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Separator Control Type

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This topic provides information about Microsoft UI Automation support for the Separator control type.

Separator controls are used to visually divide a space into two regions. For example, a separator control can be a bar that defines two panes in a window. If the separator can be moved, the control should be exposed as Thumb in control type.

The following sections define the required UI Automation tree structure, properties, control patterns, and events for the Separator control type. The UI Automation requirements apply to all separator controls where the UI framework/platform integrates UI Automation support for control types and control patterns.

This topic contains the following sections.

Typical Tree Structure

The following table depicts a typical control and content view of the UI Automation tree that pertains to separator controls and describes what can be contained in each view. For more information about the UI Automation tree, see UI Automation Tree Overview.

Control View Content View
  • Separator
  • The Separator control type never has content.

 

Relevant Properties

The following table lists the UI Automation properties whose value or definition is especially relevant to separator controls. For more information about UI Automation properties, see Retrieving Properties from UI Automation Elements.

UI Automation Property Value Notes
UIA_AutomationIdPropertyId See notes. The value of this property must be unique among all peer elements in the raw view of the UI Automation tree.
UIA_BoundingRectanglePropertyId See notes. The outermost rectangle that contains the whole control.
UIA_ClickablePointPropertyId See notes. Supported if there is a bounding rectangle. If not every point within the bounding rectangle is clickable, and the element performs specialized hit testing, override and provide a clickable point.
UIA_ControlTypePropertyId Separator
UIA_IsContentElementPropertyId FALSE The separator control is never content.
UIA_IsControlElementPropertyId TRUE The separator control must always be a control.
UIA_IsKeyboardFocusablePropertyId See notes. If the control can receive keyboard focus, it must support this property.
UIA_LabeledByPropertyId NULL The separator control does not have a static label.
UIA_LocalizedControlTypePropertyId See notes. Localized string corresponding to the Separator control type. The default value is "Separator" for en-US or English (United States).
UIA_NamePropertyId "" The separator control does not require a Name property.

 

Required Control Patterns

The separator control is not required to support any control patterns. For more information on control patterns, see UI Automation Control Patterns Overview.

Required Events

The following table lists the UI Automation events that separator controls are required to support. For more information on events, see UI Automation Events Overview.

UI Automation Event Notes
UIA_AutomationFocusChangedEventId
UIA_BoundingRectanglePropertyId property-changed event.
UIA_IsEnabledPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsEnabled property, it must support this event.
UIA_IsOffscreenPropertyId property-changed event. If the control supports the IsOffscreen property, it must support this event.
UIA_StructureChangedEventId

 

Conceptual

UI Automation Control Types Overview

UI Automation Overview