Custom Form Border Style....

Question

Hi., 

I am new to VB.Net...

I have created a app... and I am searching for custom form border style.... with minimize and close button ....  

is it possible ? if yes then how..?

 please help

Answer 1

Hi,

 To make a custom border you can set the Forms BorderStyle to None and then use the Forms Paint event to draw your own border. You could do that using some of the Graphics methods or using the ControlPaint.DrawBorder method. You can check them out at the links below. Also, if you set the Forms BorderStyle to None and you want to still be able to move or resize the form then you can check out the (Float a Borderless Form On Desktop) link below. As for the buttons, you can ether use standard Buttons and position them in the location you want but, you would need to use the forms SizeChanged event to re-position them as the form it resized, or the second way would be to draw the buttons in the Forms Paint event but, that may get a little more involved to be able to tell when one is clicked or the mouse is hovered over it.

 In short, its not a real simple task if your not familiar with VB.Net programing and the Graphics class methods. It can be done though.

Graphics Class

ControlPaint.DrawBorder Method

Float a borderless form on desktop 

 You could also do some searches at the top of the forum in the Search box for Making Custom Forms or try some other key words and you may find an example in one of them that comes close to what you want.   :)

Answer 2

Here is an example of making the form as borderless, drawing the border, and being able to resize or move the form also. You can create a new Form project and add 2 buttons to the form. Then copy this code. You can experiment with it to get a feel for what i was saying in my first post.

Public Class Form1
    Private Const WM_NCHITTEST As Integer = &H84
    Private Const WM_MOUSEMOVE As Integer = &H200
    Private Const WM_LBUTTONDOWN As Integer = &H201
    Private Const WM_LBUTTONUP As Integer = &H202
    Private Const MK_LBUTTON As Integer = &H1
    Private Const HTLEFT As Integer = &HA
    Private Const HTRIGHT As Integer = &HB
    Private Const HTTOP As Integer = &HC
    Private Const HTTOPLEFT As Integer = &HD
    Private Const HTTOPRIGHT As Integer = &HE
    Private Const HTBOTTOM As Integer = &HF
    Private Const HTBOTTOMLEFT As Integer = &H10
    Private Const HTBOTTOMRIGHT As Integer = &H11
    Private OffSet As Point = Point.Empty

    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        Me.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None
        Button1.Size = New Size(23, 23)
        Button2.Size = New Size(23, 23)
        Button1.Font = New Font(Button1.Font, FontStyle.Bold)
        Button2.Font = New Font(Button2.Font, FontStyle.Bold)
        Button1.Text = "_"
        Button2.Text = "X"
        Button2.Location = New Point(Me.Width - Button2.Width - 3, 3)
        Button1.Location = New Point(Me.Width - Button2.Width - Button1.Width - 6, 3)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_Paint(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs) Handles Me.Paint
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(Brushes.Blue, 0, 0, Me.Width, 30)
        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(Pens.Red, 0, 0, Me.Width - 1, 29)
        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(Pens.Red, 0, 0, Me.Width - 1, Me.Height - 1)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized
    End Sub

    Private Sub Button2_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button2.Click
        Me.Close()
    End Sub

    Protected Overrides Sub WndProc(ByRef m As Message)
        If m.Msg = WM_NCHITTEST Then
            Dim loc As New Point(m.LParam.ToInt32 And &HFFFF, m.LParam.ToInt32 >> 16)
            loc = PointToClient(loc)
            Dim bTop As Boolean = (loc.Y < ClientRectangle.Y + 4)
            Dim bLeft As Boolean = (loc.X < ClientRectangle.X + 4)
            Dim bRight As Boolean = (loc.X > Width - 4)
            Dim bBottom As Boolean = (loc.Y > Height - 4)
            If bTop And bLeft Then
                m.Result = CType(HTTOPLEFT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bTop And bRight Then
                m.Result = CType(HTTOPRIGHT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bBottom And bLeft Then
                m.Result = CType(HTBOTTOMLEFT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bBottom And bRight Then
                m.Result = CType(HTBOTTOMRIGHT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bLeft Then
                m.Result = CType(HTLEFT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bTop Then
                m.Result = CType(HTTOP, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bRight Then
                m.Result = CType(HTRIGHT, IntPtr)
                Return
            ElseIf bBottom Then
                m.Result = CType(HTBOTTOM, IntPtr)
                Return
            End If
        ElseIf m.Msg = WM_LBUTTONDOWN Then
            OffSet = New Point(MousePosition.X - Me.Location.X, MousePosition.Y - Me.Location.Y)
        ElseIf m.Msg = WM_MOUSEMOVE AndAlso m.WParam.ToInt32 = MK_LBUTTON Then
            Me.Location = New Point(MousePosition.X - OffSet.X, MousePosition.Y - OffSet.Y)
        End If
        MyBase.WndProc(m)
    End Sub

    Private Sub Form1_SizeChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.SizeChanged
        Button2.Location = New Point(Me.Width - Button2.Width - 3, 3)
        Button1.Location = New Point(Me.Width - Button2.Width - Button1.Width - 6, 3)
        Me.Refresh()
    End Sub
End Class

Answer 3

CodePlex - Drawing Custom Borders in Windows Forms

Code Project - Winforms SkinFramework

I found a link at Code Project the other day I believe that allowed increasing the titlebar or captionbar (top border) of a Forms height while maintaining the aero glass transparency affect of that area of a form but can not find it now. :( I don't know if either of the above links do that.

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La vida loca