>Hi all
>
>I was fiddling the form properties when I noticed DrawMode and I changed it to something other than default and ran the form, nothing really looked different.
>
>What is DrawMode for and when & where it can be used?

Here's some of what we had to say in the Hacker's Guide:

DrawMode determines the way colors are mixed. For shape controls, BorderColor and FillColor specify colors for the outside edge and interior, respectively. The BorderColor of a line control determines its color (and it has no interior, of course). For shapes drawn with the Box, Circle and Line methods, the outside edge is based on the form's ForeColor, while the form's FillColor specifies the interior.

Normally, the appropriate colors are used directly, regardless of the BackColor of the form or any other considerations. It turns out, though, that this "normal" behavior is actually something called "copy mode," which means "copy the color of the object onto the form." That's DrawMode 13. Visual FoxPro supports 15 other drawing modes as well. The other modes perform various kinds of mixing of the object's specified drawing color with the form's BackColor. For example, DrawMode 15 ("Merge") combines the object's specified color with the form's BackColor (kind of like painting one color over another while the bottom color is still wet). Here's an interface design tip: If you want to highlight an area of a form with a lighter shade of the same color as the form, draw a rectangle (or other shape), set its BackColor to a light or medium gray (such as the default RGB(212,208,200)), and set the DrawMode to 15. Now, whatever color the form is, you'll have a lighter shade without changing code. If you want it to always be a "grayer" version of the color, use the gray box, but set the DrawMode to 9 ("Mask").

Tamar