oXygen too small appearance

Having trouble installing Oxygen? Got a bug to report? Post it all here.
Oleksii
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:04 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

oXygen too small appearance

Post by Oleksii »

Hi,
I have a 32`` monitor and the appearance of oXygen is too small for me.
I tried to configure Options > preferences > fonts. But it did not change the things consistently.
For instance the drop down menues of File, Edit, etc. are still small.
Also, e.g. XSLT Debugger > Xwatch:
Expression looks good but Value type and Value are very small. And similar in other places.
Are there maybe a possibility to scale everything at once?
The oXygen version is 22.1, build 2021121715
BTW: I'm using 20.1 on another laptop with the same monitor and do not have this problem (but an another one: the look is a bit blurred).

Regards,
Oleksii
Kind regards,
Oleksii Sapov-Erlinger
chrispitude
Posts: 907
Joined: Thu May 02, 2019 2:32 pm

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by chrispitude »

Hi Oleksii,

I suggest upgrading to the latest Oxygen release. I believe there have been Java improvements in UI scaling between the older versions and the current versions.
adrian
Posts: 2855
Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 4:01 pm

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by adrian »

Hi,

Which distribution of 22.1 are you using (Java 8 or OpenJDK 14)? See in Help > About, System properties, java.version.
For the 32" monitor, what resolution and scaling settings do you have set in Windows?

If you're using Java 8, to force a larger scaling setting create a file named 'custom_commons.vmoptions' with the following argument (this is for 150% scaling).

Code: Select all

-Dcom.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling=1.5
If you're using OpenJDK, it usually works automatically, but just in case, to force a larger scaling setting create a file named 'custom_commons.vmoptions' with the following argument

Code: Select all

-Dsun.java2d.uiScale=1.5
If 150% (1.5) is too small, you may want to try 200% (2). Use the value between parenthesis.
Copy/Move this file to the Oxygen installation folder (you will need admin rights to allow write access to the Oxygen folder from "Program Files") and restart Oxygen.

For Java 8 in some cases this may not be enough. You can also adjust the fonts in Options > Preferences, Appearance > Fonts. Try "Restore defaults" first, then set all fonts to a proportionally larger size. You will have to restart Oxygen for the changes to apply.

Regards,
Adrian
Adrian Buza
<oXygen/> XML Editor, Schema Editor and XSLT Editor/Debugger
http://www.oxygenxml.com
Oleksii
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:04 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by Oleksii »

Hi Adrian,

Help > About, System properties, java.version shows 1.8.0_202
Monitor resolution is 2560 x 1440 and Windows scaling is set to 125%

I've created custom_commons.vmoptions (no admin right were asked) with content -Dcom.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling=1.5.

When restarted, most parts of oXygen are much larger then but some still not (it would be easier to show it on a screenshot, how can I do it?). Also, it is way too large and I tried the values between 1 and 1.5 but they do not seem to have an impact.
Kind regards,
Oleksii Sapov-Erlinger
adrian
Posts: 2855
Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 4:01 pm

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by adrian »

Hi,
I missed the last paragraph from the other message.
BTW: I'm using 20.1 on another laptop with the same monitor and do not have this problem (but an another one: the look is a bit blurred).
The fact that it's blurred, indicates that Windows is doing the scaling in High DPI scaling override mode. This means the application works with no scaling (100%) and Windows does the scaling afterwards, resulting in that blur, which can be acceptable up to a point.
That is still possible with newer versions, but it's rather ugly for larger scaling settings. Right click on Oxygen .exe > Properties > Compatibility, "Change high DPi settings" > [x] Override high DPI scaling behavior. Try System or "System (Enhanced)".

For 125% scaling Oxygen will not get the result that Windows (blurred) scaling provides (full window scaling by 125%).
With scaling settings between 101 and 149% Oxygen keeps the UI icons small (same as for 100%) and only scales the text and UI. When you switch to 150%-200% scaling, Oxygen uses the 2x size icons (200% scaling), so they may seem too large for 150% scaling.
Also, it is way too large and I tried the values between 1 and 1.5 but they do not seem to have an impact.
They only have impact on text, not icons, but that's not apparent if you have customized the fonts at one time. Go to Options > Preferences, Appearance > Fonts and press Restore Defaults. You'll only have to do this once. If you customize the font sizes, you'll have to do it again, if you change scaling.

Recent versions (v23 and later) work way better with OpenJDK. Perhaps you could try v24.1 (try the OpenJDK download) and see how that looks for you.
If that's not an option, at least try v22.1 of Oxygen with OpenJDK:
https://www.oxygenxml.com/xml_editor/so ... .html#22.1

If you want to send a screenshot it's possible via Attachments (next to Options, when you post), but it depends on the forum user level and permissions. You can also send it by email to support@oxygenxml.com .

