Common Properties

TITLE

Tabs do not have titles.

VALUE

A tab control has a numeric value, which represents the currently selected tab. Selecting a value outside of the range of existing tabs has an undefined effect.

SIZE

SIZE and LINES describe the area occupied by the tab control, using the tab's font to determine the dimensions of the row and column. The area described includes the row(s) occupied by the tabs as well as the box.

COLOR

Tab controls are always displayed using the push button colors selected by the user in the Windows Control Panel.

Note: If you are using the WIN32_NATIVECTLS runtime variable to automatically enable XP or Vista control styles and have frames with labels, see the COLOR property in Common Properties (for Label controls) for information on how the labels may display.

TAB-COLOR, TAB-BACKGROUND-COLOR, ACTIVE-TAB-COLOR

Use the TAB-COLOR and TAB-BACKGROUND-COLOR properties (when adding a new tab to the control). Use the ACTIVE-TAB-COLOR property when creating the main tab control. All of these properties take a color value.

TAB-BORDER-COLOR, TAB-BORDER-WIDTH

Tab controls have a border that encompasses the selected tab and its corresponding page. The border can be set to a specific color using the TAB-BORDER-COLOR property (which accepts a color name). The default color is black. Control the border width with the TAB-BORDER-WIDTH property, which takes a value from 1 to 3, with 3 being the thickest border width.

EVENT-LIST, EXCLUDE-EVENT-LIST

EVENT-LIST is an exclusive list of events that are either sent to or withheld (blocked) from the program depending on the value of EXCLUDE-EVENT-LIST. See Common Screen Options for more information.

ROUND

You can switch between square and rounded corners for the tab control appearance. Use the ROUND property to specify round corners. The default style is square. This can only be done at creation, and cannot be modified.

STYLES

MULTILINE If the tabs don't all fit on one line, this style allows them to occupy as many lines as needed. If this style is not used, the system adds a scroll bar so the user can scroll to the hidden tabs.
BUTTONS This style produces a tab control with a different appearance. These tabs look like push buttons (the box is not shown), but they act much like a group of radio buttons.
FIXED-WIDTH This style causes each tab to occupy the same amount of space. Without this style, each tab is individually sized. Note that setting this style can cause an odd appearance on multiline tabs.
VERTICAL W$FONT library routine When this style is used, tabs are displayed vertically along the left edge of the control. This style automatically implies the MULITLINE style.

Note that with this style, you cannot use the & character in a tab's text to assign a keyboard shortcut. Also note that if you use the WIN32_NATIVECTLS runtime variable for invoking XP control styles, the contents may not render correctly or at all. This is because Windows XP native controls itself does not support this style.

Because some fonts are not displayed properly after being rotated, we recommend using a TrueType font with vertical tabs. You can use the W$FONT library routine to retrieve a TrueType font.

BOTTOM This style causes tabs to appear on the bottom edge of the control instead of the top. If the VERTICAL style is also specified, tabs appear on the right edge of the control instead of the left.
FLAT-BUTTONS This style is similar to the BUTTONS style, but the button-style tabs appear flat, with no border, rather than having a 3-D appearance
Note: This style is valid only when the tabs are positioned at the top of the control. If the BOTTOM style is used, and FLAT-BUTTONS is also selected, the control will default to the BUTTONS style.
NO-DIVIDERS This style is used only with the FLAT-BUTTONS style. When specified, no dividers are drawn between the button-style tabs.
HOT-TRACK When this style is used, a tab's text is highlighted when the mouse hovers over it. Note that the degree of highlighting is determined by Windows and is often fairly subtle.
NO-FOCUS Users cannot give focus to the tab control when this style is used.
Parent topic: Tab