Control properties when not Visible

can someone explain to me why setting the size of a control (well, actually, setting the size of a splitter control) is ignored when it is not visible.

For example. I have a simple form with a virtical splitter on it. I then add a second splitter (horizontal) to the right hand site of the first. In the form load event I set the SplitterDistance of the two splitters to be 1/2 the forms width and height. This all works ok. But, if in the designer I set the visible property of the first splitter to False and in Form_Load set it to true once the sizes have been set, it appears my size settings are ignored.

sample code for form_load...

this.WindowState = FormWindowState.Maximized;
splitContainer1.SplitterDistance = this.Width / 2;
splitContainer2.SplitterDistance = this.Height / 2;
// Move this line to the top to set things to work correctly.
splitContainer1.Visible = true;

Regards

Graham

[1002 byte] By [Gravy] at [2007-12-16]