declaration files in alternating tab groups. This is recommended for wider monitors. |

ToggleFile.Connect.ToggleFileTabGroup is the one that alternates tab groups when opening the corresponding file, and is recommended for wide monitors.

The Add-In is available at [[http://code.google.com/p/togglefile/|Google Code]].

===== Website Design =====

We can only hope that IE7 will [[http://www.svendtofte.com/code/max_width_in_ie/|support max-width]].
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