UserMode

Returns whether the control is running inside an application (True) or being edited inside a designer (False), as a Boolean. Read-only.

Syntax: object.UserMode

object

required An object expression that evaluates to an AmbientProperties object.

This is the most-checked ambient property. A control should consult UserMode before doing anything that only makes sense at run time --- connecting to a database, starting a timer, animating its own appearance --- because at design time the host is showing a static representation of the control on a layout surface. When UserMode is False, the control should also be willing to draw selection adornments such as ShowGrabHandles and ShowHatching on request.

Example

This example responds to a UserMode change and enables the animation timer only at runtime.

Private Sub UserControl_AmbientChanged(PropertyName As String)
    Select Case PropertyName
        Case "UserMode"
            tmrAnimate.Enabled = Ambient.UserMode    ' run timer only in user mode
    End Select
End Sub

See Also

• UIDead property
• ShowGrabHandles property
• ShowHatching property
• DisplayAsDefault property