How do I create a custom form in vb.net?

Question

1.00/5 (1 vote)

See more:

I want to be able to make a form with a custom title bar (translucent) and that is resizable. How would I do this in vb.net?
I do not want external libraries/dlls.

Posted 13-Mar-15 18:23pm

iProgramIt

Add a Solution

Comments

Brady Kelly 14-Mar-15 1:17am

Have you even tried anything at all for yourself? It doesn't look like it, because as soon as you create a new Windows Forms Application in VB.NET, Visual Studio already adds a form for you.

iProgramIt 14-Mar-15 1:33am

Bloody hell, yes I have. I would like a new custom form!

Brady Kelly 14-Mar-15 1:38am

So you seem to have a very rudimentary understanding of how Visual Studio even works. Just right-click your project in Solution Explorer, and choose Add->Windows Form.

iProgramIt 14-Mar-15 1:48am

Excuse me?! I understand some of the most awkward spaces in .NET! I know how to make a form. The matter is I want to make a custom form, custom title bar and custom resize operations!

Brady Kelly 14-Mar-15 2:13am

OK, sorry. We may have a difference in OS/terminology. When I add a new form in VB.NET, it already has the translucent title bar I'm used to in Windows 7. For custom resize operations the normal avenue is to handle the form's Resize events, or one of several properties relating to sizing on the form. These are basically all there are, unless you want to get down and dirty, but maybe if you enhance your question a bit, and state what you mean by "translucent" and how that differs from standard translucent, and what you need with custom resize operations.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Mar-15 5:50am

It is not "translucent". First of all, it is style-neutral. If the Aero style is chosen, its characteristic effects are applied, if not, it looks different, if high-performance feature set is chosen, it works exactly as in Windows NT. And this is not just translucent in Aero, it has pretty complex fuzzy conversion of the underneath background.

So, custom title bar is possible. It is called "non-client area". The solution is known.
It does not make the question very reasonable anyway. This could not be called "custom form" (who would need "non-custom forms", ever?) and makes little practical sense.

But answered anyway. Please see Solution 1.

—SA

Brady Kelly 14-Mar-15 5:56am

Yes, thank you Sergey. I knew there were complications, just not exactly where; but I did use "that I'm used to in Windows 7", vs. everything possible in Windows 7. Was an attempt to get the OP to give a better explanation of what he wanted overall.

1 solution

Add a Solution

Add your solution here

Treat my content as plain text, not as HTML

Preview 0

…

Existing Members

Sign in to your account

...or Join us

Download, Vote, Comment, Publish.

Your Email
Password
Forgot your password?

Your Email
This email is in use. Do you need your password?
Optional Password

I have read and agree to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy
Please subscribe me to the CodeProject newsletters

When answering a question please:

Read the question carefully.
Understand that English isn't everyone's first language so be lenient of bad spelling and grammar.
If a question is poorly phrased then either ask for clarification, ignore it, or edit the question and fix the problem. Insults are not welcome.
Don't tell someone to read the manual. Chances are they have and don't get it. Provide an answer or move on to the next question.

Let's work to help developers, not make them feel stupid.

This content, along with any associated source code and files, is licensed under The Code Project Open License (CPOL)

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov · Answer 1 · 2015-03-13T23:52:00

Solution 1

First of all, please see my comment to the question.

See these CodeProject articles on the topic:
Winforms SkinFramework[^],
WinForms Form Skin[^],
Vista Aero ToolStrip on Non-Client Area[^],
Painting Vista's Aero NonClientArea in VB.NET[^].

—SA

Posted 13-Mar-15 23:52pm

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov

Comments

iProgramIt 14-Mar-15 18:12pm

Thank you. Extending client area in Win7 doesn't work for me.

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Mar-15 18:43pm

Who told you anything about "extending client area" (what would it mean?)?
I doubt you understand what you are talking about, is looks like that.
—SA

iProgramIt 14-Mar-15 18:44pm

I know what I am talking about. Do not be insolent towards me

Sergey Alexandrovich Kryukov 14-Mar-15 18:45pm

Sorry if I'm mistaken, as I say, this just "looks like that". If you do, can you explain it?
—SA