Property Value

The Property Value section describes the value of a property. Add the property value description to the <value> tag.

• Provide a clear description of the property value. Keep the description concise, but provide enough context.
• Use wording that is programming language-neutral.
• If the property type is an enum member, briefly specify what the enum defines. The wording should distinguish between single enum values and flag enums, as shown in the following table.
• If the property type is an array, indicate what the array contains.
• If there is a default value that the user should be aware of, describe it in a second sentence.
• Include measurement units (for example, "in bytes" or "in pixels") if applicable.
• Don't include a link to the property value type in your descriptions. The build tools include this link automatically.
• Do not bury important information about the property value in Remarks. Include it in the description, but point to Remarks for a lengthier discussion if necessary.

The following table shows the boilerplate wording for property value descriptions. The wording varies according to the property type.

Property type	Wording	Examples
Class, interface, or structure	A/An/The <description, without specifying the data type>. The default is default value. Note: If the abstraction is not clear from the context, you can use the wording "An object that identifies/specifies/contains...". However, avoid this unless there is no other way to describe the property value.	Type: System.Windows.Forms.Cursor The current default cursor. Type: System.Net.ICredentials The authentication credentials associated with this request. The default is null.
Flag enum	A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that <additional information>. The default is <EnumMember>.	Type: System.AppDomainManagerInitializationOptions A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that describe the initialization action to perform. The default is None. Example of flag enum with a combination of default values: Type: System.IO.NotifyFilters A bitwise combination of the enumeration values that specify the changes. The default is the bitwise OR combination of NotifyFilters.LastWrite, NotifyFilters.FileName, and NotifyFilters.DirectoryName.
Other enum	One of the enumeration values that <additional information>. The default is <EnumMember>.	Type: System.Windows.Forms.BorderStyle One of the enumeration values that specifies the border style for a control. The default is BorderStyle.FixedSingle.
Boolean	true if XXX; otherwise, false. The default is XXX. true if XXX; false if XXX. The default is XXX. <true/false> in all cases. Note: Use the "otherwise" wording unless the second condition must be noted explicitly. Note: The wording for Boolean property values is "true if...," not "true to...." (The wording "true to...." is for parameters.)	Type: System.Boolean true if rows can be deleted from the grid; otherwise, false. The default is true. Type: System.Boolean true if the stream supports writing; false if the stream is closed or was opened with read-only access. The default is true. Type: System.Boolean false in all cases.
Other primitive or string	<Noun phrase description, without specifying the data type.> The default is XXX.	Type: System.Int32 The width, in pixels, of the columns in the grid. The default is 75.
Array	An array that contains XXX.	Type: System.Attribute() An array that contains the attributes of this member. Type: System.Byte() An array that contains the originator of the key pair.