Changing Docking manage & group bar colors

[Patrick]

I would like to be able to customize the colors of a docking manager/group bar pair. Normally there is a bar running down the right side of my screen that contains the group bar tab. I''m unable to modify the color of that bar, the grop gar tab color, the color of the text in the group bar tab and the color of the title bar background/foreground that runs across the top.

Thanks

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick, Please take a look at the folowing KB article for information on how to custom paint the docking window : How do I use the custom caption rendering feature of the Docking Manager ? Let me know if this helps. Regards, Guru Patwal Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

That helped some. I still would like to be able to modify the colors of the group bar(docking manager?) that run up the left side of the screen. I''ve attached my little test program. On start you will see the bar that runs up the left side of the screen and is several shades different than the background of the main window. I would also like to be able to change the f/b color of the GroupBar1 tab. Also is there a way to hide the black line that seperates the two areas? Thanks Patrick colortest1_7520.zip

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick, Thanks for the update, and the exe file attached above. Unfortunately, I am unable to run this exe here. Could you please zip up the entire application and send it over ? I have also created a test sample according to my understanding of your requirements. Please refer to it and let me know if this meets your requirements. You could set custom colors for the foreground and background in the GroupBar by setting appropriate Color values to the ForeColor and BackColor properties of the GroupBar and GroupBarItems. You could then host a Panel in the client area under each GroupBarItem and then custom color it as well. Let me know if this meets your requirements. We appreciate your cooperation. Regards, Guru Patwal Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

Here''s the source. I labled the vertical group tab I want to change to "I want to change this color on the vertical tab". Also would like to change the background color for the tab area. Thanks Patrick Little colortest1_4443.zip

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick, Thanks for the sample application. I have modified the application as per your requirements and have attached_it_here. Let me know if this works for you. Thanks for choosing Syncfusion. Regards, Guru Patwal Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

Does the last change you made to my test program require Syncfusion v2.0? I''m currently running 1.5.2.0 and get the message

''HostControl'' is not a member of ''Syncfusion.Windows.Forms.Tools.DockingManager''

when I run the project.

Thanks

Patrick

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick,

v1.5.2.0 is very old and I am afraid we do not support that anymore. We strongly recommend you to upgrade to v2.0 at the earliest. Please create an incident in DirectTrac in this regard, and I will update you with the download instructions for our latest v2.0 release. We appreciate your cooperation, and thanks for choosing Syncfusion products.

Regards,
Guru Patwal
Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

Ok, I updated to v2.0 today. I still don''t see how you can change the color of the docking control that runs up and down the left side of the screen. I have the form set to a dark blue. Your docking control appears to use a shade of blue to create a docking area. Then you create a tab in that area using the form background color. And you are using black for the text in that tab. I would like to be able to programatically change the docking area, the docking tab and the font color in the docking tab.

Thanks

Patrick

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick, Please refer to the modified sample attached. The docking window on the left hand side of the form is a GroupBar control. The GroupBar control has 2 GroupBarItems in it. The GroupBarItem1 has a ListBox in it and setting its BackColor will set the GroupBarItem''s client area to a desired color (crimson here). Similarly, you could set the BackColor property for the panel hosted in the GroupBarItem2''s client area. When a control (the GroupBar here) is docked, it is hosted within a DockHost and a rectangular caption bar is attached on top. Like I mentioned earlier, please handle the DoockingManager''s ProvideGraphicsItems event to customize the BackColor/ForeColor of the caption. Please refer to the screenshot attached which shows how this sample looks at runtime here. Let me know if this meets your requirements. If not, mention the areas in the screenshot that you need paint with a custom color. We appreciate your cooperation. Regards, Guru Patwal Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

Still not what I''m talking about. I''ve taken an image and have uploaded it with this message. I would like to be able to change all the colors but espically the font color. You are auto selecting a font color (Black) which is impossible to see on a dark blue background. Thanks Patrick GroupBar_6301.zip

[Administrator]

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for the update and also for the screenshot. Please send us the sample that you used for this screenshot, and we will modify it as per your requirements. We appreciate your cooperation.

Regards,
Guru Patwal
Syncfusion, Inc.

[Patrick]

It was the same sample you sent to me from the previous post.

Thanks

Patrick