---
title: "Container"
description: "All components are always inside of a container, except for the special Root Container of each window."
---

# Container

> All components are always inside of a container, except for the special Root Container of each window.

![](container.png)

**Component Palette Icon**:  

![](container1.png)

## Description
The container is a very important component. All components are always inside of a container, except for the special "Root Container" of each window (see  [Window Properties](visualization-and-dashboards/windows/working-with-vision-windows/window-properties/window-properties.md)). A container is different than normal components in that it can contain other components, including other containers. Uses for containers include:

* **Organization** - Containers can be used to group components together. These components can then easily be moved, copied, or deleted as a group. Furthermore, they will all be organized inside of their parent container in the project navigation tree, which makes them easier to find.
* **Re-usability** - Containers allow a unique opportunity to create a complex component that is made up of multiple other components. The Container's ability to have [dynamic properties](visualization-and-dashboards/understanding-components/component-customizers/component-customizers.md) aids this greatly. For instance, if you wanted to make your own custom HOA control, you can put three buttons inside of a container and configure them to all use a 'status' property that you add to their parent Container. Now you have built an HOA control that can be re-used and treated like its own component. The possibilities here are endless. Create a date range control that generates an SQL WHERE clause that can be used to control Charts and Tables. Create a label/button control that can be used to display datapoints, and pop up a parameterized window that displays meta-data (engineering units, physical location, notes, etc) about that datapoint. Creating re-usable controls with Containers containing multiple components is the key to rapid application development.
* **Layout** - Containers are a great way to improve window aesthetics through borders and layout options.

:::info
To move a container around on a window, you need to hold the alt key while clicking and dragging.
:::

## Properties
| Name | Description  | Property Type | Scripting  | Category   |
| ---------------- | ------------------ | ------------- | ------------------------ | ---------- |
| Background Color | The background color of the component. | Color   | .background | Appearance |
| Border | The border surrounding this component. Note that the border is unaffected by rotation. | Border | .border   | Common|
| Combine Repaints | Set this to true for containers with many sub-components that need to redraw frequently (flashing, rotating, animating). | boolean  | .combineRepaints  | Behavior   |
| Cursor  | The mouse cursor to use when hovering over this component.| int | .cursorCode | Commo |
| Data Quality| The data quality code for any tag bindings on this component. | int | .dataQuality| Data  |
| Font  | Font of text on this component.| Font| .font| Appearance |
| Mouseover Text   | The text that is displayed in the tooltip which pops up on mouseover of this component.  | String | .toolTipText             | Common     |
| Name | The name of this component.  | String | .name  | Common     |
| Opaque | If false, backgrounds are not drawn. If true, backgrounds are drawn. | boolean| .opaque | Common     |
| Styles | Contains the component's styles.| Dataset| .styles  | Appearance |
| Texture | Background texture image for this container.| String | .texturePath  | Appearance |
| Tile Optimized   | If true, this container's children should never overlap, and you'll get better painting performance. | boolean  | .optimizedDrawingEnabled | Behavior   |
| Visible  | If disabled, the component will be hidden. | boolean | .visible| Common     |

## Scripting

### Scripting Functions
This component does not have scripting functions associated with it.

### Extension Functions
This component does not have extension functions associated with it.

### Event Handlers
Event handlers allow you to run a script based off specific triggers. See the full list of available event handlers on the [Component Events](scripting\scripting-in-ignition\component-and-window-scripting\component-events.md) page.

## Examples

![](container-example.png)

|Property Name| Value|
|--|--|
|Border |Titled|
|Background Color |255,232,204 |