QuickAccessToolbar is an internal sub-control of the RibbonBar control and cannot be used independently as a standalone control. It can only be used in the RibbonBar converted from the menu. When a menu contains a toolbar, the converted RibbonBar automatically adds a corresponding QuickAccessToolbar sub-control.
The QuickAccessToolbar can be displayed at the top or bottom of
the RibbonBar. In addition to display the shortcut icons of menu items,
it also provides a dropdown list to conveniently control the visibility
of each shortcut icon and offer simple customization options. For
instance, you can control whether a shortcut icon displays in the
QuickAccessToolbar by selecting its checkbox 
, or use the "Show below the Ribbon" option to
position the QuickAccessToolbar at the top or bottom of the
RibbonBar.
The following is a description of the general rules when displaying the menu toolbars as QuickAccessToolbar:
-
Vertical separators in toolbars are represented as vertical separators in the QuickAccessToolbar (①).
-
When there are multiple toolbars, they are combined and displayed in one single QuickAccessToolbar and separated by two vertical separators between them (②).
-
If the original toolbar contains a drop-down button, the QuickAccessToolbar will also add a corresponding drop-down button.
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An arrow icon will appear automatically at the end of QuickAccessToolbar (③). Click it and a drop-down list will appear, showing the text content of all currently visible toolbar items (where ToolbarItemVisible is true), including separators (①②). You can customize the QuickAccessToolbar by 1) selecting which items to show in the QuickAccessToolbar (④), 2) selecting "Show below the Ribbon" (⑤) to show the QuickAccessToolbar below the ribbon bar instead of above; 3) selecting "Minimize the Ribbon" (⑥) to minimize the ribbon bar.
-
When ToolbarItemVisible is true in the menu toolbar, the corresponding icon appears in the QuickAccessToolbar, and its text content (ToolBarItemText property value) is automatically displayed and checked in the dropdown list. If ToolBarItemText is not set, an empty value is displayed in the QuickAccessToolbar. Dynamic setting of the ToolbarItemVisible property is also supported at runtime.
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QuickAccessToolbar item statuses can be saved in the file path specified by the SetQuickAccessToolbarStatusPath. If no file path is specified, the QuickAccessToolbar item status will not be saved.
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The ToolbarVisible property of the menu toolbar determines the visibility of QuickAccessToolbar when QuickAccessToolbar is initializing. After QuickAccessToolbar is initialized, the ShowQuickAccessToolbar property determines the visibility of QuickAccessToolbar; however, for the QuickAccessToolbar to be visible, the initial value of ToolbarVisible must also be true.
-
The Enable property of the menu toolbar determines the availability of corresponding icons in the QuickAccessToolbar.
-
The ObjectType and ToolbarItemOrder properties from the menu toolbar are also effective in QuickAccessToolbar. For which toolbar properties can be supported, refer to Which properties can be supported.
The "Customize Quick Access Toolbar" dropdown menu in the QuickAccessToolbar only records manual status changes made by users at runtime.
The following features are not supported after displayed as the QuickAccessToolbar:
-
The original menu toolbar can be displayed at the top, bottom, left, or right edge of the window. After displayed as the QuickAccessToolbar, the toolbar can only be displayed at the top.
-
QuickAccessToolbar does not support displaying the text of the MicroHelp of the menu item to the status area at the bottom of the frame.
-
The ToolbarItemDown property of the original menu is not supported.
Currently, the following Toolbar properties can be supported by QuickAccessToolbar:
-
ToolbarItemText
-
ToolbarItemName
-
ToolbarItemVisible
-
ToolbarItemOrder
-
ObjectType
-
Enabled
Usages are consistent with the Toolbar property settings. (Properties not listed are not supported)
The following pictures show the effect before and after switching the display.
The Clear icon is originally at the last position in the drop-down list, but because its ToolbarITemOrder is set to 2, it is displayed as the second item in the drop-down list.
