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Using IDL: Graphic Display Essentials |
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A multi-monitor configuration on a Windows system is always presented as an extended desktop, with the work area spanning the configured monitors. You can drag windows from one monitor to the other, or they can span monitors.
The extended desktop configuration works best when using a single graphics adapter with two video outputs. If you use multiple graphics adaptors, features such as 3D hardware video acceleration may only be available on one monitor.
To configure a multi-monitor configuration using the Windows Display applet; either:
Figure 3-5 shows the Display Properties control panel for a common dual-monitor configuration. The left-hand image shows the primary display selected and identified as monitor 1. The right-hand image shows the secondary display selected and identified as monitor 2. The coordinates of the upper-left corner of the secondary display are shown in the tool-tip ("Secondary Display (1600, 0)"). Also, the Extend my Windows desktop onto this monitor checkbox is selected to extend the desktop onto the secondary monitor.
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The extended desktop configured in Figure 3-5 appears as in Figure 3-6, with a dotted line showing where the two monitors meet in one desktop.
In this example, there are no windows on the secondary monitor. The crosshatched area in the lower right exists because the monitor on the right has fewer pixel rows than the monitor on the left.
The Display Properties dialog allows you to change the location of the secondary monitor relative to the primary monitor. Note that pixel (0,0) is defined as being the upper left corner of the primary monitor. Figure 3-7 shows a configuration in which the secondary monitor is positioned "above" the primary monitor; the tooltip shows that the upper left corner of the secondary monitor is positioned 1480 pixels to the right of and -1024 pixels below pixel (0,0). Figure 3-8 shows the shape of the resulting extended desktop area.
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There is now more "empty" space (represented by the crosshatched area). The handling of empty space depends on the graphics adapter vendor. For example, many desktop managers let you control whether or not an application can create a window in this empty space. (Remember that if you do create a window in empty space, there would be no way to drag the window back onto a visible portion of the desktop.) Many desktop managers also contain controls for opening windows and repositioning dialog boxes.
| Warning Third-party desktop managers may enforce their own positioning rules, overriding requests from other applications such as IDL. If you have trouble positioning windows on the screen using IDL, investigate whether your desktop manager's control over other applications can be changed or relaxed. |
IDL Online Help (March 06, 2007)
