Choosing the Content for Descriptive Properties

While the content of some properties is specific, the content for other properties consists of descriptive text that is left to the server developer to provide. Additionally, the type of information for each property varies depending on the object. The following table provides suggestions for choosing the content of these descriptive properties.

Property	Content suggestion
Name	A label that briefly describes and identifies the object within its container, such as the text in a push button, the name of a menu item, or a label displayed next to an edit control.
DefaultAction	The default interaction with the object. The string returned by this property is either a single verb, such as "Press" for a toolbar button, or a short phrase that begins with a verb.
Value	Information contained in the object, such as the text in an edit control or the file name of an HTML link. The contents of the Value property can change, whereas the contents of the Name property do not change.
Description	Describes the object's appearance.
Help	Tooltip or balloon-style information used either to describe what the object does or how to use it.
HelpTopic	A context identifier of a WinHelp topic that documents the object.

 

Use one of the predefined object role values for the Role and the appropriate combination of object state constants for the State.

The content of the properties for custom controls must match the content of the properties for the system-provided controls that the custom controls emulate. For information about the properties supported by system-provided controls, see Appendix A: Supported User Interface Elements Reference.