ActiveListBar can be oriented in one of two ways. By default, the control is oriented vertically. Groups slide up and down, and list items are ordered from top to bottom. The control can also be oriented horizontally. Groups in a horizontal control slide left and right, group captions are rotated, and list items are ordered from left to right.

In addition to supporting multiple colors in the background, the ActiveListBar also features support for pictures in the background of groups. You can specify a simple texture or a complex design to serve as the background area for an ActiveListBar group.

A mask color is a color used in your image that you designate to be the transparent color. Any pixels in the image that use the mask color will allow the background to show through the image.

There are two image lists used in ActiveListBar. One stores large icons (32 by 32 pixels) and the other stores small icons (16 by 16 pixels). Both are SSImages collections, and contain SSImage objects that store the pictures. Individual ListItems connect to the images in the collection using either an index or a key value.