Setting Properties with the Properties Window

Properties are attributes that define how a control appears and runs at run time. Each form and each control has an associated custom property page. Modifying the properties in the page (the Properties window) affects the code that is generated for the control in initForm. Properties include the appearance, behavior, and position for the control. The background color, enable and disable state, show state, font, default size and position, and so forth, may be set in the Properties window for the form. Properties vary depending on the class for the container (or Form class).

Some properties are inherited, such as Font, background color, and foreground color.

To edit the properties of a control or form

1. On the form, select the control you wish to edit; or, to edit the form, click the form itself.

   The properties page associated with the selected control is displayed in the Properties Window.

2. Select the property that you wish to modify for the control from the Properties window. For example, you might choose the Font property to change the font style for the name on a button control.

Note   Multi-selection of controls results in a custom properties page which displays only the common properties.

Complex properties use common dialogs and editors for:

• Text input û size and strings (in-place string edit changes appear in real-time
  
  
• Combo box selection û cursors, enums and booleans
  
  
• Font picker û common dialog box for selecting font characteristics
  
  
• Color picker û common dialog box with a palette for color selection
  
  
• List items û window for creating initial list items
  
  
• Anchor and Dock editors û for setting position behavior

Click the node of compound properties to access sub-properties.