Changing the Component's Properties

Components have several properties. For a complete list of the properties supported by each component type, see the documentation for that component type in the Component Type reference section, which begins on See Component Types . Some properties common to many component types are:

visible
You can turn off this property to make a component invisible--it won't appear on-screen, nor will its children, the components it contains. Turn the property back on to make the component visible again.

enabled
By turning off this property, you can cause a component to appear grayed-out and to ignore user input. Also, its children will be grayed out and will ignore user input. Turn the property back on to enable the component to receive user input again.

name
The name by which BASIC code may refer to the component. The name should be a proper BASIC name.

caption
The component's caption is text that appears on the component when it appears on-screen, text by which the user may identify the component. The captions of OK and Cancel buttons are "OK" and "Cancel."

Depending on the type of the component you've selected, the properties box will contain different sets of properties. After all, different types of components have different properties.

How to change the starting properties

To change a component's starting properties take the following steps:

  1. Select the component whose properties you want to change. If it is visible, you can select it by clicking on it with the mouse. You may also select it by choosing its name from the Components list in the Editor window.
  2. Find the Component Properties dialog box; if it is not visible, then choose Component Properties from the Window menu. The Component Properties box should appear.
  3. There are three "areas" of the Component Properties box: General, Children, and Specific. Each of these areas allows you to change some of the properties for a component--to view a different area of the box, you can click one of the buttons towards the top of the Properties dialog box.
  4. Each area of the Properties box contains settings which allow you to define one or more of the selected component's properties. Work with the components. To make your changes take effect, you press the Apply button

.

For example, let's change the caption of the button you created earlier.

  1. Click on the button to select it.
  2. Choose Component Properties from the Window menu. In a few seconds, the Component Properties box should appear.
  3. To work with the caption property, we want to be in the General area of the Properties box. Press the General button.
  4. Find the entry called Caption--the entry's text probably says button1 now.
  5. Change the text in the Caption entry to Make Funky.
  6. Press the Apply button, found at the bottom of the Properties box. The button on the Form should now appear with the text "Make Funky."

About the component properties box

The top-left corner of the Properties box contains a button which you may press to close the Properties box, ridding your screen of clutter.

If you select a different component while the Properties box is showing, after a few seconds, the Properties box will show you the properties of that component--and allow you to change the properties of that component.

Components which don't have children won't allow you access to the Children area of the Properties box. The Specific area of the Properties box contains properties special to that component's type.