The Properties Pane

he property pane displays the property pages for the currently selected object. The property pages contain the attributes for the objects on your form. Size, color, and position are some of the attributes that can be set on the property pages.

Each property is listed in the Property column on the left. The current value is displayed in the Value column on the right. Properties with grayed out values are read only.

Related properties are grouped. Each group has a label. The properties in the group are indented under the group label. For example, properties indented under theFont label include Face, Style, Size, Underline, Strikeout, and Color. Property groups may be collapsed and expanded. By de­fault, most are expanded:

  • Expanded property groups have a ­- in front of the label. To collapse a group, click on the label.

  • Collapsed property groups have a + in front of the label. To expand a group, click on the label.

Note: Some properties are not part of a group. They appear separately and are not nested under a label.

Property value fields will be one of three types: a list box, a dialog box, or a text box. If the value field contains a , it displays a dialog box. If a ap­pears when you click on the value field, it is a list box. Otherwise, it is a text box.

To select a property value from a list:
  1. Click on the property value field to display the
  2. Click on to display the drop-down list.
  3. Click on the value you want in the list. The list box will close and your selected value will appear in the field.
    Note: If you know the value you want to select from the list, you can start typing it directly into the value field. As soon as the value is recognized, it will appear in the field.
To enter a property value in a text box:
  1. Click on the value field for the property. If there is a value in the field, it will be highlighted when you click. Otherwise, an insertion point will appear:

    • To enter a value in a blank field, just type the value in.

    • To replace the value in a field, start typing the new value. The old (selec­ted) value will disappear when you start typing.

    • To make changes to a value, click on the field again to display the in­sertion point and edit your text. You can use your mouse or the or arrow keys to position your insertion point.

  2. When you finish, press one of the following:

    • to move to the next field.

    • to move to the previous field.

    • to leave the field without moving to another.

To select a property value from a dialog box:
  1. Click in the value field to display the dialog box.
  2. Select the value from the dialog box.
  3. Click to close the dialog box.