A Property Set represents a set of properties for a specific control type e.g. a Text Control. Property Sets are stored in a Presentation Template, and can then be applied to a control on a page at the touch of a button. For example, for a Text Control, you might have Property Sets Header1, Header2, Title etc.

A number of sample presentation templates are shipped with the Ebase Xi distribution, each one containing numerous Property Sets. Click here for details.

In the Presentation Template editor, there are options to:

Create a Property Set
Delete a Property Set
Configure properties for a Property Set
Rename a Property Set
Mark a Property Set as the default
Display references (uses of) a Property Set
Copy/Cut/Paste Property Sets

In the Form/Component Editor, Property Sets are accessed via the Property Set icon at the top of the Properties View for each control, or by right clicking on the control. There are options to:

Load a Property Set
Link to a Property Set
Save a Property Set in any Presentation Template
Convert from linked to loaded
Revert all properties
Clear all properties

There are two relevant settings in the Control Options tab of Designer Preferences:

Link to the Presentation Template’s default Property Set: if this is checked new controls added to a page will be linked to the default property set from the form’s Presentation Template.
Components - Enable Property Set linking: this should be checked to enable components to be linked to Property Sets.

Linked vs. Loaded

Each time you add or edit a control you can choose whether it should be linked to a property set or have its properties loaded from the default property set.

Linked

This means that the property values are actually kept in the Presentation Template associated with a form or component. The advantage of linking is that you can subsequently make a change to a Property Set in the Presentation Template and the change is immediately effective in all the controls in all the forms linked to the Property Set.

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Once a Property Set has been linked, it is still possible to make local changes. You can distinguish between linked/local properties by the color of the inverted triangle icon that appears adjacent to each property:

A blue triangle indicates that this is a linked value.
A yellow triangle indicates that this is a local value. You can revert to the linked value by clicking on the triangle and selecting Linked property set.

When a control is linked to a Property Set, the Property Set name is shown at the top of the Properties View as a blue hyperlink. Clicking on the link opens the Presentation Template so the Property Set can be edited. If the name is preceded by a super-scripted asterisk, at least one local change has been made. If the name is shown as <Default> in black text with no link, this indicates that no Property Set is marked as default in the Presentation Template and system default styling has therefore been applied – if a Property Set is subsequently marked as the default, it will be applied automatically.

Loaded

This means that the individual property values are copied from the Presentation Template and stored locally in the form. No linkage to the Presentation Template is maintained; blue/yellow triangle icons are not shown.

Default Property Sets

In the presentation template, one Property Set within each control can be marked as the default; the icon for the Property Set is then shown with a small + sign in the top right hand corner . This default Property Set is used when a new control is added to a page. When a new control is added, you can also choose whether the default Property Set should be linked or loaded. This is controlled by option Link to the Presentation Template’s default Property Set in the Control Options tab of Designer Preferences.

When a Presentation Template is changed so that a new Property Set is made the default, all controls linking to it switch automatically to use the new Property Set.

When no default Property Set exists for a control type in a presentation template, or when no Presentation Template is associated with a form or component, an internal default is used which represents the minimum styling required to render each control successfully in the WYSIWYG View or in a browser.

Maintaining Property Sets

This section describes the facilities available in the Presentation Template Editor to maintain property sets.

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The Property Set tree panel shows all Property Sets by control and organised into the same sections as the Palette View. The icons at the top of this panel have the following functions:

	Collapse the Property Set tree
	Expand the Property Set tree to show all Property Sets
	Only show those controls where Property Sets exist
	Mark the selected Property Set as the default for its control. See Default Property Sets.
	Open the Styling Assistant dialog for the control type (this is the same as clicking on the Control style property in the properties display).

The Property Set tree panel provides the following functions:

Create Property Set

Right click on a control name where the new Property Set is required, select Create New Property Set, then enter the Property Set name. Names can be entered in mixed case and must be unique within each control type.

