The Properties Window


It seems with every new release and every new tool that programming becomes less and less about writing code and more and more about dragging, dropping, and configuring. The many tools, controls, and rich designers that free us from the repetitive code also now require our attention in the form of maintenance. This work is typically done through the manipulation of the literally hundreds of properties that work in concert to define our application. This is where the Properties window comes into play. It allows us to control the size, appearance, and behavior of our controls. Furthermore, the Properties window groups common properties into sets for easier access. Finally, the Properties window also gives us access to connecting the events for a given control to the code inside our application.

Figure 2.18 shows the Properties window (undocked from the IDE) for a button control. Note that the window groups similar properties into sections via the banded categories such as Appearance. You can turn off this capability and list properties in alphabetic order by clicking the AZ icon on the property toolbar. Another item worth noting is the lightning bolt icon also on the property toolbar. This gives you access to the events for the given control.

Figure 2.18. The Properties window in Visual Studio 2005.





Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Unleashed
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Unleashed
ISBN: 0672328194
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2006
Pages: 195

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