Frame control

A Frame control can display a variety of shapes: filled rectangles, rectangle outlines, and beveled lines or frames. Frame controls are used to add background, separator lines, and other simple visual effects to a dialog.

Tips

To frame a number of other controls, you can also use a GroupBox control; this adds a caption to the frame. However, it does not support background fills.
To change the tab and Z-order of a control in a dialog box (i.e., the order in which they are drawn and how they appear "on top" of each other), select the control in the dialog/control tree in the left pane on the Dialogs project page, then use Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down to move the control up or down in the order. These keystrokes are shortcuts for the Move Up and Move Down commands on the control's context menu.

Attributes

The following attributes and options are available.

Attribute

Description

Control name

Enter the internal name for the control. This name is for use in InstallMate only; it is not used in the installer. All control names must be unique within their parent dialog box.

Control ID

Select a control ID from the drop-down list or type a numerical ID to use for this control. All controls within a dialog must have different control IDs. For Frame controls, you should select Automatic.

See Dialog control IDs for an explanation of the available control IDs and their usage.

Frame type

Select the desired Frame display mode from the drop-down list. The following choices are available:

Frame type	Description
Black frame	Displays a black rectangle outline.
Gray frame	Displays a dark gray rectangle outline.
White frame	Displays a white rectangle outline.
Black rectangle	Displays a black filled rectangle. (On some systems, the rectangle is dark grey instead.)
Gray rectangle	Displays a gray filled rectangle.
White rectangle	Displays a white filled rectangle.
Etched frame	Displays a rectangle outline with an "etched" border.
Etched horizontal	Displays an "etched" horizontal line.
Etched vertical	Displays an "etched" vertical line.
Solid color	Displays a rectangle filled with a solid color. The fill color is specified in the Color field (below).
Horizontal gradient*	Displays a rectangle filled with a color gradient from left to right. The starting color is specified in the Color field; the ending color in the End color field (below).
Vertical gradient*	Displays a rectangle filled with a color gradient from top to bottom. The starting color is specified in the Color field; the ending color in the End color field (below).

*Gradient fills are only available on Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP, and later. On earlier systems, the frame is filled as per Solid color.

Note: The actual display colors depend on the Windows' settings. If the user has selected a different color scheme, then the frame colors will use the appropriate colors from that scheme.

Color

Select the desired background color from the drop-down list. The following choices are available:

Color	Description
Default	Use the system color for dialog box backgrounds, usually light gray (COLOR_3DFACE).
Dark gray	Use the system color for shadows, usually dark gray or black (COLOR_3DSHADOW).
Light gray	Use the system color for buttons, usually light gray (COLOR_BTNFACE).
White	Use the system color for window backgrounds, usually white (COLOR_WINDOW).
Caption	Use the system color for window captions, usually blue (COLOR_CAPTION).
CaptionEnd	Use the system end color for windows captions with a color gradient, usually light blue (COLOR_GRADIENTACTIVECAPTION).
Workspace	Use the system color for application workspaces, usually dark gray (COLOR_WORKSPACE).
Desktop	Use the system color for the Desktop, usually blue or green (COLOR_DESKTOP).
Info	Use the system color for info tip windows, usually pale yellow (COLOR_INFOBK).
Custom color...	Use a custom color. Click the ... (choose color) button to open the standard Color dialog box, where you can choose the desired color.

Note: The actual display colors depend on the Windows' settings. If the user has selected a different color scheme, then the control will use the appropriate colors from that scheme.

End color

Select the desired end color for frame fills with a color gradient. The choices are the same as for Color.

Enabled
Tab stop
Group
Border
Sunken
Client edge
Visible
Transparent
Don't mirror

These are all standard control styles; see Dialog control styles for a description.

Condition

Enter the display condition for the control or leave empty to display the control unconditionally. See Dialog control conditions for more information.

Note: This has no effect on Frame controls.

Frame control

Attributes

Related topics