Properties Page

This pane displays the selected dialog or control's attributes, and you can edit certain properties.

Control Selection Combo box

This combo box lets you select any of the controls present in the dialog. The selected control will be made visible even if other controls overlay it.
Two controls from different dialogs are counterparts if the following requirements are met:

  • Same name
  • Same type
  • Same size
  • Same location on the dialog

ImportantThe actions that will trigger a uniform behavior are: Resize and Move.

The Properties pane contains a list of all the controls that belong to the currently selected dialog. When selecting a control in this list, the control is also selected on the dialog, and this list is populated with its properties.

Modifying a property

Click on the attribute you want to edit and make the necessary change. Use the Enter key to validate a modification and the Esc key to cancel the change.

The properties are grouped in the following categories:

Identification

Contains the following properties:

  • Type - This field displays the control's type. It cannot be edited.
  • Name - Displays the control identifier.

Display

This category contains different sets of properties depending on the selected control's type.

If the control displays a text it has the following property:

If the control displays an image the category contains the following properties:

  • Use Indirection - Specify whether the image is specified directly on indirectly.
  • Picture Path - If indirect is FALSE the picture is specified directly. Use the [ ... ] to select it.
  • Indirect Property - If indirect is TRUE a property is used to specify the picture. Use the [ ... ] button to choose a property. These properties are defined in the Images Tab page.

Text Style

In this category, you can specify the text style used when displaying the control's caption.

  • Use Indirection - Specify whether text style is specified directly or indirectly.
  • Text Style - If indirect is FALSE the text style is specified directly. Select one from the list of already defined styles.
  • Indirect Property - If indirect is TRUE, a property is used to specify the text style. Use the [ ... ] button to choose a property. These properties are defined in the Text Style Tab page.

Print

This option category is available only for "PushButton" controls from a dialog that contains at least a "ScrollableText" control.

The following attributes are available:

  • Print Button - Enable this option to indicate that the selected button should trigger the print action.
  • Control - When PushButton control is a "print button" you must choose a ScrollableText control on the same dialog which will contain the text to print.

Value

This category is available for Check Box, Radio Button, Edit, Path Edit, Directory Combo and Masked Edit controls.

  • Value - In this field, you can specify the value of the property associated with this control or control group (Radio Buttons group). This value is taken into consideration after the control's state has been changed. This field is of Formatted Type. Use the [ ... ] to display the Edit Formatted Type Dialog which will allow you to insert a reference to a property.
  • Default Value - Default value for the associated property. Available for Check Box controls.
  • Selected - Set the default control's state. Available for Radio Button controls.

Property

Specify the name of the property associated with the currently selected control. You can directly edit the property's name or use the [ ... ] button to select an existing one.

ImportantThe property must be public (all uppercase letters) because properties that are set by the user interface during the installation and then passed to the installation's execution phase must be public.

Values Separator

Token used to separate multiple selected values from a List Box or List View control that has the "Multiple Selection" attribute set. By default, a comma will be used as a separator.

Attributes

Attributes specific to the dialog:

  • Modal - If this flag is set, the dialog box is modal, other dialogs of the same application cannot be put on top of it, and the dialog keeps the control while it is running.
  • Minimize - The dialog can be minimized.
  • SystemModal - If this flag is set, no other application can take the focus. This state remains until the dialog is dismissed.
  • KeepModeless - If true, the other dialogs stay alive when this dialog box is created.
  • Track Disk Space - If true, the dialog box periodically calls the installer. If the property changes, it notifies the controls on the dialog. This style can be used if there is a control on the dialog indicating disk space.
  • Use Custom Palette - If true, the pictures on the dialog box are created with the custom palette otherwise pictures are rendered using a default palette.
  • Error - Make the dialog an error dialog.

Specify the control's attributes.

