Adding buttons to the form's title bar

[Picho]

Hi all,

Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage) to add button(s) to a
form's title bar?

I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work in VB6 but not in the
..NET forms...

I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by the form is only the
client area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.

Since my application is MDI parent and children (even though i would love a
generic solution), I also tried something silly that worked: adding a button
member to the form (actually a derived class of form), and in the
constructor, adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols property. after doing so,
all that is left is controling the button's position accurding to the form
position and size. since the button is located on the MDIParent it has a
"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor drawn on top of it.
Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons of un-focused forms
because otherwise they all appear on top of every other element. the second
problem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus when moving a
minimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if to show or hide the
button) and drawing the button when maximized - this seems all and all
impossible to do - no way to place even that "super-button" on top of the
maximized title bar.

any help would be great,

Picho.

here's my solution.... I think it does everything you
described in your posting but one thing... If the user
changes the skin... your app will still show the normal
title bar. If this is okay... read on.

This idea can be wrapped up in a new form class so that
you can use it for the MDI or MDIChild forms.

1) create a normal form in the designer
2) remove its Maximize, minimize, controlBox and title
text. This will result in a form without a titlebar.
3) set its border style to sizeable.
4) add 2 picture boxes; pbtitlebar and pbIcon
5) set the dock property of the pbtitlebar to "top".
6) set the image property of the pbtitlebar to a bitmap
of the solid part of the title bar of a typical window.
7) make sure that the height of pbtitlebar is exactly the
same as the bitmap. Set the SizeMode to StretchImage
(this will cause some pixelation.. to avoid that you can
create a very long title bar for the largest screen you
can imagine... alternatively set the SizeMode to
StrechImage if the width of the pbtitlebar get longer
that 21 inch or whatever).
8) set the image of the pbicon to your application icon
and locate it in the upper left corner of the window.
Make sure to "Bring" it "to front";
9) run your program and resize the form... it clearly
behaves as though you have a title bar with an icon ,
but no text or minimum/maximum/close button.
10) create your buttons and position them on the
new "Title bar";
11) in the paint event of the pbTitleBar, write
instructions to locate the buttons programatically
correctly... i.e.

this.btnClose.l eft = pbtitlebar.righ t -
this.btnClose.w idth - 5;
this.btnMax.lef t = this.btnClose.l eft -
this.btnMax.wid th - 5;
etc;

12) add the button click handlers
13) After the click for each button make sure that the
focus is transferred to a control on the form.
14) you can simulate the active/inactive windows by
changing the image of the picture boxes (dark blue for
active and faint blue for inactive.
15) you can also program the drag event of the pbtitlebar
to help moving the windows around on the screen.
16) you can get the window's title written to the
pbTitleBar by something like this:

private void ShowTitle()
{
System.Drawing. Graphics g =
this.pbTitleBar .CreateGraphics ();
System.Drawing. Font font = new System.Drawing. Font
("Times New Roman", 12);
System.Drawing. PointF pos = new System.Drawing. PointF
(this.pictureBo x2.Width + 5, this.pictureBox 2.Top );
System.Drawing. Brush brush = new
System.Drawing. SolidBrush(Syst em.Drawing.Colo r.White);

g.DrawString ("windows title", font, brush, pos);

}

You need to call ShowTitle in the form_paint and
pbTitleBar_Pain t.

let me know if you have any problems with this.

good luck
Nasser.

-----Original Message-----
Hi all,

Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage) to add button(s) to aform's title bar?

I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work in VB6 but not in the..NET forms...

I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by the form is only theclient area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.

Since my application is MDI parent and children (even though i would love ageneric solution), I also tried something silly that worked: adding a buttonmember to the form (actually a derived class of form), and in theconstructor, adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols property. after doing so,all that is left is controling the button's position accurding to the formposition and size. since the button is located on the MDIParent it has a"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor drawn on top of it.Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons of un-focused formsbecause otherwise they all appear on top of every other element. the secondproblem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus when moving aminimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if to show or hide thebutton) and drawing the button when maximized - this seems all and allimpossible to do - no way to place even that "super- button" on top of themaximized title bar.

any help would be great,

Picho.
.

