PowerCOBOL objects are used to gather properties, methods and events for elements that are either common to many controls, such as the RenderText and Font objects, or that are repeated many times within a control, such as the Column and ListItem objects. The one exception is the Form object that has a single instance and can be used and referenced much like any of the controls.
The objects are usually referred to as a property of the containing control. The syntax for referring to a property of an object is:
"Property-name" OF "Object-name" OF Control-name
The topics defining the objects describe the purpose of the object, and list the object's properties, methods, and events.
The form itself is essentially a control. However, because it cannot be placed directly on another form (you have to create an OCX control containing the form) and is not one of the controls in the Form Editor Toolbox, it is described in this reference as the Form "object". Otherwise there is nothing significant that makes the form an "object" rather than a "control".
There are two container objects - the Form object and the GroupBox control - in which controls are placed. Some properties and method arguments may change depending on the properties of the containing object. For example, the current Font property of the Form object defines the initial value of the Font property of a new control placed on the form.
Note that, although the Frame, Tab and Toolbar controls can contain other controls, the other controls do not inherit default properties or method arguments from them.