  • Visible - Specify if by default, the control is visible on the dialog.
  • Sunken - Specify if the control is displayed sunken.
  • Enabled - Specify if by default, the control is enabled.
  • Indirect - Specify whether the value displayed or modified by this control is indirectly referenced. If this flag is set to TRUE, the control displays or changes the value of the property that has the identifier listed in the Property Name filed. If this flag is FALSE the control displays or changes the property's value in the Property Name filed.
  • Integer - If this flag is set, the associated property is an integer.
  • Left Scroll - The scroll bar is displayed on the control's left side.
  • Right Aligned - The control's text is right aligned.
  • RTLRO - The text in the control is displayed in a right to left reading order.
  • BiDi - A combination of right to left reading order RTLRO, Right Aligned, and Left Scroll attributes.
  • Text Type - Select whether the control will display text, image or icon.
  • Push Like - The button is drawn with the appearance of a push button, but its logic stays the same.
  • Progres95 - The progress the bar is drawn as a series of small rectangles in Microsoft Windows 95-style.
  • Has Border - the Radio Button Group has text and a border displayed around it.
  • Show Rollback - Specify whether or not the rollback backup files are included in the costs displayed by the Volume Cost List control.
  • Fixed Image Size - When this attribute is "true" the image maintains its original size even if the control window bounds are different. Otherwise, the image is scaled to fit the control window. This attribute is ignored if you have enabled the option "Always stretch images to fir their control window bounds" or "Always use original image sizes, regardless of control window bounds", from Themes page.
  • Elevation Shield - Specify if Windows Vista or above will show an elevation shield on the button. This is a visual element which will inform the user that he will need to provide Administrator privileges after clicking on the button.

The following attributes are available for Text type controls.

  • Format Size - If this flag is set for a static text control, the control automatically attempts to format the displayed text as a number that represents a count of bytes. For proper formatting, the control's text must be set to a string that represents a number expressed in units of 512 bytes. The displayed value is then formatted in kilobytes (KB), megabytes (MB) or gigabytes (GB), and displayed with the appropriate string that represents the units.
  • No Prefix - If TRUE, the "&" character's occurrence in a text is displayed as itself. If FALSE, then the character following "&" in the text string is displayed underscored.
  • No Wrap - The text is displayed on a single line. If the string's length exceeds the dimension of the control then ("...") is inserted at the end to indicate the truncation.
  • Password - Creates an edit control for entering passwords.
  • Transparent - The control is transparent.
  • Users Language - If true fonts are created using the user's default UI code page. If false fonts are created using the database code page.
  • Multiline - The installer creates a multiple line edit control with a vertical scroll bar.

The following attributes are available for the Volume and Directory SelectCombo control types.

  • CDROM Volume - The control shows all the volumes in the current installation plus all the CD-ROM volumes.
  • Fixed Volumes - The control shows all the volumes involved in the current installation plus all the fixed internal hard drives.
  • Floppy Volume - The control shows all the volumes involved in the current installation plus all the floppy volumes.
  • RAM Disk Volume - The control shows all the volumes involved in the current installation plus all the RAM disk volumes.
  • Remote Volume - The control shows all the volumes involved in the current installation plus all the remote volumes.
  • Removable Volume - The control shows all the volumes involved in the current installation plus all the removable volumes.

These attributes are available for List Box and Combo Box controls

  • Combo list - If this flag is set the edit field of a Combo Box is replaced by a static text field. This prevents a user from entering a new value and requires the user to choose only one of the predefined values.
  • Sort by Index - The items listed in the control are displayed in a specified order otherwise they are displayed in alphabetical order.

Extended Attributes

These attributes require the use of Enhanced User Interface.

  • Has Border - The tree and list controls will have a border displayed around it.
  • Read Only – This attribute is specific to the control which contains a text field and setting it to TRUE will prevent the user from editing that text.
  • Multiple Selection - Allows more than one item at a time to be selected from a List Box or List View control. When multiple items are selected, their comma separated values will be stored in the property specified in the "Property Name" field. You can customize the separator token to be used for multiple selected values.
  • Word Wrap - This option is available only for Edit Box control and specifies if word wrap is enabled or disabled.
  • Character Case - This option is available only for Edit Box control and specifies how the control will display the characters: uppercase, lowercase or both.
  • Text Align - This option is available only for Edit Box control and specifies if the text is displayed aligned to the left, right or center.
  • Horizontal Scrollbar - This option is available only for Edit Box and HTML Host controls and specifies if a horizontal scrollbar will be displayed.
  • Vertical Scrollbar - This option is available only for Edit Box and HTML Host controls and specifies if a vertical scrollbar will be displayed.
  • Indeterminate - Specific to Progress Bar controls, this attribute disables measuring the load amount. A cyclic animation will be displayed instead of the load percentage.
  • Placeholder Text - This text is displayed in the Edit Box and should describe the expected value of the input.

Help

Specify the tool-tip associated with a control. You can localize this string.

If pipe character (vertical bar) "|" is used, the string containing the pipe and all the characters that follow will not be displayed.

Layout

Edit the control's layout.

  • X - Horizontal coordinate of the upper-left corner of the control.
  • Y - Vertical coordinate of the upper-left corner of the control.
  • Width - Control's width.
  • Height - Control's height.

NoteThese values have a maximum limit. You will not be able to enter a value greater than that limit.

ImportantThese values are specified in installer units.