Regards,
Adrian
Adrian Buza
<oXygen/> XML Editor, Schema Editor and XSLT Editor/Debugger
http://www.oxygenxml.com
Oleksii
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:04 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by Oleksii »

I could achieve the desired appearance using the combination of the provided solutions:
  • Create file custom_commons.vmoptions next to Oxygen.exe with the content

    Code: Select all

     -Dcom.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling=1.4
  • Right click on Oxygen .exe > Properties > Compatibility, "Change high DPi settings" > [x] Override high DPI scaling behavior: "system (enhanced)"
  • customize Options > Preferences, Appearance > Fonts
If the second bullet would be a solution for blurred appearance I should check on another laptop
Kind regards,
Oleksii Sapov-Erlinger
Oleksii
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:04 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by Oleksii »

Hi,
Currently, I'm using oXygen 26.1 on Windows 10, configured on a Dell laptop with two 26-inch monitors at work and a 32-inch monitor at my home office. Here are my current settings:
  • For the Oxygen .exe, under Properties > Compatibility, I have selected "Change high DPI settings" and checked the box for "Override high DPI scaling behavior," setting it to "application."
  • In the custom_commons.vmoptions file, I've added the following line:

    Code: Select all

    -Dcom.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling=1.4
  • Under Options > Preferences > Appearance > Fonts, all settings are left at their default values.
This setup has provided the best results for me so far. However, I still find that file names, debugger windows, and other elements could be larger. I've experimented with various combinations, such as setting the "Override high DPI scaling behavior" to "system" or "system (enhanced)," along with different values for -Dcom.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling, but these adjustments have resulted in blurriness or oversized elements.

I'm wondering if there have been any advancements or updates regarding this issue since I last checked. Any insights would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Oleksii Sapov-Erlinger
adrian
Posts: 2855
Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 4:01 pm

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by adrian »

Hi,

Currently Oxygen should work fine out-of-the-box with the default/detected scaling. Have you tried it without the forced scaling?
If you already did, what was wrong with it?

Regarding your tweaks, first I'd like to point out that you should only use the Windows Properties > Compatibility settings if you don't want the application to handle the scaling, which should no longer be the case with recent versions of Oxygen/Java.
I'm not sure what's the effect of Override > Application (the application already does this), best to just leave it without override.

The Oxygen system property "com.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling" is no longer useful. I've logged an issue to remove it in a future version, as it is no longer necessary and cannot actually override the UI scaling in Java 11+ (it only gets half the job done). This property was introduced as the means to adjust the app scaling for Java 8. Java 8 is no longer supported since v25, so this property is not working how it should for Java 11+. Java 11+ has a system property of its own which should be used instead.
In short, instead of "com.oxygenxml.hidpi.scaling", if you want a custom scaling (other than the one detected), you should set "sun.java2d.uiScale" as mentioned in the docs, High Resolution Scaling Issues
e.g.
-Dsun.java2d.uiScale=1.4

Due to the fact that Oxygen has image resources only for 1x and 2x scaling and they are not scaled dynamically, scaling options < 1.5 use the 1x image resources (icons remain small). Only for scaling >=1.5, Oxygen switches to 2x icons. So you should consider setting the uiScale to 1.5 to see how it looks, if you want larger icons.
If, on the contrary, you want larger UI, but same size (1x) icons, you can force the Oxygen icons to a specific size with an undocumented property, "com.oxygenxml.hidpi.icon.scaling". Set it to 1 for 1x icons, or 2 for 2x icons. This is in addition to the "sun.java2d.uiScale" property (set it on a different line in the custom_commons.vmoptions file).

Regards,
Adrian
Adrian Buza
<oXygen/> XML Editor, Schema Editor and XSLT Editor/Debugger
http://www.oxygenxml.com
Oleksii
Posts: 84
Joined: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:04 pm
Location: Austria
Contact:

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by Oleksii »

Hi Adrian,

Thank you for the thorough response.

It is difficult for me to discuss the interface without the ability to post images, but I'll try with some concrete examples:
  • In the XPath builder, how can I increase the font size of the XPath expression?
  • In XSL debugger mode > Variables view, when experimenting with options > font > text components or GUI, only the name of the variable is affected, not the "value type" and "type"
Regards,
Oleksii
Kind regards,
Oleksii Sapov-Erlinger
adrian
Posts: 2855
Joined: Tue May 17, 2005 4:01 pm

Re: oXygen too small appearance

Post by adrian »

Hi,

So in the end, what scaling settings are you currently using?
If not customized in Oxygen, what are your system scaling settings?

If you want to send screenshots showing the problems, please send an email to support@oxygenxml.com and attach the images.
I would recommend resetting fonts first (restart is implied).

Font customization is not that granular. You cannot adjust the font just for a specific component. But the options found in Options > Preferences, Appearance / Fonts ("Text components" and "GUI" and "View title fonts") should cover the entire UI. Note that font changes are not applied properly on the fly. You will have to restart the application after a font change to see the final result.
There are a few fields from the UI that may inherit the font of an editor.

In the end I'd recommend leaving the font settings to their defaults and only adjust the scaling from the sun.java2d.uiScale property to keep all things proportional.

Regards,
Adrian
Adrian Buza
<oXygen/> XML Editor, Schema Editor and XSLT Editor/Debugger
http://www.oxygenxml.com
Post Reply