Edit Property/Method Dialog Box

See Also

Allows you to add new properties and methods, or edit existing properties and methods. For forms and form sets, the property or method is scoped to the stand-alone form or form set, as applicable.

You can also create Access and Assign methods. An Access method allows you to execute code when the value of a property is queried. An Assign method allows you to execute code when you attempt to change the value of a property. For more information about Access and Assign methods, see “Access and Assign Methods” in Chapter 33, Programming Improvements in the Programmer's Guide.

This dialog box appears when you select Edit Property/Method from the Class or Form menus.

Dialog Box Options

Property/Method Information

Provides information about properties and methods added to a form, form set, or class. You can click on the heading of a column to sort the column in ascending or descending alphabetical order.

Column Description
Name The name of each property and method.
Type Property (P) or method (M).
Access Indicates if a property has a corresponding Access method. Yes indicates the property has an Access method, No indicates the property doesn’t have an Access method.
Assign Indicates if a property has a corresponding Assign method. Yes indicates the property has an Assign method, No indicates the property doesn’t have an Assign method.
Visibility Indicates the visibility of a property or method. For a form or form set, the visibility of properties and methods is always Public. For a class, the visibility can be Hidden, Protected, or Public.

Public properties and methods can be accessed from anywhere within an application. Protected properties and methods cannot be accessed by object instances, but can be accessed by subclasses. Hidden properties and methods cannot be accessed by either object instances or subclasses.

Note that in the Class Designer you can select multiple properties and methods so you can set the visibility to the same setting for all the selected properties and methods. All Public properties and methods appear in the type libraries created for in-process .dlls and out-of-process .exes; multiple selection allows you to set the visibility to Protected or Hidden so the selected properties and methods don’t appear in the type libraries.


New Property

Displays the New Property Dialog Box, allowing you to create a new property.

New Method

Displays the New Method dialog box, allowing you to create a new method.

Remove

Removes the selected property or method.

Property/Method Name

Displays the name of the currently selected property or method.

Access Method

Specifies if a property has an Access method whose code is executed whenever the property is queried. Select this check box to create an Access method for a property. Clear the check box to remove an Access Method.

Assign Method

Specifies if a property has an Assign method whose code is executed whenever you attempt to change the value of the property. Select this check box to create an Assign method for a property. Clear the check box to remove an Assign Method.

Description

Contains the property or method description to be displayed at the bottom of the Properties window in the Class Designer and, if the property is not protected, in the Form Designer.

Visibility (Classes Only)

Specifies whether the class is Public, Protected, or Hidden.

Apply

Applies changes made to a property or method.

Close

Closes the dialog box.