[Nasser]

After posting, I realized that the skin is not the major
problem. Positioning the menu just under the "Title bar"
seems to be a more difficult problem to which I have no
solution. This is because a "main Menu" is NOT a
control!!

sorry!

Nasser

-----Original Message-----
here's my solution.... I think it does everything you
described in your posting but one thing... If the user
changes the skin... your app will still show the normal
title bar. If this is okay... read on.

This idea can be wrapped up in a new form class so that
you can use it for the MDI or MDIChild forms.

1) create a normal form in the designer
2) remove its Maximize, minimize, controlBox and title
text. This will result in a form without a titlebar.
3) set its border style to sizeable.
4) add 2 picture boxes; pbtitlebar and pbIcon
5) set the dock property of the pbtitlebar to "top".
6) set the image property of the pbtitlebar to a bitmap
of the solid part of the title bar of a typical window.
7) make sure that the height of pbtitlebar is exactly thesame as the bitmap. Set the SizeMode to StretchImage
(this will cause some pixelation.. to avoid that you can
create a very long title bar for the largest screen you
can imagine... alternatively set the SizeMode to
StrechImage if the width of the pbtitlebar get longer
that 21 inch or whatever).
8) set the image of the pbicon to your application icon
and locate it in the upper left corner of the window.
Make sure to "Bring" it "to front";
9) run your program and resize the form... it clearly
behaves as though you have a title bar with an icon ,
but no text or minimum/maximum/close button.
10) create your buttons and position them on the
new "Title bar";
11) in the paint event of the pbTitleBar, write
instructions to locate the buttons programatically
correctly... i.e.

this.btnClose.l eft = pbtitlebar.righ t -
this.btnClose. width - 5;
this.btnMax.lef t = this.btnClose.l eft -
this.btnMax.wi dth - 5;
etc;

12) add the button click handlers
13) After the click for each button make sure that the
focus is transferred to a control on the form.
14) you can simulate the active/inactive windows by
changing the image of the picture boxes (dark blue for
active and faint blue for inactive.
15) you can also program the drag event of the pbtitlebarto help moving the windows around on the screen.
16) you can get the window's title written to the
pbTitleBar by something like this:

private void ShowTitle()
{
System.Drawing. Graphics g =
this.pbTitleBa r.CreateGraphic s();
System.Drawing. Font font = new System.Drawing. Font
("Times New Roman", 12);
System.Drawing. PointF pos = new System.Drawing. PointF
(this.pictureB ox2.Width + 5, this.pictureBox 2.Top );
System.Drawing. Brush brush = new
System.Drawing .SolidBrush(Sys tem.Drawing.Col or.White);

g.DrawString ("windows title", font, brush, pos);

}

You need to call ShowTitle in the form_paint and
pbTitleBar_Pai nt.

let me know if you have any problems with this.

good luck
Nasser.

-----Original Message-----
Hi all,

Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage)to add button(s) to a

form's title bar?

I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work

in VB6 but not in the

..NET forms...

I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by

theform is only the

client area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.

Since my application is MDI parent and children (even

though i would love a

generic solution), I also tried something silly that

worked: adding a button

member to the form (actually a derived class of form),

and in the

constructor , adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols

property. after doing so,

all that is left is controling the button's position

accurding to the form

position and size. since the button is located on the

MDIParent it has a

"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor

drawn on top of it.

Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons

of un-focused forms

because otherwise they all appear on top of every other

element. the second

problem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus

when moving a

minimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if

to show or hide the

button) and drawing the button when maximized - this

seems all and all

impossible to do - no way to place even that "super-

button" on top of the

maximized title bar.

any help would be great,

Picho.
.

.

[Picho]

Thanx anyway!!
Nasser" <an*******@disc ussions.microso ft.com> wrote in message
news:01******** *************** *****@phx.gbl.. .

After posting, I realized that the skin is not the major
problem. Positioning the menu just under the "Title bar"
seems to be a more difficult problem to which I have no
solution. This is because a "main Menu" is NOT a
control!!

sorry!

Nasser

-----Original Message-----
here's my solution.... I think it does everything you
described in your posting but one thing... If the user
changes the skin... your app will still show the normal
title bar. If this is okay... read on.

This idea can be wrapped up in a new form class so that
you can use it for the MDI or MDIChild forms.

