1. Add a text area (all property controls are created in text areas)
  2. Right click the text area and select Edit Text Area
  3. Left click the property control button and select Drop Down from the list.  

  4. Click the New button to create a new Document Property.

  5. Name your property.  Do not use spaces.  Choose the data type based on what you will be doing with the property.  If you are creating a drop down list of column names, the data type should be string, which is the most common usage. Do not specify a value, and click OK.

  6. Select Column selection from the Set property value through: drop down.  

  7. Most likely, you will want to refine the list of columns down to a subset of the data table, so click the Select Columns button.

  8. Click the New button to create a new Column Property.  This is different from the Document Property you just created. Again, do not use spaces and it cannot be named the same as the Document Property.  

  9. The data type should be Boolean, and the Default value should be false.  A default value of false means that any new columns added to the data table WILL NOT be added to the drop down list.  A default value of true means any new columns added to the data table WILL be added to the drop down list.

  10. Add columns that you would like to be in the list using the Add button.  You may add more than one at a time using the Shift and Ctrl keys. Click OK

  11. Click OK to exit the dialog.

  12. Click the X in the top right hand corner of the text area.  Say yes to save if prompted.  This completes the steps to create the control.  You must now connect it to a visualization.

  13. Right click on the variable selector you would like the drop down to control (eg. Color By selector)

  14. Select the Set from Property option and choose the Document Property that you created.  

      

  15. The drop down will now control the variable selector