Xceed Docking Windows for WinForms v2.3 Documentation
How to create a custom border

Welcome to Xceed Docking Windows for WinForms v2.3 > Task-Based Help > How to create a custom border

Each ToolWindow has a fixed 1-pixel border whose color can be changed via the BorderColor property. If the BorderColor property is set to Transparent or Empty then the tool window will not have its default 1-pixel border.

In order to change the width of the border surrounding a tool window, the following steps are required:

  1. Add a panel to the tool-window and sets its Dock property to DockStyle.Fill.
  2. Set the tool-window's DockPadding property to the desired border width.
  3. Change the border color to the tool-window to Color.Empty.
  4. Change the background color of the tool window to the desired border color.
  5. Change the background color of the panel to the desired tool window color.

The following example demonstrates how to create a tool window that has a 5-pixel light blue border.

VB.NET
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Imports System

Imports System.Collections

Imports System.ComponentModel

Imports System.Drawing

Imports System.Data

Imports System.Windows.Forms 

Namespace Xceed.DockingWindows.Samples

  Public Class ToolWindowBorder

    Inherits Xceed.DockingWindows.ToolWindow

    Private components As System.ComponentModel.Container = Nothing

    Public Sub New( key As String, text As String, borderColor As Color )

      InitializeComponent()

      Me.Key = key

      Me.Text = text

      Me.BackColor = borderColor

      Me.BorderColor = Color.Empty

      Me.DockPadding.All = 5

      Dim panel As New Panel()

      panel.BackColor = SystemColors.Control

      panel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill

      Me.Controls.Add( panel )

    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Overloads Sub Dispose( disposing As Boolean )

      If disposing Then

        If Not components Is Nothing Then

          components.Dispose()

        End If

      End If

      MyBase.Dispose( disposing )

    End Sub

    Private Sub InitializeComponent()

      Me.Name = "ToolWindowBorder"

      Me.Size = New System.Drawing.Size(296, 328)

    End Sub

  End Class

End Namespace
C#
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using System;
using System.Collections;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Data;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Xceed.DockingWindows.Samples
{
  public class ToolWindowBorder : Xceed.DockingWindows.ToolWindow
  {
    private System.ComponentModel.Container components = null;

    public ToolWindowBorder( string key, string text, Color borderColor )
    {
      InitializeComponent();

      this.Key = key;
      this.Text = text;
      this.BackColor = borderColor;
      this.BorderColor = Color.Empty;
      this.DockPadding.All = 5;

      Panel panel = new Panel();
      panel.BackColor = SystemColors.Control;
      panel.Dock = DockStyle.Fill;

      this.Controls.Add( panel );
    }

     protected override void Dispose( bool disposing )
     {
       if( disposing )
       {
         if(components != null)
         {
           components.Dispose();
         }
       }
       base.Dispose( disposing );
     }

     private void InitializeComponent()
     {
       this.Name = "ToolWindowBorder";
       this.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(296, 328);
     }
   }
}

 

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