toolstrip container backcolor and gradients - I want it to look like outlook 2003!

[Kevin]

Having moved to .net 2.0 I love the new ToolStripContainer, however it
is causing me some issues with colours in the rest of my application.

With visual styles enabled the ToolStripPanel is a blue gradient, from
light blue on the right, to a darker blue on the left.

I would really like the content panel of the ToolStripContainer to
match this colour scheme. I can change the back colour to a light
blue, but not with a gradient. I have used InactiveCaptionText
however this is too light, but is the closest I can get to the lighter
blue using the system colours.

How can I change it? I know I can use a custom colour, but then if it
is run on a system with a different colour scheme it will look
strange, which is why i would like to stick with system colours.

Incidentally I notice that outlook 2003 uses a solid colour, however
that colour does match the lighter of the two blues. This makes me
think that a gradient isnt possible, but somehow you can select the
lighter of the two colours.

Hope this all makes sense, any enlightenment will be greatfully
received!

 

[Brian Sokolnicki]

It think this is what your looking for. I have attached code below. Chang
the code to use system colors.

#region Using directives

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

using System.ComponentModel;
using System.ComponentModel.Design;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Reflection;

#endregion

namespace MicroTek.RMS.CustomUserControl
{
public class FormHeaderTitleStrip : ToolStrip
{
private FormHeaderTitleStripRenderer _renderer;

public FormHeaderTitleStrip()
{
// Set defaults
this.GripStyle = ToolStripGripStyle.Hidden;

// Set renderer
this._renderer = new FormHeaderTitleStripRenderer();

// Look for headerText
this.Renderer = this._renderer;
}
}

#region Custom ToolStrip Renderer
internal class FormHeaderTitleStripRenderer :
ToolStripProfessionalRenderer
{
public FormHeaderTitleStripRenderer()
: base(new FormHeaderTitleColorTable())
{
this.RoundedEdges = false;
}

protected override void OnRenderToolStripBorder(ToolStripRenderEventArgs
e)
{
base.OnRenderToolStripBorder(e);
}
}

internal class FormHeaderTitleColorTable :
System.Windows.Forms.ProfessionalColorTable
{

public override Color ToolStripGradientBegin
{
get
{
return Color.FromArgb(114, 136, 172);
}
}

public override Color ToolStripGradientMiddle
{
get
{
return Color.FromArgb(114, 136, 172);
}
}

public override Color ToolStripGradientEnd
{
get
{
return Color.FromArgb(114, 136, 172);
}
}

public override Color ToolStripBorder
{
get
{
return Color.Black;
}
}

}

#endregion
}

 

[Kevin]

Thanks for your reply Brian, but I'm not sure this is what I am after.
Your code seems to create a toolstrip with a custom gradient (or in
your case, a solid colour), but i want my panel to have the same
gradient as the toolstrip panel.

However, it has opened my eyes to the ProfessionalColorTable class, so
I will investigate that.

Thanks
Kevin

 

[Kevin]

ok, I have discovered the ProfessionalColor class.

If I set the back color of my control to be
ProfessionalColors.RaftingContainerGradientEnd at runtime it sets it
to the correct colour.

Interestingly though I cant choose this colour at design time. Does
anyone know why?
Also if I change my theme whilst my program is running all the
toolbars etc on my program change to the correct colour but my
usercontrol remains the old colour. Obviously this is a very minor
thing, but is there something else I should be doing? I cant bind to
it because it says that ProfessionalColor is a type and cannot be used
in an expression.

Thanks for your help
Kevin