1) create a normal form in the designer
2) remove its Maximize, minimize, controlBox and title
text. This will result in a form without a titlebar.
3) set its border style to sizeable.
4) add 2 picture boxes; pbtitlebar and pbIcon
5) set the dock property of the pbtitlebar to "top".
6) set the image property of the pbtitlebar to a bitmap
of the solid part of the title bar of a typical window.
7) make sure that the height of pbtitlebar is exactly

the

same as the bitmap. Set the SizeMode to StretchImage
(this will cause some pixelation.. to avoid that you can
create a very long title bar for the largest screen you
can imagine... alternatively set the SizeMode to
StrechImage if the width of the pbtitlebar get longer
that 21 inch or whatever).
8) set the image of the pbicon to your application icon
and locate it in the upper left corner of the window.
Make sure to "Bring" it "to front";
9) run your program and resize the form... it clearly
behaves as though you have a title bar with an icon ,
but no text or minimum/maximum/close button.
10) create your buttons and position them on the
new "Title bar";
11) in the paint event of the pbTitleBar, write
instructions to locate the buttons programatically
correctly... i.e.

this.btnClose.l eft = pbtitlebar.righ t -
this.btnClose. width - 5;
this.btnMax.lef t = this.btnClose.l eft -
this.btnMax.wi dth - 5;
etc;

12) add the button click handlers
13) After the click for each button make sure that the
focus is transferred to a control on the form.
14) you can simulate the active/inactive windows by
changing the image of the picture boxes (dark blue for
active and faint blue for inactive.
15) you can also program the drag event of the

pbtitlebar

to help moving the windows around on the screen.
16) you can get the window's title written to the
pbTitleBar by something like this:

private void ShowTitle()
{
System.Drawing. Graphics g =
this.pbTitleBa r.CreateGraphic s();
System.Drawing. Font font = new System.Drawing. Font
("Times New Roman", 12);
System.Drawing. PointF pos = new System.Drawing. PointF
(this.pictureB ox2.Width + 5, this.pictureBox 2.Top );
System.Drawing. Brush brush = new
System.Drawing .SolidBrush(Sys tem.Drawing.Col or.White);

g.DrawString ("windows title", font, brush, pos);

}

You need to call ShowTitle in the form_paint and
pbTitleBar_Pai nt.

let me know if you have any problems with this.

good luck
Nasser.

-----Original Message-----
Hi all,

Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage)

to add button(s) to a

form's title bar?

I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work

in VB6 but not in the

..NET forms...

I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by

the

form is only the

client area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.

Since my application is MDI parent and children (even

though i would love a

generic solution), I also tried something silly that

worked: adding a button

member to the form (actually a derived class of form),

and in the

constructor , adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols

property. after doing so,

all that is left is controling the button's position

accurding to the form

position and size. since the button is located on the

MDIParent it has a

"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor

drawn on top of it.

Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons

of un-focused forms

because otherwise they all appear on top of every other

element. the second

problem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus

when moving a

minimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if

to show or hide the

button) and drawing the button when maximized - this

seems all and all

impossible to do - no way to place even that "super-

button" on top of the

maximized title bar.

any help would be great,

Picho.
.

.

[Alvin Bruney]

NC painting goes against windows design guidelines doesn't it.
"Nasser" <an*******@disc ussions.microso ft.com> wrote in message
news:01******** *************** *****@phx.gbl.. .

After posting, I realized that the skin is not the major
problem. Positioning the menu just under the "Title bar"
seems to be a more difficult problem to which I have no
solution. This is because a "main Menu" is NOT a
control!!

sorry!

Nasser

-----Original Message-----
here's my solution.... I think it does everything you
described in your posting but one thing... If the user
changes the skin... your app will still show the normal
title bar. If this is okay... read on.

This idea can be wrapped up in a new form class so that
you can use it for the MDI or MDIChild forms.

