The Balloon object contains a series of properties that control how the balloon will be displayed on the screen. Table 14.12 lists these properties. All but a few of these properties should be very familiar to you. The BorderColor property allows you to change the color of the border. The FontCharSet allows you to specify which character set should be used to display the text inside the balloon.
Table 14.12: Balloon Object Properties
| Property | Description |
| BackColor | Specifies the background color of the balloon |
| BorderColor | Specifies the color of the balloon’s border |
| CharsPerLine | Specifies the average number of characters that can be displayed in a single line of the balloon |
| Enabled | When set to True, means that the balloon will be enabled |
| FontBold | When set to True, means that the balloon’s text will be displayed in bold |
| FontCharSet | Specifies the type of character set used by the font |
| FontItalic | When set to True, means that the balloon’s text will be displayed in italics |
| FontName | Specifies the name of the font used to display the characters |
| FontSize | Specifies the size of the characters to be displayed |
| FontStrikethru | When set to True, means that a single line will be drawn through the center of the characters displayed in the balloon |
| FontUnderline | When set to True, means that the characters displayed in the balloon will be underlined |
| ForeColor | Specifies the color of the characters |
| NumberOfLines | Specifies the number of lines of text that the balloon will hold |
| Visible | When set to True, means that the balloon will be displayed |
Probably the most important properties of the Balloon object are NumberOfLines and CharsPerLine. The NumberOfLines property is fairly straightforward—it simply specifies the number of lines that will be displayed inside the balloon. The CharsPerLine property specifies the number of average characters you will be able to display in a single line. It doesn’t mean that you will always be able to display that many characters in a line, unless you are using a nonproportional font such as Courier.
TIP: It’s hard to scroll when there are no scroll bars: Since the balloon doesn’t come equipped with scroll bars, you need to plan the size of the balloon carefully. Using too small a balloon or too much text will make the text difficult to read, and using too large a balloon will waste screen space. Also, you should remember that the words appear as they are spoken. Since most people (and computers) speak slower than they read, you might not need as much space as you think you do.