Unlike other controls whose font and its attributes apply to the whole control, each character in a rich text control can have its own font and attributes because the font is an attribute of the actual text.
Although the font or fonts that are initially displayed are specified when the form is designed during the application development, users can change the font and attributes of selected text if the context menu enables them to do so. For details, see "Formatting Selected Characters" and "Formatting Paragraphs".
Users can apply formatting attributes to both characters and paragraphs, by selecting text using the mouse or the keyboard. The current selection is the range of selected characters or the position of the insertion point if no characters are selected.
You can perform the mouse actions listed in the following table in rich text controls.
| Action | Result |
|---|---|
| Double-click | Selects a whole word |
| Triple-click | Selects a whole paragraph |
| Click in the selection bar (the narrow strip down the left side) | Selects the whole line |
In addition, you can select text or graphics by clicking the mouse at the start of the selection and then dragging the mouse to the end of the text or graphics required for selection while the key is depressed.
Double-click on a word to select a single word, and then right-click to access the context menu that provides you with editing and formatting operations (for example, you can apply font attributes, align a paragraph, or apply a bullet to a paragraph). Alternatively, select several words or a paragraph of text and apply your formatting to your selection.