Description:
I see a lot of beautiful skins on your web site, but these skins are not available in the LookAndFeel property of your controls. How can I install these skins?
Answer:
Actually all skins are installed along with our installation. They are located in the DevExpress.Utils.vX.Y , DevExpress.BonusSkins and DevExpress.OfficeSkins assemblies. (the <DevExpress>\Components\Sources\DevExpress.DLL\ folder). Starting with version 11.2, Office Skins are moved to the Devexpress.Utils library. Please refer to Ray's blog that describes this change: WinForms Metro - How It Made Us Re-Think Our WinForms Application Skin Delivery Model. If you are using this version or later, you do not need to register Office Skins.
To make bonus and office skins available in your application, do the following:
- Add the DevExpress.BonusSkins (and DevExpress.OfficeSkins if you are using an old version of our components) library to the project's References section. You may need to close and reopen the project to see the new skins in the Properties grid.
- To change the currently applied skin for a particular control, change its LookAndFeel.SkinName property. To change the skin applied to the entire application, use the DefaultLookAndFeel component which can be found on VS Toolbox.
- Finally, you need to register these libraries to make them available at runtime. To do this, call the static Register method of the BonusSkins and OfficeSkins classes, which reside within the DevExpress.UserSkins namespace. For example:
[Program.cs]
C#[STAThread]
static void Main() {
DevExpress.UserSkins.OfficeSkins.Register();
DevExpress.UserSkins.BonusSkins.Register();
Application.EnableVisualStyles();
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(false);
Application.Run(new Form1());
}
[Program.vb]
Visual BasicNamespace WindowsApplication1SkinTest
Friend Class Program
''' <summary>
''' The main entry point for the application.
''' </summary>
Private Sub New()
End Sub
<STAThread> _
Shared Sub Main()
DevExpress.UserSkins.OfficeSkins.Register()
DevExpress.UserSkins.BonusSkins.Register()
Application.EnableVisualStyles()
Application.SetCompatibleTextRenderingDefault(False)
Application.Run(New Form1())
End Sub
End Class
End Namespace
For more information, please see the following help topics:
- Custom Skin Registration
- How to: Use a Skin from an External Skin Library
Attached is a video illustrating these steps.
Please note, that in version 11.2, we have removed the OfficeSkins Library. Please refer to Ray's blog that describes this change: WinForms Metro - How It Made Us Re-Think Our WinForms Application Skin Delivery Model.
See Also:
K18330
Where is the video?
Hi Michael,
Please accept our apologies for missing a video file. I have recorded the corresponding video and attached it to Dimitros' post.