This property is used to determine how mask literals and prompt characters are displayed when the control is not in edit mode. Based on the setting of this property, the text displayed in the control will contain no prompt characters or literals (just the raw data), the data and just the literals, the data and just the prompt characters, or all the text including both prompt characters and literals. The formatted spacing of partially masked values can be preserved by indicating to include literals with padding, which includes data and literal characters, but replaces prompt characters with spaces.
Generally, prompt characters disappear when the control is no longer in edit mode, as a visual cue to the user. In some cases, however, it may be appropriate in your application to display mask literals as well as data when the control is no longer in edit mode.
The property is used to specify how data input will be masked for the control. The mask usually includes literal characters that are used to delimit the data entered by the user. This property has no effect unless the property is set, meaning that data masking is enabled.
Target Platforms: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP1 or later, Windows XP SP3, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core supported with SP1 or later), Windows Server 2003 SP2