My ASP.NET app must look the same on all clients

[soskinny]

Can someone tell me how to make my asp.net web forms look the same in all client browsers? I know this is a typical web development problem and I think it has to to with screen resolution but I can't seem to find anything on it.

Even the correct jargon describing what this issue is called would help because I can't find anything on this in searches..

[mendhak]

Use a CSS.

You could use different CSS to set different text sizes depending upon the resolution, if you'd like.

Use %ages to specify widths.

I can't really comment on browser compatibility, but I find that the more 'complex' a page is in terms of controls being used, etc. the less likely it would work with the other browsers.

The best approach would be to not go overboard on complex, 'content rich' controls, so that the other browsers do handle it.

But then, this advice is THEORETICALLY incorrect!

[soskinny]

thanks mendhak.

I am pretty sure this is strictly a screen resolution issue. Will the css (cascading style sheet?) be able to adjust control size and locations...? Can you provide an example...

I know what a pixel is and that resolution determines the amount of pixels visable on a screen. Still don't understand the solution though...

[mendhak]

Originally posted by soskinny
Will the css (cascading style sheet?) be able to adjust control size and locations...?

It doesn't need to.

As long as you are positioning your form elements properly (using percentages, etc), then you won't face much of a problem.

Going by this design philosophy will eliminate about 80% of all potential problems.

The other reason I mentioned CSS was in case you felt that using Arial 8pt on a 1600*1200 resolution would cause your eyeballs to mutilate themselves in a fit of frustration. You could always use alternate CSS sheets, varying only in font sizes, but this is just if you want it.

[soskinny]

Mendhak- I think you are getting me much closer to understanding this. In my excitement of learning asp.net and writing my first application, I forgot the fundamentals of html. I was NOT using percentages to size my form controls. I'll look into how to do this on a .net web form. Thanks for putting me on the right track.