Resolution-issue opening Excel-files from TC

[kvex]

Hi all,

I have an issue opening Excel files from TC on my Dell XPS15 (4K screen).

When I open an Excel file it is completely out of proportion: cells are oversized and text is undersized:
Image: https://i.ibb.co/2jrVwdR/From-TC.jpg

At first I thought this is just an issue with the resolution of my screen, but then I noticed that when I open the same file from Windows Explorer, there is nothing wrong:

Image: https://i.ibb.co/qngS772/From-Explorer.jpg

Can somebody please help solve this issue? I would like Excel to operate as if I opened it from the Explorer.

[white]

2kvex
I noticed "Weergave-instellingen" (display settings) on your TC screenshot. Does that have anything to do with it?

[Dalai]

Do you start TC via a shortcut that applies scaling or other display-related compatibility settings? Maybe such settings are applied to TC's child processes, too.

Regards
Dalai

[kvex]

2kvex
I noticed "Weergave-instellingen" (display settings) on your TC screenshot. Does that have anything to do with it?

I think this is a Red Herring, which is why I did not include it. But since you asked I will show you anyway, hoping that I will not derail my original request too much.

Indeed I had noticed that too and when I clicked it, I got the following options:
Image: https://i.ibb.co/pv35BrG/Weergave-instellingen.jpg
When I changed from the current setting ('optimized for best visibilty') to the alternative setting ('optimize for best compatibility') this completely messed up the interface:
Image: https://i.ibb.co/QXWvY83/Compatibiliteit.jpg
Now Excel occupied only a fraction of my screen, and became virtually unmanageable: to operate it the cursor has to be moved over the white space of the screen and to restore the display settings to their previous setting I had to play a nightmare of a guess-and-clicking-game which took me about half an hour to accomplish, and I will have to do that again now because I made this screenshot for you.

The message is probably connected to the rootcause though, because I consistently get it when opening an Excel from Total Commander, and I consistently do not get it when opening the very same Excel from the Explorer.

[kvex]

Do you start TC via a shortcut that applies scaling or other display-related compatibility settings? Maybe such settings are applied to TC's child processes, too.

Regards
Dalai

Thanks Dalai! That was an excellent suggestion. Indeed, I use high-DPI settings when starting Total Commander. When disabling it, the problem is gone, so I think your theory makes perfect sense. Would there be a way to prevent Total Commander from sending the scaling to child processes? Right now I have to choose between Total Commander- or Excel-scaling issues.

[Dalai]

Right now I have to choose between Total Commander- or Excel-scaling issues.

Uh, why? TC can do its own scaling (and Excel can, too). See TC's options, e.g. Font.

Regards
Dalai

[kvex]

Right now I have to choose between Total Commander- or Excel-scaling issues.

Uh, why? TC can do its own scaling (and Excel can, too). See TC's options, e.g. Font.

Regards
Dalai

The nice thing about the compatibility scaling is that it takes me one checkmark and the whole scaling on my 4K display is just like it was on my Full-HD screen. I've tried fiddling around in the menu's but it is quite a pain to get it looking similar: you have to figure out the exact sizes for fonts, icon sizes in the folders, icon sizes in the top row, and even then it still looks different. Even the menus themselves look different, and when I use the program from USB on my 2K-computer all settings will be wrong again. So it would be much easier for me if I can just have Total Commander not send the scaling info to the app to be opened.

[Dalai]

TC doesn't send anything about scaling to its child processes, but Windows does. It's the same with CPU affinity, user security tokens (UAC, i.e. run as administrator or as different user) and maybe others.

BTW: It wasn't talking about font sizes specifically, but the DPI setting in the Font section. It might be a little bit of effort to adjust the settings for different displays, but I'm quite certain it's possible.

Regards
Dalai

[ghisler(Author)]

There is no need to start TC with high DPI settings - you can change the DPI dialogs inside of Total Commander in
Configuration - Options - Font - Set dots per inch
This will not be passed to apps called from TC.

[kvex]

@Dalai and ghisler: thanks for your clarifications! I was still using 8.51a, so I switched to 10.00 and found the DPI setting you mentioned. Everything works fine now.