How to make a transparent WinForm like a Vista form in VS2005

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Sample Image - How_to_make_VistaForm.jpg

Introduction

This is article about how to make a transparent form in VS2005 like a Vista form. When I saw the Vista form the very first time, I started thinking about how to make a form like that. I searched a lot of web sites for a good solution, but didn't find an answer. Some guys told me to make a form using three different forms, but I think that is a crazy idea. We could do that, but I don't know how we cold then use it in a dialog model. I tried several ways to implement this form, and the solution I provide here is a good and simple one. I'm not really making the form transparent. The code follows. The most important part is the Graphics.CopyFromScreen method.

Source Code

e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 0)), 
           new Point(0, 0), new Size(this.Width, 23));
e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 0)), 
           new Point(0, 0), new Size(3, this.Height));
e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(this.Width - 4, 0)), 
           new Point(this.Width - 4, 0), new Size(3, this.Height));
e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 
           this.Height - 4)), new Point(0, this.Height - 4), 
           new Size(this.Width, 3));

Key Point

public GlassForm()
{
    InitializeComponent();
    //FocusForm = this;
    base.Padding = new Padding(4, 24, 5, 4);
    //this property is very important to make form repaint
    base.Opacity = 0.99;
    this.FormBorderStyle = FormBorderStyle.None;
    SetStyle(ControlStyles.UserPaint, true);
    SetStyle(ControlStyles.AllPaintingInWmPaint, true);
    SetStyle(ControlStyles.OptimizedDoubleBuffer, true);
    SetStyle(ControlStyles.SupportsTransparentBackColor, true);
    SetStyle(ControlStyles.ResizeRedraw, true);
}
public new double Opacity
//we make a new Opcity property to stop any modify 
//of this property from outside
{
    get
    {
        return 1;
    }
}

protected override void OnPaint(PaintEventArgs e)
{ 
    base.OnPaint(e);
    e.Graphics.Clear(System.Drawing.Color.White);
    e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 0)), 
                              new Point(0, 0), new Size(this.Width, 23));
    e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 0)), 
                              new Point(0, 0), new Size(3, this.Height));
    e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(this.Width - 4, 0)), 
                              new Point(this.Width - 4, 0), 
                              new Size(3, this.Height));
    e.Graphics.CopyFromScreen(this.PointToScreen(new Point(0, 
                              this.Height - 4)), 
                              new Point(0, this.Height - 4), 
                              new Size(this.Width, 3));
    if (FocusForm==this)
    {
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(
                   this.ColorSetting.ActiveHeaderColor),
        new Rectangle(new Point(0, 0), this.Size));
    }
    else
    {
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(
                   this.ColorSetting.HeaderColor),
        new Rectangle(new Point(0, 0), this.Size));
    }

    //.HighQuality;
    e.Graphics.SmoothingMode = 
         System.Drawing.Drawing2D.SmoothingMode.HighSpeed;
    System.Drawing.Drawing2D.GraphicsPath path = 
           new System.Drawing.Drawing2D.GraphicsPath();

    path.AddLine(2, 0, this.Width - 4, 0);
    path.AddLine(this.Width - 4, 0, this.Width - 2, 2);
    path.AddLine(this.Width - 2, 2, this.Width - 2, this.Height - 4);
    path.AddLine(this.Width - 2, this.Height - 4, 
                 this.Width - 4, this.Height - 2);
    path.AddLine(this.Width - 4, this.Height - 2, 2, this.Height - 2);
    path.AddLine(2, this.Height - 2, 0, this.Height - 4);
    path.AddLine(0, this.Height - 4, 0, 2);
    path.AddLine(0, 2, 2, 0);

    System.Drawing.Drawing2D.GraphicsPath pathFrame = 
         new System.Drawing.Drawing2D.GraphicsPath();

    pathFrame.AddLine(2, 0, this.Width - 3, 0);
    pathFrame.AddLine(this.Width - 3, 0, this.Width - 1, 2);
    pathFrame.AddLine(this.Width - 1, 2, this.Width - 1, this.Height - 3);
    pathFrame.AddLine(this.Width - 1, this.Height - 4, 
                      this.Width - 4, this.Height - 1);
    pathFrame.AddLine(this.Width - 4, this.Height - 1, 2, this.Height - 1);
    pathFrame.AddLine(2, this.Height - 1, 0, this.Height - 4);
    pathFrame.AddLine(0, this.Height - 4, 0, 2);
    pathFrame.AddLine(0, 2, 2, 0);

    this.Region = new Region(pathFrame);
    //e.Graphics.FillPath(new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(30,
    //                    this.HeaderColor)), pathFrame);
    this.BackColor = this.ColorSetting.BackColor;

    if (FocusForm == this)
        e.Graphics.DrawPath(new 
             Pen(this.ColorSetting.ActiveBorderColor), path);
    else
        e.Graphics.DrawPath(new Pen(this.ColorSetting.BorderColor), path);
    Rectangle clientRegion = new Rectangle(3, 23, 
                             this.Width - 8, this.Height - 28);
    e.Graphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(
               this.ColorSetting.BackColor), clientRegion);

    if (FocusForm == this)
        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(new 
            Pen(this.ColorSetting.ActiveBorderColor), clientRegion);
    else
        e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(new 
            Pen(this.ColorSetting.BorderColor), clientRegion);
    if(this.BackgroundImage!=null)
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.BackgroundImage, clientRegion);
    if(this.Icon!=null)
        e.Graphics.DrawIcon(this.Icon, new Rectangle(3, 3, 16, 16));

    Font f = new Font("ArialBlack", (float)9,FontStyle.Bold);
    e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Text, f, Brushes.White, 21, 3);
    e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Text, f, Brushes.White, 23, 3);
    e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Text, f, Brushes.White, 22, 2);
    e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Text, f, Brushes.White, 22, 4);
    e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Text, f, Brushes.Black, 22, 3);

    if (this.IsMinOn)
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.MinHigh,
            this.MinRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
    else
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.Min,
            this.MinRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
    if (this.IsCloseOn)
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.CloseHigh,
            this.CloseRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
    else
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.Close,
            this.CloseRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
    if (this.IsMaxOn)
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.MaxHigh,
            this.MaxRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
    else
    {
        e.Graphics.DrawImage(
            global::Sayes.Controls.Vista.Properties.Resources.Max,
            this.MaxRegion.GetBounds(e.Graphics));
    }
}