The RibbonBar control has the following new property related with QuickAccessToolbar:
-
ShowQuickAccessToolbar -- Whether to show QuickAccessToolbar in the ribbon bar after the toolbar is displayed as QuickAccessToolbar. QuickAccessToolbar will display above (default) or below the categories. The QuickAccessToolbar item status are stored in the QatItems.qat file in the path specified by the Application SetQuickAccessToolbarStatusPath function.
Note
This property is available only when the QuickAccessToolbar is converted from the menu toolbar (when DisplayMenuAsRibbonBar is enabled). The standalone RibbonBar control does not support this property.
The Application object has the following new functions related with QuickAccessToolbar:
-
SetQuickAccessToolbarStatusPath -- Sets the file path of the QuickAccessToolbar item status (QatItems.qat). If no file path is specified, the QatItems.qat file will not be created, which means, the custom settings of QuickAccessToolbar item will not be saved.
-
GetQuickAccessToolbarStatusPath -- Gets the file path of the QuickAccessToolbar item status (QatItems.qat).
As an internal sub-control of the RibbonBar control, QuickAccessToolbar also supports custom theme.
The "quickaccesstoolbar" node under the RibbonBar node in the theme configuration file can be used to configure the display and style of QuickAccessToolbar.
The "quickaccesstoolbar" node contains the following settings:
"quickaccesstoolbar":
{
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"moreitem-image": { "file": "moreitem.png" },
"allitemvisible-image": { "file": "allitemvisible.png" },
"item":
{
"separator-color": "#A0A0A0",
"groupseparator-image": { "file": "groupseparator.png" },
"arrow-image": { "file": "dropdown-arrow.png" },
"normal-state":
{
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"border-color": "#FFFFFF"
},
"hover-state":
{
"background-color": "#F9E4D2",
"border-color": "#F9E4D2"
},
"pressed-state":
{
"background-color": "#F9D2B0",
"border-color": "#F9D2B0"
},
"disabled-state":
{
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"border-color": "#FFFFFF"
}
},
"menu":
{
"border-color": "#D9D9D9",
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"separator-color": "#D9D9D9",
"item-custom-qat":
{
"normal-state":
{
"background-color": "#F8EADF",
"text-font": { "color": "#333333" }
}
},
"item":
{
"checked-image": { "file": "menucheck.png" },
"normal-state":
{
"border-color": "#FFFFFF",
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"text-font": { "color": "#333333" }
},
"hover-state":
{
"border-color": "#F9E4D2",
"background-color": "#F9E4D2",
"text-font": { "color": "#333333" }
},
"disabled-state":
{
"border-color": "#FFFFFF",
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"text-font": { "color": "#999999" }
}
},
"scroll-spinner":
{
"normal-state":
{
"border-color": "#FFFFFF",
"background-color": "#FFFFFF",
"up-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-up.png" },
"down-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-down.png" }
},
"hover-state":
{
"border-color": "#F9E4D2",
"background-color": "#F9E4D2",
"up-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-up.png" },
"down-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-down.png" }
},
"pressed-state":
{
"border-color": "#F9D2B0",
"background-color": "#F9D2B0",
"up-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-up.png" },
"down-arrow-image": { "file": "scroll-spinner-down.png" }
}
}
}
}
To customize theme of QuickAccessToolbar, you need to understand the customization rules of the RibbonBar control. For more information, refer to Theme.
Note: Please make sure that your theme folder has been updated to the latest version. Otherwise, users who have upgraded will find that the QuickAccessToolbar position is displayed in black.
If your application is upgraded from an old version and the theme feature is enabled, after upgrading to PowerBuilder 2025 (or later), the QuickAccessToolbar position will be displayed in black because the old version configuration file in the theme folder does not contain the relevant information of QuickAccessToolbar.
Normally, when upgrading or using a new version of PowerBuilder, you need to update the Theme folder. Please make sure to use the latest theme configuration file (usually located in the PowerBuilder installation directory, the default path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Appeon\PowerBuilder [version]\IDE).
