Changing the Label Width Property of the Panes

With the default settings, each pane is set to Use Form Defaults to determine the Child Labels settings for the controls it contains.

In this example, then, the Label Width property for controls placed in this pane is not 120 (that is, the value in the Label Width field is ignored), but is based on form settings.

If no width is set at the form level, each vertical pane will align its controls so that all the fields it contains are vertically aligned, though their labels are of differing widths. This is done on a pane-by-pane basis, so that the fields on different panes won’t necessary be vertically aligned.

In this section, you will modify the Child Label properties at the pane level so that all controls on the form have their fields vertically aligned. To do this, you will set the label width (in pixels) for all fields to a length sufficient to contain the longest label. In addition, you will set the label position property to left instead of top so that control labels appear to the left of the control.

Modifying the Form Level Child Labels Properties

It is good to have the width for labels same as that of the control labels.

Procedure

  1. Click the Capture Claim form outside of any pane to select the form itself.
  2. Click the Child Labels tab.
  3. Make sure that Inherit from System Defaults check box is cleared.
  4. Type 200 in the Label Width field.
  5. Click inside the Customer Information pane (but not inside any control) to select the pane.
  6. Click the Child Labels tab on the Properties view.
  7. Clear the Inherit From Parent check box.
  8. Set the Label Width to 200 and the Label Position to left.
  9. Repeat steps Step 5 through Step 8 for the other panes: Accident Information, Third Party Information, and Witness Information.

    After completing this procedure, all controls on the form will be vertically aligned and the pane labels (as indicated by the underline rule beneath the label text) will be the same width as the control labels (as indicated by the left-hand edge of the editable fields).

  10. Using the same procedure, but using a width of 230 pixels, configure the labels for the panes of the Interview Witness form:
    1. Select the form.
    2. Click the Child Labels tab.
    3. Clear Inherit from System Defaults.
    4. Change the Label Width to 230.
  11. Using the same procedure, configure the control labels Witness Contact Information and Accident Information on the Interview Witness form:
    1. Select each pane in turn and click the Child Labels tab.
    2. Clear Inherit From Parent.
    3. Set the Label Width to 230.
    4. Set the Label Position to left.

      All controls on the Interview Witness form will now be vertically aligned and the pane labels will be the same width as the control labels.

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