Property Box

The Property Box (marked in red) - docked and floating

The Property Box is the primary window for data entry and for viewing details of stored records. It is used with records of all types:

It displays different tabs depending on the record type. See the various record types for more details.

You can open the Property Box to view and edit a record by selecting the record (in whatever window you are viewing it), and clicking on the Property Box button on the main application toolbar. Another way of accessing the Property Box, which works in the Focus Window and in other contexts, is to right-click on the record, and select 'Properties' from the dropdown menu that appears.

The Property Box can be docked at the side of a window, or it can float like an ordinary dialog box. Click on the Dock button to dock it when it is floating. Click on the Float button to float it when it is docked.

It can be resized in various ways. Click-and-drag on gripper bars to reposition boundaries between panes and other areas of the Property Box. There can be up to 4 of them visible at any one time, depending on which tab you are looking at (some Property Box tabs have an extra gripper bar just below the tab toolbar). Gripper bars can be horizontal or vertical. Horizontal gripper bars look like this:

When the Property Box is resized, fields within the Property Box will be resized and repositioned. If there isn't room for one or more fields, vertical or horizontal scrollbars will appear as needed, to allow hidden fields to be accessed. The Property Box can also be customized to show more fields (or different fields), and even more tabs if you wish - see Customize Property Box.

The Property Box has its own toolbar (at the top). The toolbar buttons are described below:

Item	Description
	Go Back to previous record.
	Go Forward to next record (after having clicked 'Go Back').
	Individual records only. Go to parent record (father if there is one, or mother if not). If you press the Alt key while clicking on this button, it behaves differently. In that case, it opens the Parents Window to display the parents for the current Individual.
	Individual records only. View the current Individual in the Focus Window.
	Go to this record's entry in the Records Window.
	Show or hide the Property Box Citation List Pane.
	Individual records only. Show or hide the Parents Window.
	Enable or disable Sync with Workspace Selection. When enabled, the Property Box always displays the record details for the currently selected record (that is the record currently selected in the active workspace window). When disabled, the Property Box will not automatically change contents when you change selection in the active workspace window; but you can still 'manually' force the Property Box to update itself by, for example, selecting a record and clicking on the Property Box button on the main application toolbar.
	Displays a dropdown menu with commands that are relevant to the Property Box. The commands are: Text Size Set the font size (and even the actual font) to be used in the Property Box. The same font will also be used in other windows, such as the Note Window (default font), Witnesses Window and Parent Window. Configure Language & Accent Characters Opens the Configure Language and Accents Character Dialog. Open Character Map Opens the Character Map program. This is a Windows accessory program. It is useful for investigating and researching font options. Show Source Record's Citations in Result Window Visible with Source records only. Shows a table of source citations linked to the current Source record, in the Results tab of the Query Window. Sort Family & Events in Date Order Individual and Family records only. Sorts spouse families by marriage date (if an Individual family is selected), and sorts events by date (both Individual and Family events). Tip: The purpose of this menu command is sometimes misunderstood. It sorts fields within records. It does not sort the listed fact rows in the Facts tab of the Property Box. This is because the Facts tab is not displayed in field order. The events shown on the Facts tab of the Property Box frequently come from numerous different records, and are displayed, by default, in date order (although you may need to refresh the ordering if you change dates). See the Facts tab for more details. Open Parent Window Individual records only. Opens the Parents Window. How to Delete Records & Change Relationships Opens the Help, to display the page How to Delete Records and Change Relationships. Customize Property Box Opens the Customize Property Box Dialog. Options Opens the Property Box tab of Preferences. Recent Displays a menu with a list of records that were recently displayed in the Property Box. Click on any of them to switch to showing that record in the Property Box.
	Causes the Property Box to 'float' in front of the main application window (only available when the Property Box is 'docked' at the side of the window). See Floating Windows to learn more.
	Causes the Property Box to 'dock' at the side of the window (only available when the Property Box is 'floating').
	Closes the Property Box. Only applies when the Property Box is docked. When floating, you get the ordinary window close button on the caption bar.

Satellite Windows of the Property Box

The Property Box has satellite windows. These are floating windows that are work in conjunction with the Property Box, and provide additional information about the record currently showing in the Property Box, or about the currently-selected fact in the Facts tab of the Property Box. In each case, they update themselves to reflect changes in the Property Box and are only ever open when it is open. Effectively they extend the functionality of the Property Box. The satellite windows are:

The Citation List pane is not usually a separate window but it too can be if you choose the appropriate option in the Property tab of Preferences.

The Citation Window (not to be confused with the Citation List pane) is not a satellite of the Property Box, and nor is the Note Window. Both of these are independent floating windows, which can be opened from the Property Box, but are separate from it.

Drag-and-Drop

The Property Box supports drag-and-drop, which can be a quick and easy way of adding text and pictures. See Drag-and-Drop to learn more.