The Controls sheet is displayed when you select the Controls tab in the Jade Skin Maintenance dialog. The appearance of the Controls sheet and the edit actions that you can perform is determined by the current control in the Control Type combo box.
You can assign a control skin to a specific control or to an application skin. You can use skin categories to define different skins for your control subclasses. (For details, see "Using the Applications Sheet" and "Using the Categories Sheet".)
To add a new skin for the current control
Click the New button if another control skin is selected in the Control Type combo box.
Enter the name of the control skin in the Name text box. (Control skin names must be unique.)
Enter a description of the skin in the Description text box, if required.
Specify the rest of the information for that skin. (For details, see the standard actions that you can perform for any type of control and the following subsections.)
Click the Update button.
To update an existing skin for the current control
In the Control type skin List table, select the skin that you want to change. The name of the selected skin is then displayed in the Name text box.
Edit the appropriate data to meet your requirements. (For details, see the actions required to add or maintain standard functionality for skin controls and the following subsections.)
Click the Update button.
To delete a control skin
In the Control type skin List table, select the skin that you want to delete. The name of the selected skin is then displayed in the Name text box.
Click the Delete button. The Delete button is disabled if the control skin is referenced by any other skin entity.
To perform a standard edit action on the Controls sheet for any type of control
In the Skin Category combo box, select the skin category that applies to the control skin or select the default <none> entry. A control skin is applied only to controls of the same type with the same defined skin category.
In the Apply when combo box, specify when the border and three-dimensional styles of the target control affect whether the skin is applied to that control.
Although the skin is always applied to the control type by default, it can be displayed only when the control has a border or when it is a three-dimensional control.
In the BorderStyle combo box, specify the type of border that applies to the skin. Although border images are used by default, you can specify that no border is applied to the control skin or that a single border, three-dimensional sunken, or three-dimensional raised border is applied.
If the border style is not set to the default 4 – use border images value, the selected border is displayed and border images are ignored. If the border style is set to the default 4 – use border images value, the border is drawn using the supplied images. If no images are supplied, the control has no border.
If the border style is set to the default 4 – use border images value in the BorderStyle combo box, you can set these images by clicking the Set All button that requests the loading of all pictures that describe the skin.
A series of common File dialogs is then displayed, to enable you to locate each of the pictures required in turn. The title of the common dialog displays the required image. If you do not have a file for a specific image or you do not want to specify a file for that image, simply click the Cancel button to enable you to select the picture file for the next image. If you cancel a common dialog display for any picture, no image is assigned to that property.
When you have specified (or cancelled) the appropriate picture file for each image that you want to define, the common dialog is then closed and focus returns to the Controls sheet of the Jade Skin Maintenance dialog. Alternatively, you can perform one of the following actions.
Set a specific control skin image by selecting the image type in the combo box (for example, Right Strip) and then clicking the Set button.
The common File dialog is then displayed, to enable you to locate the picture file that you want to define or change.
Clear an existing image by selecting the image type in the combo box and then clicking the Clear button.
If the border style is set to the 1 – single value in the BorderStyle combo box, you can use the Border color single property to set the color of the border. Select a border color by clicking the Set button. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the border color that you require.
Use the The inner image is a brush? check box to specify whether the inner image is treated as a brush to be repeatedly drawn over the whole area of the control or whether it is an image that is drawn centered in the inner area of the control.
To select a background color for the control, check the Default backColor check box. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the background color that you require. The background color is used only when an inner image is not set or it is not a brush.
If you want to restore the default background color of the control when you have selected a custom color, check the Default backColor check box so that a check mark symbol (✓) is displayed and the default color is restored.
To select a foreground color for the control, check the Default foreColor check box. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the foreground color that you require.
If you want to restore the default foreground color of the control when you have selected a custom color, check the Default foreColor check box so that a check mark symbol (✓) is displayed and the default color is restored.
To select a foreground color for the control when it is disabled, check the Default disabled foreColor check box. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the foreground color that you require for the disabled control.
If you want to restore the default disabled foreground color of the control when you have selected a custom color, check the Default disabled foreColor check box so that a check mark symbol (✓) is displayed and the default disabled foreground color is restored.
To select a background color for when the control has focus, check the Default focusBackColor check box. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the background color that you require for the focused control.
If you want to restore the default focus background color of the control when you have selected a custom color, check the Default focusBackColor check box so that a check mark symbol (✓) is displayed and the default focus background color is restored.
To select a foreground color for when the control has focus, check the Default focusForeColor check box. The common Color dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the foreground color that you require for the focused control.
If you want to restore the default focus foreground color of the control when you have selected a custom color, check the Default focusForeColor check box so that a check mark symbol (✓) is displayed and the default focus foreground color is restored.
In the Image Mask combo box, select a non-rectangular region mask image to be applied to the control skin. To remove an applied mask, select the <None> value (the default).
If you do not want the default Default_Color to be used for your control skin, click the font Set button. The common Font dialog is then displayed, to enable you to select the required font and its attributes.
Alternatively, click the font Clear button to restore the default font of the control.
An example of the appearance of the control skin is displayed in the Example group box.
For details about defining or maintaining control skins, see the following subsections.