Selecting controls in the DataWindow painter

The DataWindow painter provides several ways to select controls to act on. Table 18-3 describes the various methods for selecting controls.

Lasso selection Use lasso selection when possible, because it is fast and easy. Lasso selection is another name for the method described in Table 18-3 for selecting neighboring controls.

When you select multiple controls, you can act on all the selected controls as a unit. For example, you can move all of them or change the fonts used to display text for all of them.

**Table 18-3: Selecting controls in a DataWindow object**
To select	Do this
A single control in a DataWindow object	Click the control in the Design view or in the Control List view.
Neighboring controls in a DataWindow object (lasso selection)	In the Design view, press and hold the left mouse button at one corner of the area containing the controls, drag the mouse over the neighboring controls you want to select, and release the mouse button. (In the Control List view, use the method for non-neighboring controls in a DataWindow object.)
Non-neighboring controls in a DataWindow object	In the Design or Control List views, click any of the controls that you want to select, then press and hold the Ctrl key while clicking the other controls you want to select.
Controls by type in a DataWindow object	Select Edit>Select>Select All to select all controls Select Edit>Select>Select Text to select all text controls Select Edit>Select>Select Columns to select all columns
Controls by position in a DataWindow object	Select Edit>Select>Select Above to select all controls above the currently selected control Select Edit>Select>Select Below to select all controls below it Select Edit>Select>Select Left to select all controls to the left of it Select Edit>Select>Select Right to select all controls to the right of it

Displaying information about the selected control

The name, x and y coordinates, width, and height of the selected control are displayed in the MicroHelp bar. If multiple controls are selected, Group Selected displays in the Name area and the coordinates and size do not display.