UI Automation Support for the Tab Control Type

Note

This documentation is intended for .NET Framework developers who want to use the managed UI Automation classes defined in the System.Windows.Automation namespace. For the latest information about UI Automation, see Windows Automation API: UI Automation.

This topic provides information about UI Automation support for the Tab 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 UI Automation. control patterns.

A tab control is analogous to the dividers in a notebook or the labels in a file cabinet. By using a tab control, an application can define multiple pages for the same area of a window or dialog box.

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

Required UI Automation Tree Structure

The following table depicts the control view and the content view of the UI Automation tree that pertains to tab 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
Tab

  • TabItem (1 or more)
  • ScrollBar (0 or 1)

    • Button (0 or 2)
Tab

- TabItem (1 or more)

Tab controls have child UI Automation elements based on the Tab Item control type. When tab items are grouped (for example, as in Microsoft Office 2007 applications) the Tab control type can also host Groups control types for the grouped tab items, as the following tree structure shows.

Control View Content View
Tab

  • TabItem (1 or more)
  • Group (0 or more)

    • TabItem (0 or more)
  • ScrollBar (0 or more)

    • Button (0 or 2)
Tab

  • TabItem (1 or more)
  • Group (0 or more)

    • TabItem (0 or more)

Required UI Automation Properties

The following table lists the UI Automation properties whose value or definition is especially relevant to the Tab control type. 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 tab control rarely requires a Name property.
ClickablePointProperty No The tab control does not have a clickable point.
LabeledByProperty See notes. Tab controls typically have a static text label that is exposed through this property.
ControlTypeProperty Tab This value is the same for all UI frameworks.
LocalizedControlTypeProperty "tab" Localized string corresponding to the Tab control type.
IsKeyboardFocusableProperty True The Tab control type must be able to receive keyboard focus. Typically, a UI Automation client calls SetFocus on a tab control and one of its items will forward the keyboard focus to the tab control. It is possible for some tab containers to take focus without setting focus to one of its items.
IsContentElementProperty True The tab control is always included in the content view of the UI Automation tree.
IsControlElementProperty True The tab control is always included in the control view of the UI Automation tree.
OrientationProperty See notes. The tab control must always indicate whether it is positioned horizontally or vertically.

Required UI Automation Control Patterns and Properties

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

Control Pattern/Pattern Property Support/Value Notes
ISelectionProvider Yes All tab controls must support the Selection pattern.
IsSelectionRequired True Tab controls always require that a selection be made.
CanSelectMultiple False Tab controls are always single-selection containers.
IScrollProvider Depends The Scroll pattern must be supported in the tab control has widgets that allow for a set of tab items to be scrolled through.

Required UI Automation Events

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

UI Automation Event Support Notes
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
HorizontallyScrollableProperty property-changed event. Depends None
HorizontalViewSizeProperty property-changed event. Depends None
VerticalScrollPercentProperty property-changed event. Depends None
VerticalViewSizeProperty property-changed event. Depends None
AutomationFocusChangedEvent Required None
StructureChangedEvent Required None

See also