The TabIndex Assistant feature allows you to easily assign the correct TabIndex property to each control in a Windows form, usercontrol, etc.
MZ-Tools offers the following ways to show the TabIndex Assistant window:
- The MZ-Tools | TabIndex Assistant menu.
- The TabIndex Assistant button on the MZ-Tools toolbar.
- The keyboard shortcut associated with the MZTools6_VSXXXX.TabIndexAssistant command.
The TabIndex Assistant window is the following:
It shows the controls of the active window (sorted by their TabIndex property), their Text property, and their full TabIndex values. Controls are also indented to reflect their parent-child relationship.
To change the TabIndex property of a control or group of controls you can:
- Use the buttons with the up and down arrows to move the selected control one position.
- Use the Control + Up Arrow and Control + Down Arrow keys of the keyboard to move the selected control one position.
- Click the Automatic button. This feature uses an algorithm based on the parent-child relationship among controls and their relative position to estimate the correct TabIndex value for each control.
When you select a control in the list, the control is also selected in the designer window of the form. A very useful way to determine if the controls are sorted properly is to select the first control of the list and then with the Down Arrow key of the keyboard select the next control, checking in the designer window whether the order is correct or not.
If you check the Mark Controls With Wrong TabIndex checkbox, the controls with incorrect TabIndex properties are shown with a warning icon.
Remarks:
- Checking the Mark Controls With Wrong TabIndex checkbox can decrease the performance, so it is recommended to deactivate it while moving the items in the list.
- If a form is read-only you can not modify the TabIndex property of its controls.
- Controls which lack the TabIndex property are not shown in the list.
- Smart Device projects are not supported by this feature.
See Also: