Property Sheets

The bean property sheet provides options for changing the initial appearance and state of beans. You can open the property sheet from the pop-up menu of a selected bean either in the Visual Composition Editor or Beans List window. You can also select Properties from the Tools pull-down menu or select Properties from the tool bar.

The left column of the bean property sheet contains a list of properties and the right column contains the editable values. An expansion icon Expansion Icon to the left of the property indicates that the property has moreeditable values. For example, when you expand the constraints, sizing properties, such as x, y, width, and height, appear for editing. When you select the value column of a property, you are provided with an editing option. For example, if you want to modify the property for a label, select the value field for label and enter the new label in the entry field. If you want to change the background color for the same bean, a small button Small Button appears when you select the value column for background. When you select this button, a dialog window appears with color options.

You can specify the type of property editor to associate with the property by setting the propertyEditor field in the BeanInfo. For more information, see "Enabling Custom Edit Support for Your Bean."

Once you open a property sheet, you can modify properties for most beans in Visual Composition Editor. To edit another bean select it in the Visual Composition Editor or from within the property sheet by selecting the bean from the drop-down list at the top of the property sheet. If you open a property sheet after selecting multiple beans, the property sheet provides editing options for only the common values of the selected beans. For example, you can use this feature to set all at once, the left and top inset of several beans in a GridBagLayout.
Property Sheet


Related concepts
Visual Composition Editor Overview
Visual Programming Fundamentals
How Classes and Beans Are Related
Visual, Nonvisual, and Composite Beans

Related procedures
Working with Beans Visually
Composing Beans Visually
Adding the IBM Java Examples project
Opening the Property Sheet for a Bean

Related references
Visual Composition Editor
The Menu Bar in Visual Composition
Properties
Pop-Up Menus for the Visual Composition Editor