Depending on the development environment used, the steps necessary to modify the control properties vary. The properties supported by the control can be displayed in a variety of ways. See your development environment's documentation for specific instructions.
Usually, development tools allow access to the Property Pages implemented by a control. For example, a development tool may allow you to right-click on the control in design mode. By selecting Properties from the popup menu presented, the properties can be accessed using the Property Pages provided by the control. The following tabs are offered by this property dialog. Additional tabs may be added to the dialog by your development tool.
| Tab | Description |
|---|---|
| Attributes | Defines the main attributes of the control. |
| Mask | Defines the control's input mask and data entry features. |
| Caption | The Caption object defines the attributes of the built-in caption. |
| Calculator | The Calculator object defines the attributes of the popup calculator. |
| Calendar | The Calendar object defines the attributes of the popup calendar. |
| AutoComplete | Defines the control's autocomplete feature. |
| Load/Save | The Load and Save buttons load or save the settings of the currently selected control. This is used to transfer settings between existing controls (of the same type). It is not necessary to save controls that are on a form, as these settings are automatically saved when the form is saved. |
| QuickSetup | Provides quick setup of frequently used edit control styles. Select a style, then click on the "Go" button to update the current control by setting its properties. The other pages can then be used to further customize the control. |
| Options | Defines the defaults of the property dialogs. Switching between small and large property pages does not take effect until the property pages are closed and reopened. Some development tools must be closed and restarted before the change takes effect. Checking for available updates requires an Internet connection. Certain system settings and firewalls may prevent automatic update checking; in that case, use the Updates page to check for available updates. |
| Updates | Click on the "Free Updates..." button to download free product maintenance and updates from our web site. The product contacts our web site and checks whether a newer version is available. If product maintenance is available, it can be downloaded and installed automatically. Internet access is required. |
Each tab and associated page allows a set of properties to be manipulated. All properties are labeled using the property name. Detailed descriptions can be found in the online documentation.
By right-clicking on the property page, help information for a specific property can be accessed.
Most pages offer online help by clicking on the Help button, which displays this topic. This Help button may not be displayed when using certain development environments. Other means may be available to view the product's online documentation.
Each property page shows a number of properties using categories (such as Appearance, Behavior, Colors, etc.).
By clicking on a property, the property can be edited. Using the TAB (or SHIFT+TAB) key the next (or previous) property can be edited or simply click on another property.
Double-click on the description of a property to display the complete help information or right-click on the property dialog for a help menu.
When clicking on a property representing a color value, a combo box is displayed which shows the available system colors as defined using Control Panel and also the basic colors. A new color value can be selected from the choices offered or a new color value can be entered. The following syntax is accepted:
| &H00bbggrr& | A hexadecimal number (Basic style) |
| 0x00bbggrr | A hexadecimal number (C/C++ style) |
| decimal | A decimal value, the decimal equivalent of a hexadecimal color value |
| bb = blue component gg = green component rr = red component |
&H00FF0000& Blue
0x0000ff00 Green
The display format of color values can be modified using the Options page.
A Picture property can be defined by clicking on the 
bitmap of the cell. This displays a dialog that is used to load a bitmap, icon or metafile. Some properties only allow bitmaps or only icons.
Once a file has been loaded, the image is saved along with the control properties and the file is no longer required.
Picture properties display (None), (Bitmap), (Metafile), (Icon) or (Invalid Type), depending on the graphic type loaded.
To clear a Picture property click on the bitmap of the cell, then click Cancel on the resulting dialog. This will clear the Picture property.
A Font property can be defined by clicking on the bitmap of the cell. This displays a dialog that is used to define the attributes of the font.
Certain font properties also support the use of a default font. To restore the default font, right-click on the bitmap of the cell and select the Reset menu entry.
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