1.7. Edit Control Properties in Place
The Properties window in Visual
Studio makes control editing easy, but not always fast. For example,
imagine you want to tweak all the text on a form. In previous
versions of Visual Studio, the only option was to select each control
in turn and modify the Text property in the
Properties window one at a time. Although this approach
isn't necessarily awkward, it certainly
isn't as easy as it could be. In Visual Studio 2005,
you can adjust a single property for a series of controls directly on
the form.
Note: When you need to update a single property for a number of
different controls, in-place property editing makes it
easy.
1.7.1. How do I do that?
To try in-place property editing, create a new form and add an
assortment of controls. (The actual controls you use
don't really matter, but you should probably include
some text boxes, buttons, and labels.) Then, select View
Finally, choose the property you want to change from the drop-down
list above the form design surface. By default, the
Name property is selected, but Figure 1-10 shows an example with the
Text property.
Figure 1-10. Editing a single property for multiple controls

the form with the contents of the selected property. You can edit the
value of that property by simply clicking on the edit box and
entering the new value. You can also jump from one control to the
next by pressing the Tab key.When you are finished with your work, again select View
click the Exit Mode link next to the property drop-down list.
1.7.2. What about...
...editing tab order? Visual Studio allows
you to easily edit tab order by clicking controls in the order that
you want users to be able to navigate through them. Select a form
with at least one control, and choose View
this mode, which works the same as it did in Visual Studio
2003.