Property Sheets and Inspectors

You can display the properties of an object in the interface in a number of ways. For example, some folder views display certain file system properties of an object. The image and name of an icon on the desktop also reflect specific properties of that object. You can also use other interface conventions, such as toolbars, status bars, or even scroll bars, to reflect certain properties. The most common presentation of an object's properties is a secondary window, called a property sheet. A property sheet is a modeless secondary window that displays the user-accessible properties of an object — that is, viewable, but not necessarily editable properties. Display a property sheet when the user chooses the Properties command for an object.

A property inspector is different from a property sheet — even when a property sheet window is modeless, the window is typically modal with respect to the object for which it displays properties. If the user selects another object, the property sheet continues to display the properties of the original object. A property inspector always reflects the current selection.