# 2.5 Adding the Text Control

The next task is to add the main text editing control to our frame. This control is called wxTextCtrl.

- Open the Designer again to edit the frame, wxFrame1.py.
- On the palette, select the 'Basic Controls' pane. Select the wxTextControl. hint: You can hold the mouse pointer over each control to find out its name.
- Click the mouse on the Designer window. A new text control will be drawn. We do not have to size the control. By default it will fill all the available area, i.e. between the status bar and the menu bar.
- The default wxTextControl is a single line entry. We must indicate to the control, that we want this to be a multi-line data entry control. To do this we edit the 'style' property in the Inspector. This is in the Constructor pane.
- Edit the style and set the style to wxTE_MULTILINE. The style field lets you configure styles for your components. The style field contains valid python code. To set two logical styles you would separate them with a '|'. You can see all the available styles for the wxTextControl in the wxPython online help for the class wxTextControl.
- Rename the text field. The default name is 'textCtrl1'. Set the name to 'txtEditor'.
- In the Constructor pane there is a field called 'Value'. This field contains the default value of the control. Blank out this field.
- Update the source code with your new control using the Post button on the Inspector window. Save your source code changes.
- Run your application.

The txtEditor field is automatically sized to the available space. If you resize the frame, the field resizes. Notice that wxWindows provides you with a scrollbar. The field will automatically, scroll if you go beyond the bottom. If you type line longer than the width of the edit window, they will wrap. You also have cut and paste functionality, and block marking by default.