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The backgroundPattern specifies the pattern used to draw an object's background.Syntax:

set the backgroundPattern of <object> to {<patternNumber> | <imageID> | empty}

Examples:

set the backgroundPattern of this card to 544
set the backgroundPattern of me to the ID of image "Fill"

Use the backgroundPattern property to specify the pattern used for the background on which an image appears, or the pattern used to draw an object(glossary).

Pattern images can be color or black-and-white.

To be used as a pattern on Mac OS
systems, an image must be 128x128 pixels or less, and both its

height and width must be a power of 2, however, in LiveCode version 2.7, this restriction was partially lifted and the engine will tile rectangular regions correctly with arbitrarily sized background patterns.To be used on Windows and Unix systems, height and width must be divisible by 8. To be used as a fully cross-platform pattern, both an image's dimensions should be one of 8, 16, 32, 64, or 128.

The backgroundPattern of controls is drawn starting at the control's upper left corner: if the control(keyword) is moved, the pattern does not shift.

Setting the backgroundPattern of an object(glossary) to empty allows the backgroundPattern of the object's owner to show through. Use the effective keyword to find out what pattern is used for the object(glossary), even if its own backgroundPattern is empty.

The setting of the backgroundPattern property has different effects, depending on the object type:

  • The backgroundPattern of a stack or card fills the entire [[stack
 window]], as well as determining the backgroundPattern of each
 object(glossary) in the stack or card that does not have its own
 backgroundPattern. 


On Mac OS, OS X, and Windows
systems, if the backgroundColor and backgroundPattern of all

objects in the object hierarchy is empty, the background set by the system is used.

  • The backgroundPattern of a group determines the
 backgroundPattern of each object(glossary) in the group that
 does not have its own backgroundPattern.


  • The backgroundPattern of a button(keyword) fills the area inside
 the button's outline. If the button's style is
 "checkbox", the backgroundPattern fills the checkbox. If the
 button's style is "radioButton", the
 backgroundPattern has no effect. If the button(keyword) is a
 tabbed button, the backgroundPattern fills the tab area and the
 frontmost tab, but does not affect the other tabs.


If the lookAndFeel is set to

"Appearance Manager", standard and rectangle buttons are drawn by the operating system if the backgroundColor and backgroundPattern of the button(keyword) is empty. Otherwise, the button(keyword) is drawn by LiveCode. If the lookAndFeel is "Appearance Manager", button menus whose menuMode is set to "option" or "comboBox" are always drawn by the operating system, and the setting of the backgroundPattern does not affect them.

  • The backgroundPattern of a field(keyword) fills the area inside
 the field's outline and (if the field(keyword) is a
 scrolling field(keyword)) the arrow boxes at the ends of the
 scrollbar. If you set the backgroundPattern of a chunk of a
 field(keyword) (on Unix systems), only that chunk is affected.


  • The backgroundPattern of a scrollbar fills the arrow boxes at the
 ends of the scrollbar.


  • The backgroundPattern of a graphic(keyword) is displayed inside
 the graphic's border if the
 graphic's fill property is true. If the
 graphic's fill is false, the setting of the
 backgroundPattern has no effect.


 object's rectangle.


  • The backgroundPattern of an image, audio clip, video clip, or
 player has no effect.


If an object's backgroundPattern is set, the pattern is shown instead of the color specified by backgroundColor.

Changes: The ability to use the system background pattern was introduced in version 1.1. In previous versions, if the backgroundColor and backgroundPattern of all objects in the object hierarchy was empty, a light gray color was used.

See also: graphic (object),button (object),field (object),stack (object),control (object),metal (property),pixels (property),opaque (property),patterns (property),width (property),height (property),style (property),backgroundPattern (property),lookAndFeel (property),menuMode (property),foregroundPattern (property),backgroundColor (property),owner (property),shadowPattern (property),

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