Spacing, Radius, and Typography

ModernUI exposes common visual controls through theme defaults and short setters.

Use these to make panels feel consistent without editing Paint() methods or forking controls.

Core setters

Legacy names such as Padding, CornerRadius, and FontSize remain supported where the control exposes them.

Padding

MuiButtonAction *button=Mui::Button(parent,"Save",NULL,160.0,0.0);
button.Pad(14.0,8.0);

Padding affects preferred size and layout. It usually causes a layout update.

Use padding for:

• button breathing room
• panel interior spacing
• compact/comfortable variants
• custom row layouts

Radius

MuiPanel *panel=Mui::Panel(parent,320.0,200.0);
panel.Radius(14.0);

MuiButtonAction *square=Mui::Button(parent,"Square",NULL,160.0,0.0);
square.Radius(0.0);

Use radius to match the panel’s visual style.

Common values:

Font size

MuiLabel *label=Mui::Label(parent,"Ready");
label.SizePt(12);

Use SizePt for one-off text changes.

For app-wide typography, use theme font methods.

Theme font scale

MuiTheme supports a five-step font scale.

MuiTheme theme;
theme.SetFontScale(10,11,12,14,16);
theme.SetFontFamily("Verdana");

g_ui.SetTheme(theme);

A shorter three-size setter also exists:

MuiTheme theme;
theme.SetFonts(11,12,14);
g_ui.SetTheme(theme);

Theme typography is best for global consistency. SizePt is best for local overrides.

Dense mode

Dense mode reduces common control sizes and uses a smaller typography preset.

MuiTheme theme;
theme.Dense(true);
g_ui.SetTheme(theme);

Use dense mode for compact panels such as trade managers, sidebars, and small settings tools.

Avoid dense mode when:

• the UI contains long descriptions
• users need touch-like spacing
• the panel is a tutorial or documentation-heavy view

Component metrics

ModernUI uses theme methods for default sizes.

Examples:

theme.ButtonHeight();
theme.InputHeight();
theme.ComboHeight();
theme.SliderHeight();
theme.ListRowHeight();
theme.TableRowHeight();
theme.TableHeaderHeight();
theme.TabHeight();
theme.CardPadding();

Factories use these when size arguments are 0.0.

That means this:

Mui::Button(parent,"Save",handler,160.0,0.0);

uses the theme button height.

Crisp paint snapping

ModernUI keeps layout in logical units, then snaps final paint rectangles to physical pixels before drawing chrome. This helps avoid random one-pixel border gaps at non-integer Windows or UI scales.

For normal users this is automatic. If you build custom controls, keep the same rule: use logical coordinates for layout and hit testing, then snap final paint bounds before drawing borders, fills, and small chrome.

Fixed size

Use Size(w,h) when a control should be fixed.

button.Size(180.0,32.0);

Prefer theme defaults unless a fixed size is needed.

Layout vs paint changes

Not every visual change has the same cost.

This matters for live updates. Do not call layout-heavy setters on every mouse move or timer tick unless needed.

Common mistakes

Making compact panels too cramped

Dense mode is useful, but still leave enough vertical rhythm for inputs and status rows.

Using fixed sizes everywhere

Let theme defaults handle most control sizing. Use fixed sizes where the layout genuinely needs them.

Overriding font sizes randomly

A few text sizes are better than many one-off sizes.

Related pages

• Themes and tokens
• Setter naming
• Controls