UI Automation Support for the Pane Control Type

This topic provides information about UI Automation support for the Pane control type. In UI Automation, a control type is a set of conditions that a control must meet in order to use the ControlTypeProperty property. The conditions include specific guidelines for UI Automation tree structure, UI Automation property values and control patterns.

The Pane control type is used to represent an object within a frame or document window. Users can navigate between pane controls and within the contents of the current pane, but cannot navigate between items in different panes. Thus, pane controls represent a level of grouping lower than windows or documents, but above individual controls. The user navigates between panes by pressing TAB, F6, or CTRL+TAB, depending on the context.

The following sections define the required UI Automation tree structure, properties, control patterns, and events for the Pane control type. The UI Automation requirements apply to all list controls, whether Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF), Win32, or Windows Forms.

This topic contains the following sections.

  • Required UI Automation Tree Structure
  • Required UI Automation Properties
  • Required UI Automation Control Patterns
  • Required UI Automation Events
  • Pane Control Type Example
  • Related Topics

Required UI Automation Tree Structure

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

Control View

Content View

  • Pane

  • Pane

Required UI Automation Properties

The following table lists the UI Automation properties whose value or definition is especially relevant to pane controls. For more information on UI Automation properties, see UI Automation Properties for Clients.

UI Automation Property

Value

Notes

AutomationIdProperty

See notes.

The value of this property needs to be unique across all controls in an application.

BoundingRectangleProperty

See notes.

The outermost rectangle that contains the whole control.

IsKeyboardFocusableProperty

See notes.

If the control can receive keyboard focus, it must support this property.

NameProperty

See notes.

The value for this property must always be a clear, concise and meaningful title.

ClickablePointProperty

See notes.

This property exposes a clickable point of the pane control that causes the pane to become focused when it is clicked.

LabeledByProperty

See notes.

Pane controls typically do not have a static label. If there is a static text label, it should be exposed through this property.

ControlTypeProperty

Pane

This value is the same for all UI frameworks.

LocalizedControlTypeProperty

"pane"

Localized string corresponding to the Pane control type.

IsContentElementProperty

True

Pane controls are always included in the content view of the UI Automation tree.

IsControlElementProperty

True

Pane controls are always included in the control view of the UI Automation tree.

HelpTextProperty

""

The help text for pane controls should explain why the purpose of the frame and how it relates to other frames. A description is necessary if the purpose and relationship of frames is not clear from the value of the NameProperty. "

AccessKeyProperty

See notes.

If a specific key combination gives focus to the pane then that information should be exposed through this property.

Required UI Automation Control Patterns

The following table lists the UI Automation control patterns required to be supported by all pane controls. For more information on control patterns, see UI Automation Control Patterns Overview.

Control Pattern/Pattern Property

Support/Value

Notes

ITransformProvider

Depends

Implement this control pattern if the pane control can be moved, resized, or rotated on the screen.

IWindowProvider

Never

If you need to implement this control pattern, your control should be based on the Window control type.

IDockProvider

Depends

Implement this control pattern if the pane control can be docked.

Required UI Automation Events

The following table lists the UI Automation events required to be supported by all pane controls. For more information on events, see UI Automation Events Overview.

UI Automation Event

Support/Value

Notes

WindowClosedEvent

Never

None

WindowOpenedEvent

Never

None

AsyncContentLoadedEvent

Required

None

BoundingRectangleProperty property-changed event.

Required

None

IsOffscreenProperty property-changed event.

Required

None

IsEnabledProperty property-changed event.

Required

None

HorizontallyScrollableProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

HorizontalScrollPercentProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

HorizontalViewSizeProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

VerticalScrollPercentProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

VerticallyScrollableProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

VerticalViewSizeProperty property-changed event.

Depends

None

WindowVisualStateProperty property-changed event.

Never

None

AutomationFocusChangedEvent

Required

None

StructureChangedEvent

Required

None

Pane Control Type Example

The following image illustrates a control that implements the Pane control type.

Screenshot of applet window with two panes

UI Automation Tree - Control View

UI Automation Tree - Content View

  • Pane

  • Tree (Scroll Pattern)

    • TreeItem

  • Pane

  • Edit

See Also

Concepts

UI Automation Control Types Overview

UI Automation Overview

Reference

Pane