Delete Property Sets

Select one or more Property Sets, right click then select Delete. If any of the Property Sets is in use (there are links to it from forms or components) a warning panel is displayed. If you choose to ignore these warnings, any controls linking to the Property Set(s) will be orphaned.

Configure Properties for a Property Set

Select a Property Set and its properties are displayed in the panel opposite. These are the same properties as shown in the Properties View when a control is selected in the Page Editor. Clicking on the Control style property will display the Styling Assistant for the control. Click the help icon at the top of the panel to show help for the control.

Rename a Property Set

Select a Property Set, right click then select Rename. If the Property Set is in use (there are links from forms or components), a dialog is shown offering to update all such related forms/components. Note that this is only possible when these forms/components are not open. If you choose not to perform this update, any controls in these related forms/components that link to the renamed Property Set will be orphaned.

Caution! The update of related forms/components cannot be undone.

Mark a Property Set as Default

Select a Property Set, right click then select Mark as Default. See Default Property Sets.

Display References

Select a Property Set, right click then select References. The references are displayed in the References Panel.

Copy/Cut/Paste Property Sets

Property Sets can be copied and pasted within the same presentation template or between presentation templates.

Using Property Sets

This section describes the Property Set functionality available from the Form Editor or Component Editor. Every control can be configured by loading properties from a Property Set or by linking to a Property Set as described above. Property Set information is displayed at the top of the Properties View for each control:

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When a control is linked to a Property Set, the Property Set name is shown at the top of the Properties View as a blue hyperlink, otherwise “Not Linked” is shown. Clicking on the link opens the Presentation Template so the Property Set can be edited. If the name is preceded by a super-scripted asterisk, at least one local change has been made. If the name is shown as <Default> in black text with no link, this indicates that no Property Set is marked as default in the Presentation Template and system default styling has therefore been applied – if a Property Set is subsequently marked as the default, it will be applied automatically.

The Property Set icon is shown on the right-hand side as one of the following:

indicates a linked Property Set (it’s name is shown)

indicates that no Property Set has been linked

Clicking on the Property Set icon displays a dropdown menu with the options shown below. This functionality is also available by right clicking on a control in the WYSIWYG View or the Outline View and selecting Property set. Note that most of the functions shown below are also available when multiple controls of the same type are selected.

Load a Property Set

Loading a Property Set copies all properties from the Property Set in the selected Presentation Template and stores them locally in the control; no linkage to the Property Set is maintained. A Property Set can be loaded from any Presentation Template in the workspace.

The following panel is displayed which shows a preview of all available Property Sets for the control within the selected template:

The Default Property Set is shown first in blue.

Link to a Property Set

Linking to a Property Set is similar to loading with the exception that only Property Sets from the Presentation Template associated with the form or component are available; therefore the Presentation Template dropdown is not available. If no Presentation Template is configured, only the default Property Set is shown.

When a control is linked to a Property Set, the properties remain in the Presentation Template. See Linked above.

You can specify that new controls added to a page are automatically linked to the default Property Set for their control type, see Default Property Sets above.

Save Property Set

Saves the current properties configured for a control as a property set in the selected template; when the template is the form’s template, additionally links the control with the new property set.

Convert to local properties

This converts the properties for selected control(s) from linked to local.

Revert control properties

Resets all properties as follows:

Deployed component controls: resets to the property values from the component i.e. removes any properties set locally.
All other controls: resets all properties by either loading or linking (depending on option Link to the control’s default Property Set in Designer Preferences) the default Property Set for the control from the Presentation Template. This sets the control to the same state as when it was first added to the page.

Clear control properties

Clears all properties including Property Sets by setting the control to the minimal set of internal defaults.

Orphaned Controls

A control might lose its linkage to a Property Set in a number of ways – the Property Set might be deleted or renamed, the template might be changed etc and the warning messages issued are ignored. When this occurs, the Property Set name is shown in red at the top of the Properties View and is marked as Not found. The control will appear to lose its styling and all configured properties will revert to using the internal system defaults.