Setting Properties At Run-Time

By now you know how to set a component property before running your program (=at "Design Time"),
Now we will learn how to do that during program's Run-Time.


To change a property, use the following syntax:

TheControlName.ThePropertyName = TheNewPropertyValue

For example, suppose we have Command Button
With the name "Command1", and we want to
set its Caption property to be "Hello".
To do that, we will use the following code:

Command1.Caption = "Hello"

To test it, simply copy the line above to your
Command1 Click event, run the program
and click the button at run-time.

Note that the Hello is inside quotes because
it's a String.
You can assign a variable value to a property:

Dim MyVar As String
MyVar = "Hello"
Command1.Caption = MyVar

This code will do exactly the same as the code line above it.
Note that MyVar is without quotes, because it's variable.

And how do you set a Form caption property at run-time?
exactly the same:

Form1.Caption = "Hello"

Not all the properties get text values.
For example, Visible property can be "True" or "False"

False and True are not text strings, but
Visual Basic commonly used values that called "Boolean"

Therefore, when you assign these values to property,
You don't have to use the quotes, For example:

Command1.Visible = False
Form1.Enabled = True


Some of the properties values has the following syntax:
Number - String

For example, the Command Button's Style property can
get 2 values:

0 - Standard
1 - Graphical


To set these properties value, omit the string.
For example:

Command1.Style = 1
Form1.WindowState = 2


Some properties represent graphics, for example
The Picture property.

To set these properties at run-time, use
the LoadPicture Command.
The example below will load the ICO file "d:\games\toto.ico"
to the Picture property of Command Button with the name "MyButton"

MyButton.Picture = LoadPicture("d:\games\toto.ico")