1) create a normal form in the designer
2) remove its Maximize, minimize, controlBox and title
text. This will result in a form without a titlebar.
3) set its border style to sizeable.
4) add 2 picture boxes; pbtitlebar and pbIcon
5) set the dock property of the pbtitlebar to "top".
6) set the image property of the pbtitlebar to a bitmap
of the solid part of the title bar of a typical window.
7) make sure that the height of pbtitlebar is exactly

the

same as the bitmap. Set the SizeMode to StretchImage
(this will cause some pixelation.. to avoid that you can
create a very long title bar for the largest screen you
can imagine... alternatively set the SizeMode to
StrechImage if the width of the pbtitlebar get longer
that 21 inch or whatever).
8) set the image of the pbicon to your application icon
and locate it in the upper left corner of the window.
Make sure to "Bring" it "to front";
9) run your program and resize the form... it clearly
behaves as though you have a title bar with an icon ,
but no text or minimum/maximum/close button.
10) create your buttons and position them on the
new "Title bar";
11) in the paint event of the pbTitleBar, write
instructions to locate the buttons programatically
correctly... i.e.

this.btnClose.l eft = pbtitlebar.righ t -
this.btnClose. width - 5;
this.btnMax.lef t = this.btnClose.l eft -
this.btnMax.wi dth - 5;
etc;

12) add the button click handlers
13) After the click for each button make sure that the
focus is transferred to a control on the form.
14) you can simulate the active/inactive windows by
changing the image of the picture boxes (dark blue for
active and faint blue for inactive.
15) you can also program the drag event of the

pbtitlebar

to help moving the windows around on the screen.
16) you can get the window's title written to the
pbTitleBar by something like this:

private void ShowTitle()
{
System.Drawing. Graphics g =
this.pbTitleBa r.CreateGraphic s();
System.Drawing. Font font = new System.Drawing. Font
("Times New Roman", 12);
System.Drawing. PointF pos = new System.Drawing. PointF
(this.pictureB ox2.Width + 5, this.pictureBox 2.Top );
System.Drawing. Brush brush = new
System.Drawing .SolidBrush(Sys tem.Drawing.Col or.White);

g.DrawString ("windows title", font, brush, pos);

}

You need to call ShowTitle in the form_paint and
pbTitleBar_Pai nt.

let me know if you have any problems with this.

good luck
Nasser.

-----Original Message-----
Hi all,

Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage)

to add button(s) to a

form's title bar?

I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work

in VB6 but not in the

..NET forms...

I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by

the

form is only the

client area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.

Since my application is MDI parent and children (even

though i would love a

generic solution), I also tried something silly that

worked: adding a button

member to the form (actually a derived class of form),

and in the

constructor , adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols

property. after doing so,

all that is left is controling the button's position

accurding to the form

position and size. since the button is located on the

MDIParent it has a

"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor

drawn on top of it.

Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons

of un-focused forms

because otherwise they all appear on top of every other

element. the second

problem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus

when moving a

minimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if

to show or hide the

button) and drawing the button when maximized - this

seems all and all

impossible to do - no way to place even that "super-

button" on top of the

maximized title bar.

any help would be great,

Picho.
.

.

[Picho]

What's "NC Painting"?
"Alvin Bruney" <alvin.bruney@. telia..com.> wrote in message
news:Oy******** ******@TK2MSFTN GP10.phx.gbl...

NC painting goes against windows design guidelines doesn't it.
"Nasser" <an*******@disc ussions.microso ft.com> wrote in message
news:01******** *************** *****@phx.gbl.. .

After posting, I realized that the skin is not the major
problem. Positioning the menu just under the "Title bar"
seems to be a more difficult problem to which I have no
solution. This is because a "main Menu" is NOT a
control!!

sorry!

Nasser

-----Original Message-----
here's my solution.... I think it does everything you
described in your posting but one thing... If the user
changes the skin... your app will still show the normal
title bar. If this is okay... read on.

This idea can be wrapped up in a new form class so that
you can use it for the MDI or MDIChild forms.

