# Common Object Attributes

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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.