Options for Notebooks

Ways to change the overall options for a notebook.

This creates a notebook displayed in a 40×30 window with a thin frame:

CreateWindow[WindowFrame->"ThinFrame",WindowSize->{40,30}]

Style options for a notebook.

In giving style definitions for a particular notebook, the Wolfram System allows you either to reference another notebook, or explicitly to include the (RefLink[Notebook, paclet:ref/Notebook]) expression that defines the styles.

General options for notebooks.

With (RefLink[CellGrouping, paclet:ref/CellGrouping])->(RefLink[Automatic, paclet:ref/Automatic]), cells are automatically grouped based on their style.

With (RefLink[CellGrouping, paclet:ref/CellGrouping])->(RefLink[Manual, paclet:ref/Manual]), you have to group cells by hand.

Options specifying default styles for cells created in a notebook.

The Wolfram Language allows you to take any cell option and set it at the notebook level, thereby specifying a global default for that option throughout the notebook.

A few cell options that are often set at the notebook level.

Here is a notebook with the (RefLink[Background, paclet:ref/Background]) option set at the notebook level.

Characteristics of the notebook window.

(RefLink[WindowSize, paclet:ref/WindowSize]) allows you to specify how large you want a window to be; (RefLink[WindowMargins, paclet:ref/WindowMargins]) allows you to specify where you want the window to be placed on your screen. The setting (RefLink[WindowMargins, paclet:ref/WindowMargins])->{{left,right},{bottom,top}} gives the margins in pixels to leave around your window on the screen. Often only two of the margins will be set explicitly; the others will be (RefLink[Automatic, paclet:ref/Automatic]), indicating that these margins will be determined from the particular size of screen that you use.

(RefLink[WindowClickSelect, paclet:ref/WindowClickSelect]) is the principal option that determines whether a window acts like a palette. Palettes are generally windows with content that acts upon other windows, rather than windows that need to be selected for their own ends. Palettes also generally have a collection of other option settings such as (RefLink[WindowFloating, paclet:ref/WindowFloating])->(RefLink[True, paclet:ref/True]) and (RefLink[WindowFrame, paclet:ref/WindowFrame])->"Palette".

(RefLink[DockedCells, paclet:ref/DockedCells]) allows you to specify any content that you want to stay at the top of a window and never scroll offscreen. A typical use of the (RefLink[DockedCells, paclet:ref/DockedCells]) option is to define a custom toolbar. Many default stylesheets have the (RefLink[DockedCells, paclet:ref/DockedCells]) option defined in certain environments to create toolbars for purposes such as presenting slide shows and editing package files.

Typical possible settings for (RefLink[WindowFrame, paclet:ref/WindowFrame]).

The Wolfram System allows many different types of windows. The details of how particular windows are rendered may differ slightly from one computer system to another, but their general form is always the same. (RefLink[WindowFrame, paclet:ref/WindowFrame]) specifies the type of frame to draw around the window. (RefLink[WindowElements, paclet:ref/WindowElements]) gives a list of specific elements to include in the window.

Some typical possible entries in the (RefLink[WindowElements, paclet:ref/WindowElements]) list.

Here is a window with a status area and horizontal scrollbar, but no magnification popup or vertical scrollbar.