1) create a normal form in the designer
2) remove its Maximize, minimize, controlBox and title
text. This will result in a form without a titlebar.
3) set its border style to sizeable.
4) add 2 picture boxes; pbtitlebar and pbIcon
5) set the dock property of the pbtitlebar to "top".
6) set the image property of the pbtitlebar to a bitmap
of the solid part of the title bar of a typical window.
7) make sure that the height of pbtitlebar is exactly

the

same as the bitmap. Set the SizeMode to StretchImage
(this will cause some pixelation.. to avoid that you can
create a very long title bar for the largest screen you
can imagine... alternatively set the SizeMode to
StrechImage if the width of the pbtitlebar get longer
that 21 inch or whatever).
8) set the image of the pbicon to your application icon
and locate it in the upper left corner of the window.
Make sure to "Bring" it "to front";
9) run your program and resize the form... it clearly
behaves as though you have a title bar with an icon ,
but no text or minimum/maximum/close button.
10) create your buttons and position them on the
new "Title bar";
11) in the paint event of the pbTitleBar, write
instructions to locate the buttons programatically
correctly... i.e.

this.btnClose.l eft = pbtitlebar.righ t -
this.btnClose. width - 5;
this.btnMax.lef t = this.btnClose.l eft -
this.btnMax.wi dth - 5;
etc;

12) add the button click handlers
13) After the click for each button make sure that the
focus is transferred to a control on the form.
14) you can simulate the active/inactive windows by
changing the image of the picture boxes (dark blue for
active and faint blue for inactive.
15) you can also program the drag event of the

pbtitlebar

to help moving the windows around on the screen.
16) you can get the window's title written to the
pbTitleBar by something like this:

private void ShowTitle()
{
System.Drawing. Graphics g =
this.pbTitleBa r.CreateGraphic s();
System.Drawing. Font font = new System.Drawing. Font
("Times New Roman", 12);
System.Drawing. PointF pos = new System.Drawing. PointF
(this.pictureB ox2.Width + 5, this.pictureBox 2.Top );
System.Drawing. Brush brush = new
System.Drawing .SolidBrush(Sys tem.Drawing.Col or.White);

g.DrawString ("windows title", font, brush, pos);

}

You need to call ShowTitle in the form_paint and
pbTitleBar_Pai nt.

let me know if you have any problems with this.

good luck
Nasser.


>-----Original Message-----
>Hi all,
>
>Is there any .NET way (I am not rulling out API usage)
to add button(s) to a
>form's title bar?
>
>I found some non-.NET solutions that did actually work
in VB6 but not in the
>..NET forms...
>
>I tried painting, but the paintaing area provided by

the

form is only the
>client area - no visible way to paint on the title bar.
>
>Since my application is MDI parent and children (even
though i would love a
>generic solution), I also tried something silly that
worked: adding a button
>member to the form (actually a derived class of form),
and in the
>constructor , adding it to the MDIParent.Contr ols
property. after doing so,
>all that is left is controling the button's position
accurding to the form
>position and size. since the button is located on the
MDIParent it has a
>"Z-Order" which is higher than the form, and therefor
drawn on top of it.
>Only two problems with that: I had to hide the buttons
of un-focused forms
>because otherwise they all appear on top of every other
element. the second
>problem was drawing the button when minimized (no focus
when moving a
>minimized mdi child form - thus, unable to determine if
to show or hide the
>button) and drawing the button when maximized - this
seems all and all
>impossible to do - no way to place even that "super-
button" on top of the
>maximized title bar.
>
>any help would be great,
>
>Picho.
>
>
>.
>
.

[Eric Cadwell]

I wrote a solution for VB6 and I can say that there's no simple way to do
it. The best you can do is override the WndProc method of the form and
listen for NC_PAINT events. Paint your button onto the non-client area. Then
listen for mouse events and respond accordingly.

There wasn't much of a market for this, so I haven't ported my VB6 code to
..NET

HTH;
Eric Cadwell
http://www.origincontrols.com

[Picho]

well this seems the problem....

ho do i paint on non-client area?
"Eric Cadwell" <ec******@ns.in sight.com> wrote in message
news:e8******** ******@tk2msftn gp13.phx.gbl...

I wrote a solution for VB6 and I can say that there's no simple way to do
it. The best you can do is override the WndProc method of the form and
listen for NC_PAINT events. Paint your button onto the non-client area. Then listen for mouse events and respond accordingly.

There wasn't much of a market for this, so I haven't ported my VB6 code to
.NET

HTH;
Eric Cadwell
http://www.origincontrols.com

[Eric Cadwell]

That is WM_NCPAINT events.

[Eric Cadwell]

Try Graphics.FromHd c.

HTH;
Eric Cadwell
http://www.origincontrols.com