Setting Control Defaults

Whenever you use a tool in the toolbox to create a control, the control is created with a default set of property values. Many of these default property values are under your control; the default property values are saved as part of the form's definition. Intelligent use of default property values speed the process of designing a form.

To set control defaults, select a tool in the toolbox, then set properties in the property sheet. You can also use the palette or toolbar to set default colors or fonts for controls.

In addition to speeding up the form-design process, default property settings can reduce the disk space used by a form and reduce the time it takes to open the form. Controls on a form are saved by recording those property values that differ from those of the default control. So, if all 20 text boxes on your form are blue and your form's default text box is red, then the saved form definition must include "blue" 20 times, once for each text box. If the default text box on the form is blue, then "blue" is recorded only once for all the text boxes.