Documentation
Publicon
User Guide
Advanced Features
Setting Preferences
Setting Preferences
Using the Option Inspector
Working with Preferences
In Publicon, all properties of a document and its cells are specified in terms of preferences. Each preference controls a specific property of a cell or notebook. For example, text attributes such as size, font, and color each correspond to a unique preference. The Option Inspector is a special tool that provides a comprehensive listing of all the available preferences and their current values. It also provides a convenient way to monitor and change the settings for all preferences in your notebook from one central location.
To use the Option Inspector, choose Edit 
Preferences (Publicon Preferences on Macintosh). A new window appears with two pop-up menus in it. The pop-up menu on the right allows you to choose whether you want the preferences listed by category, alphabetically, or as text. The pop-up menu on the left specifies the level at which preferences will take effect. Click the open/close box to the left of the category name to view the preferences.
Inheritance of Preferences
The Option Inspector allows you to set the value of a preference at one of three different levels:
• Global. Preferences specified at this level apply to all Publicon notebooks.
• Notebook. Preferences set at this level apply everywhere in the current notebook.
• Selection. This sets preferences for the selection, whether a group of cells, a single cell, or a text within a cell.
The three preference levels are arranged in order of precedence. The global level has the highest precedence, which means that preferences specified at this level automatically take effect at the notebook and selection level. Similarly, preferences specified at the notebook level take effect at the selection level as well.
This hierarchical structure means that the lower levels inherit their preferences from the level immediately above them. This property provides you a great deal of flexibility in formatting your notebook, since you can set a preference to have different values at each level as required. Preferences set at lower levels will override any inherited values.
At each level, only the preferences that may be set at that level are listed in the Option Inspector. All other preferences appear grayed out, indicating that they cannot be changed unless you go to a higher or lower level.
Searching for a Specific Preference
To search for a specific preference, type its name or part of its name in the "Lookup" text field, then click Lookup or press the 
key. The Option Inspector goes to the first matching preference. Click Lookup or press again to go to the next matching item in the list.
Each line in the list of preferences gives the preference name followed by its current value. You can change the preference's value by choosing from the pop-up menu at the right or by selecting the value itself, typing over it, and pressing .
When you start Publicon for the first time, the values of all the preferences are set at their default values. Each time you modify one of the preferences, a bullet symbol appears next to the preference's name to indicate that its value has been changed. Clicking this bullet symbol resets the preference to its default value.
A complete listing of all global, notebook, and selection level preferences is included in the Help Browser, under Reference Front End Options.The preferences are organized into various categories and subcategories. Click any preference name to view a complete description of the preference and its possible settings.
The following example shows how you can use the Option Inspector to draw a frame around a cell. The cell frame is a preference that can only be set using the Option Inspector since there is no corresponding menu command.
To draw a frame around a specific cell:
1. Select the cell by clicking its cell bracket.
2. Choose Edit Preferences (Publicon Preferences on Macintosh) to open the Option Inspector dialog box.
3. Choose Selection from the first pop-up menu after "Show option values for".
4. Choose Cell Options Display Options. This gives a list of all preferences that control how a cell is displayed in the notebook.
5. Click the box next to the preference CellFrame and use the pop-up menu displayed to change the setting to "True". A bullet appears next to the preference, indicating its value has been changed. The cell that you had selected is now enclosed in a thin frame.
Alternatively, you can type "cell frame" in the text box and press Lookup. This leads you directly to the CellFrame preference without having to search by category. The Lookup feature provides a useful way to locate a preference if you are unsure of the category to which it belongs.
