Should you need to align the tabs to a different horizontal position on the TabSet, you can use the alignTabs(...) method. The first parameter is the string position (left, right, or center), and the second optional parameter is the numeric offset from that position (in pixels):

tabs.alignTabs("right", 50);

The displayTabs() method allows you to show or hide the TabSet tabs. The only parameter is a Boolean that specifies whether you want the tabs displayed (true) or not (false):

tabs.displayTabs(false);

To obtain the parent container of the TabSet, use the getHeaderContainer() method. This method returns the HTML element containing the TabSet:

var headerContainer = tabs.getHeaderContainer();

To get the currently selected tab, you can use the getSelectedTab() method. This method returns an OpenSocial tab object, from which you can learn further information about the tab, as described in the upcoming section Getting and setting information about a tab:

var tab = tabs.getSelectedTab();

The getTabs() method returns all TabSet tabs as an array of OpenSocial tab objects:

var allTabs = tabs.getTabs();

To programmatically remove a tab from a TabSet, use the removeTab() method. This method accepts one parameter, the numeric tab index of the tab to be removed:

tabs.removeTab(2);

You can use the setSelectedTab() method to programmatically change the currently selected tab. This method accepts one parameter, the numeric tab index of the tab to be selected. When the tab is selected, the callback for it (if defined) will be fired unless the tab was already selected:

tabs.setSelectedTab(1);

Should you want to swap the positions of two tabs, you can use the swapTabs() method. This method takes two parameters, the numeric tab indexes of the two tabs to be swapped. During the swap, the selected tab will not change, and no callback functions will be executed:

tabs.swapTabs(2, 3);

When you have an OpenSocial tab object available, you can run a series of methods against the object to provide additional levels of customization. You can obtain a tab object through the TabSet methods getSelectedTab() or getTabs().

The following examples assume that we have already obtained an OpenSocial tab object:

var tabs = new gadgets.TabSet();
... Build Tabs ...
var tab = tabs.getSelectedTab();

Using the getCallback() method, you can obtain a reference to the callback function that’s associated with selecting a tab. You can use this method to execute a callback function programmatically without actually selecting the tab:

var callback = tab.getCallback();

To obtain the HTML element that contains the tab content, use the getContentContainer() method:

var tabContainer = tab.getContentContainer();

For some of TabSet’s tab manipulation methods, you must pass the numeric tab index for the tab you want to remove or swap. Using the getIndex() method returns the index number of the tab:

var tabIndex = tab.getIndex();

To obtain a tab name, you can use the getName() method. This method returns a string containing the tab name:

var tabname = tab.getName();

Using the getNameContainer() method returns the HTML element that contains the tab label:

var labelContainer = tab.getNameContainer();