Changing App Skin at Runtime

Question

Is it possible to change the skin of a Metro app at runtime? I tried to write two resource dictionaries, put one into App.xaml and tried to load the second one later (after a button click) to "replace" the first one. But I didn't get it to work. Is it the right approach anyway or is it possible in any way to let the user choose between different skins for an app anyway?

Answer 1

I get it to work. Is this way ok?

void SkinChange::MainPage::btn_changeStyle_Click_1(Platform::Object^ sender, Windows::UI::Xaml::RoutedEventArgs^ e)
{
	ResourceDictionary^ dict = ref new ResourceDictionary();

	String^ old = App::Current->Resources->MergedDictionaries->GetAt(1)->Source->AbsoluteUri;
	std::wstring string = old->Data();
	if (string.find(L"MyDict1.xaml") == -1)
	{
		dict->Source = ref new Uri("ms-resource:/Files/MyDict1.xaml");	
	}
	else
	{
		dict->Source = ref new Uri("ms-resource:/Files/MyDict2.xaml");	
	}	

	App::Current->Resources->MergedDictionaries->SetAt(1, dict);
	App::LoadComponent(this, ref new Uri("ms-appx:///MainPage.xaml"), ComponentResourceLocation::Application);
}

Answer 2

Yes, Resource Dictionary is a solution. For more information, you can check these documents.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/windows.ui.xaml.resourcedictionary

ResourceDictionary and StaticResource references (Metro style apps using C#/VB/C++ and XAML)
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/hh968442

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/apps/xaml/hh965329

Best regards,
Jesse

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Jesse Jiang [MSFT]
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