# Set up object properties (Properties tab)

The Properties tab of the Property Panel displays all the non-hidden properties of the selected object. The left column shows the property name and the right column shows the value.

Tip: | To get help for the selected property, click the ? button in the top right corner of the dialog box. If multiple objects are selected, click Shared Properties to edit the properties that are common to all the objects. To edit all the properties of all the selected objects, whether shared or not, click All Properties. If a group object is selected, click the button to the left of All Properties to view the properties of the individual objects within the group. You cannot change a property’s name. If a property is read-only, its value is grayed and you cannot change it. If a property is write-only, (for example, for a password), its value will be blank, and the words Write-only are added to the property’s type in the description box. When you enter a value, it will be blanked out immediately, but the value will be written to the property. If the selected object has a dialog box for setting up properties, the first name in the property grid, below (AboutBox), is (Custom). Double-click the row, or click the Browse button (…), to open the object’s Properties dialog box and make changes to the object’s properties, tags, and expressions. In the Properties tab of the Property Panel you can enter negative numbers for the positioning properties, Top and Left. These properties specify where an object sits in relation to the top and left side of the display. Using negative numbers lets you define a position for an object that results in part of the object being off-screen. You cannot enter negative numbers for these properties in the Common tab of Properties dialog box for an object.

## To change the value of a property in the Property Panel

1. Double-click the property’s row to select the property.
   - If the property has a list of values associated with it, pressing Enter or double-clicking in the property’s row changes the value to the next available value. A down-arrow appears in the right column. Click it to see the options for the property.
   - If the property has a property dialog box (such as the Font dialog box) associated with it, double-clicking the row opens the dialog box. Or, a Browse button appears in the right column - click it to open the dialog box.
2. Type the new value for the property, select one from the list, or make selections from the dialog box.
3. Press Enter or click another cell in the grid to save the change. The selected object is updated with the new property value and its appearance in the display changes, if appropriate.

## See also

Property Panel

Assign controls to objects

Edit grouped objects

All properties and connections