tabIndex
Type: Integer
Availability: Read or write at any time
The tabIndex property of the Control class contains the tab order of a control within its parent form. It is also used when processing an accelerator key.
If the accelerator is contained in the caption of a control that does not have the tabStop property set, the next focus is shifted to the next enabled and visible control in the order of the tabIndex property that has the tabStop property set.
Use the tabIndex property when assigning a visible accelerator (character underlined) in the caption of a label next to a TextBox control. The valid range is any integer. If the tabIndex property already exists for an existing control, the tab index of that control (and all other controls that are also affected) is increased by one.
By default, JADE assigns a tab order to controls as they are drawn on a form. Each new control is placed last in the tab order. If you change the tabIndex property value of a control to adjust the default tab order, JADE automatically renumbers the tabIndex property of other controls to reflect insertions and deletions. You can make changes in the JADE development environment by using the Properties window of the JADE Painter, or at run time in logic.
At run time, invisible or disabled controls and controls that cannot receive the focus (Frame and Label controls) remain in the tab order but are skipped during tabbing. The tabIndex property is not affected by the zOrder method.
The tab order of a control affects its associated accelerator. If you press the accelerator key for a frame or a label, the focus moves to the next enabled and visible control in the tab order that can receive the focus. An accelerator is added to the caption of a control by placing an ampersand character (&) in front of the accelerator character. To activate that accelerator, the user presses Alt and the specified character key.
Controls are pasted on the form in controlList order (that is, the order in which you add them to the form). The order in this list can change during editing, because parent controls must always precede their children. Controls are copied to the Painter clipboard in controlList order. When pasted, each control is added to the form and a new tabIndex property is assigned. If the tab index of a control has not been used in the new form (the form on which you paste the control), the pasted control retains its tab index value. A control pasted on to a form can therefore have a tab index order that differs from the one that it had on the original form, although in most cases the tab order corresponds to that of the original form (particularly when pasting controls on to new forms).
For details about the order of controls on touchscreens when accessibility is set, see "Control Order on Touchscreens" under "
