Creating panel holders

This section explains the steps for creating a panel holder and setting properties for a panel holder.

To create a panel holder

1. Open the form to which you want to add the panel holder.
2. From the palette, select a panel holder type, and drag it to the form.
    For information about panel holder types, see Panel-holder-display-types.
    The new panel holder appears on the form. By default, it contains two panels. To add more panels, see below.

To set properties for a panel holder

1. Select the panel holder, making sure you select the panel holder and not one of the panels in it.
    To select collapsible, splitter, and accordion panel holders, move your mouse over the panel holder, and click the "grabber" that appears at the top of the holder.
    To select tabbed panel holders, click the holder's dashed frame.

2. Assign permissions for the panel holder by selecting Permissions from the Properties.

   To view or change the panels at runtime, users must have permission to access the panel holder. See Panel field permissions properties.

3. Set other panel holder properties as needed.

To add a panel to a panel holder

1. Select the panel holder to which you want to add a panel.
2. In the Properties, select Add New Panel, and click the ellipsis button.
3. In the Add New Panel dialog box, enter a unique database name for the new panel.
4. Click OK.
5. Set permissions for the new panel by selecting Permissions and clicking the ellipsis button.
6. Set other properties for the new panel as needed by selecting the panel and editing the relevant properties. For more information, see Field-Properties.
   To specify a custom database ID (for example, to control the ID for purposes of shared workflow), change the default ID before saving the panel.

Drop shadows in panels and panel holders

Drop shadows are set by default for system popups. Drop shadows are also set by default for a floating panels and panel holders. If you want to remove the drop shadow, set the Drop Shadow property for a floating panel and panel holder to False. A drop shadow occurs whether the panel has rounded corners or not. A popup window opened by using an active link Open Window will also have a drop shadow. 

System popup with drop shadow in Firefox

For non-floating panels or panel holders (that is, the Float Style property is set to None), you can enable drop shadow by setting the Drop Shadow property to True. The default value for the Drop Shadow property for non-floating panels and panel holders is False.

Drop shadows in panels and panel holders are supported by Internet Explorer 9, Firefox, and Safari.

Background Mode setting in panel holders

Although a panel holder provides no color controls, the Background Mode setting in a panel holder affects the appearance of panels. These options are available:

• Opaque—Fields on the form behind the panel in the stacking order are not visible.
• Transparent—In a browser, fields on the form behind the panel holder in the stacking order are visible unless covered by a panel with a Background Color or Background Image set. This setting produces a "pane of glass" effect; the fields behind the panel are visible, but they cannot be accessed.

Panel holder Background Mode set to Transparent

A panel holder's Background Mode also applies to any white space areas, which are portions of the panel holder unoccupied by a panel. This white space can include:

• The area created outside the panel borders when margins are set
• The area of the panel holder that has no panels
• The area below the last panel in a collapsible panel holder
• The area that appears when all the panels in a panel holder are collapsed

White space created by panel margins