TabControl

The TabControl allows you to have several “pages” of text and data capture grouped together in logical blocks. Once you have added a TabControl to the screen you will need to access the context menu by right-clicking on it and selecting Tab Management> Add Tab, to be able to add controls.

The images below show the TabControl after being added to the screen, and then after having a Tab added.

The following selection rules for editing tab contents and properties apply:

Clicking area Condition Action Properties displayed
Tab label (A) Another tab label (B) was selected Tab label A is selected displaying its contents in the tab page Tab control properties
Tab page was selected
  • If label A was previously selected, then it is selected again
  • If another label was previously selected, then click label A for a second time to select it
Tab page(background) – The tab page of the previously selected tab label is selected Tab page properties
Tab page (visible control) – The control is selected Tab control properties

Tab actions

Tab related actions are available through right-clicking on the tab area as follows:

Context menu action Applicable right-click area Description
Add Tab Anywhere (tab label or tab page) Adds a new tab to the control
Remove Tab Tab page Removes the currently displayed tab
Move Left Tab page Swaps the currently displayed tab with the one on its left
Move Right Tab page Swaps the currently displayed tab with the one on its right
Clone Anywhere (tab label or tab page) Creates an exact copy of the currently displayed tab after the last one on the right

Properties

The standard TabControl has the following properties:

  • Name: The name of the control
  • Default Tab(main TabControl only): Specifies which tab should be selected as default
  • Enabled (checkbox): Specifies whether the control is initially enabled or not
  • Tab stop (checkbox): It must be enabled in order for the control to be included in the tabbing sequence
  • Tab Order: Sets the tab order for the control
  • Comment: Allows you to add details of the control use, which will be output to any documentation produced
  • OnAction: Allows you to define a function to run when the control's Events are triggered. Click Clear to remove this function.

  • Style: Allows you to select a style defined in the Style Editor
  • Font: Allows you to define the font used for the text
  • Tooltip: The text to be displayed when you hover the mouse over the control
  • Background Colour: The background colour of the control
  • Foreground Colour: The text colour
  • Is right-to-left: Inverts the writing direction allowing you to type from the right to the left.

  • Show Tab Outline (checkbox): When disabled, no border nor background colour are shown on the unselected tab label(s)
  • Border Colour: The colour of the border line around the whole tab control
  • Selected Tab Backcolour: The background colour for the selected tab label
  • Selected Tab Forecolour: The text colour for the selected tab label
  • Unselected Tab Backcolour: The background colour for the unselected tab label(s)
  • Unselected Tab Forecolour: The text colour for the unselected tab label(s)

  • Image: Allows you to define a background image for the tab page. Click the icon to access the Image Selector dialog box.
  • Auto size image (checkbox): If enabled, the selected image will be resized to fit the size of the tab page
  • Tab Image: Allows you to define an icon to be displayed on the left of the tab label. Click the icon to access the Image Selector dialog box.