Automatically Moving and Sizing Objects

Setting Autosize Attributes

In the Autosizing section of the Size display of the Inspector, you can choose how an object resizes itself whenever the user resizes the enclosing window.

When you're editing a window's attributes, the lines outside the window determine the distance between the window and the screen's edge:

• Springy: The window relocates itself to stay in the middle of the screen.
• Straight: The window maintains its location.

When you're editing another type of object, there are lines both inside and outside the box that represents the object. The lines inside the box determine how the object changes its own size when the superview is resized:

• Springy: When the enclosing object is resized, the object resizes itself to maintain its distance from the superview's edges.
• Straight: When the enclosing object is resized, the object maintains its initial size.

The lines outside the box determine how the object changes the distance between its edges and the superview's edges when the superview is resized:

• Springy: When the enclosing object is resized, the object proportionately adjusts the distance between its edge and its superview's edge.
• Straight: When the enclosing object is resized, the object maintains the distance between its edge and its superview's edge.

Setting a Window's Minimum Size

If a user keeps shrinking a window, its components may be resized until they're too small to use. To set a minimum size for a window:

• Select the window, choose Tools > Inspector, choose Size from the pop-up menu at the top of the Inspector, and edit the w and h fields in the Minimum Size section.

  Click Current to make the window's current dimensions the minimum size.