Snippet to modify Title Bar look

[dee-u]

Take a look at the attached image, is there a way in VB.Net to make one's Title Bars like this one?

[jmcilhinney]

Where did this come from? If it's a standard Print Preview dialogue then it's my guess that the user has changed the theme in Windows itself, rather than the developer having done something special.

[dee-u]

What Windows Theme is that?

[jmcilhinney]

Who knows? There are several gazillion themes available for many different theming utilities. I've a sneaking suspicion I may have seen it when I used to use StyleXP, but that was a while ago so I might be making that up.

[dee-u]

Isn't there any snippet in VB.Net that could transform title bars into something like that? Like VisualStyle or something?

[RobDog888]

See my posts in this thread. The process would not be a snippet as it is a bit involved. It entails either drawing on the VS layer or substituting the used VS for one of your own.

[jmcilhinney]

Using visual styles in your app simply applies the current XP theme to all your controls. If you apply a theme to XP that looks like that, then all your forms that use visual styles will look like that. If you want to do it to an individual form without an XP theme, you would have to look at using a skinning component, although I'm not sure how much control they have over the non-client area of the form. The other alternative is to remove the border and draw your own title bar.

[RobDog888]

Yes, I do mention that the substituted caption will be applied to all windows although you could possibly create your own caption and designate your own drawing constant for it. No, I havent successfully done it yet but the theory is there.

[jmcilhinney]

Sorry Rob. My post #7 was made without having seen your post #6. You posted while I was still fuddling my way around the keyboard.