Visual Attribute Group Property
Description
Specifies how the object's individual attribute settings (Font Name, Background Color, Fill Pattern, etc.) are derived. The following settings are valid for this property:
Default |
Specifies that the object should be displayed with default color, pattern, and font settings. When Visual Attribute Group is set to Default, the individual attribute settings reflect the current system defaults. The actual settings are determined by a combination of factors, including the type of object, the resource file in use, and the platform.
|
Named visual attribute |
Specifies a named visual attribute that should be applied to the object. Named visual attributes are separate objects that you create in the Object Navigator and then apply to interface objects, much like styles in a word processing program. When Visual Attribute Group is set to a named visual attribute, the individual attribute settings reflect the attribute settings defined for the named visual attribute object. When the current form does not contain any named visual attributes, the poplist for this property will show Default. |
Applies to all interface objects
Set Oracle Forms
Default
Usage Notes
- Default and named visual attributes can include the following individual
attributes, listed in the order they appear in the Property Palette:
- Font Name The font family, or typeface,
that should be used for text in the object. The list of fonts available
is system-dependent.
- Font Size The size of the font, specified
in points.
- Font Style The style of the font.
- Font Spacing The width of the font, that
is, the amount of space between characters (kerning).
- Font Weight The weight of the font.
- Foreground Color The color of the object's
foreground region. For items, the Foreground Color attribute defines the
color of text displayed in the item. Foreground color is always ignored for scrollbars.
- Background Color The color of the object's
background region.
- Fill Pattern The pattern to be used for
the object's fill region. Patterns are rendered in the two colors specified
by Background Color and Foreground Color.
- Not all attributes are valid for each object type. For example, setting
font attributes for a window object has no effect. (The font used in a window's
title bar is derived from the system.)
- A new object in a new form has Default visual attributes. The default settings
are defined internally. You can override the default font for new items and
boilerplate by setting the optional FORMS_DEFAULTFONT environment variable.
For example, on Microsoft Windows, you can set this variable in the registry,
as follows: FORMS_DEFAULTFONT="COURIER.10". The default font specified
determines the font used for new boilerplate text generated by the New Block
window, and for any items that have Visual Attribute Group set to Default.
- When you create an item in the Layout Editor, its initial visual attribute
settings are determined by the current Layout Editor settings for fonts, colors,
and patterns, as indicated by the Font dialog and Color and Pattern palettes.
- On Microsoft Windows, the colors of buttons, window title bars, and window
borders are controlled by the Windows Control Panel color settings specified
for these elements. You cannot override these colors in Oracle Forms.
- When the Use 3D Controls form property is set to Yes on Microsoft Windows
(the default), items are rendered with shading that provides a sculpted, three-dimensional
look. A side effect of setting this property is that any canvases that have
Visual Attribute Group set to Default derive their color setting from the
Windows Control Panel (gray for most color schemes). You can override this
setting by explicitly applying named visual attributes to the canvas.
- An item that has Visual Attribute Group set to Default, or that has individual
attribute settings left unspecified, inherits those settings from the canvas
to which it is assigned. Similarly, a canvas that has Visual Attribute Group
set to Default, or that has individual attribute settings left unspecified,
inherits those settings from the window in which it is displayed. For example,
if you set a window's Background Color to CYAN, and then leave Background
Color unspecified for the canvas assigned to the window, at runtime, that
canvas will inherit the CYAN background from its window. Visual attribute
settings derived through window--canvas or canvas--item inheritance are apparent
at design time if the Layout Editor is reopened.
- You can apply property classes to objects to specify visual attribute settings.
A property class can contain either the Visual Attribute Group property, or
one or more of the individual attribute properties. (If a property class contains
both Visual Attribute Group and individual attributes, the Visual Attribute
Group property takes precedence.)
- If you apply both a named visual attribute and a property class that contains
visual attribute settings to the same object, the named visual attribute settings
take precedence, and the property class visual attribute settings are ignored.
Related topics
About visual attributes
Basing an object on a
visual attribute
Setting an object's color
attributes
About formatting items
in the Layout Editor
Creating a named visual attribute