# Common Object Attributes

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# Common Object Attributes

There are two main ways to control the appearance and properties of Sketchpad objects.

•Modify display attributes such as color, object visibility, label visibility, display style, and tracing by using the Display menu, the Text Palette, or the Text tool.

•Inspect and modify the properties of an object by selecting it and choosing Edit | Properties or choosing Properties from the Context menu.

Different properties apply to different kinds of objects:

Properties | Applies to | Purpose
Object | All objects | Inspect and navigate an object’s relationship to other objects in the sketch and control whether the object is visible and whether it can be selected by the Arrow tool.
Label | All objects that can show labels | Change an object’s label, show or hide the label, and determine whether the label is used in custom tools.
Value | Measurements, calculations, and parameters | Determine how a parameter, measurement, or calculation is displayed.
Parameter | Parameters | Determine how a parameter is animated and how it’s controlled by keyboard adjustments.
Table | Tables | Determine whether the last row of a table tracks values as they change in the sketch.
Iteration | Iterations and iterated objects | Determine the depth of an iteration and how it’s constructed.
Opacity | Polygons, circle interiors, arc interiors, pictures, iterations and loci of these objects, and angle markers | Determine how much the background of an object shows through it
Axis | Axes | Determine whether an axis is numbered using decimal numbers or using fractions and multiples of π.
Function | Data-defined functions | Determine the amount of smoothing to be applied to the function.
Plot | Loci and sampled transformed paths | Determine the number of samples and whether the locus or sampled transformed path is displayed continuously or discretely.
Plot | Function plots and parametric plots | Determine the domain of the plot, the number of samples, and whether the plot is displayed continuously or discretely.
Plot | Sampled transformed picture | Determine the number of samples and allowable distortion for a sampled transformed picture.
Marker | Angle markers and tick marks | Determine the type of tick mark or angle marker, the number of strokes used to mark it, and the form in which it's displayed.
Hide/Show | Hide/Show buttons | Determine whether the button hides or shows and whether it selects the objects when it shows them.
Animate | Animation buttons | Determine the type and speed of an animation.
Move | Movement buttons | Determine the speed of a movement and how it handles a moving destination.
Presentation | Presentation buttons | Determine whether the presentation is simultaneous or sequential and control various aspects of the presentation.
Link | Link buttons | Determine the destination of the link.
Scroll | Scroll buttons | Determine whether the target point is at the center or top left of the window after it’s scrolled.