How to apply VCL Style to Delphi Open Dialog, Save Dialog, Print Dialog, Font Dialog, Menus and TTaskDialog ?

-
We can apply styles to a Delphi Application by using provided VCL styles from Project -> Options -> Appearance -> Styles option. But problem with VCL style is that, it does not support for Menus, Popup Menus, System Menus, TTaskDialog Component and Common Dialogs like Open Dialog, Save Dialog, Print dialog, Font Dialog etc. So whit out above dialogs and menus a Delphi application is not completely VCL style applied.

So here in this blog I will explain how to apply VCL style to Menus, Popup Menus, System Menus, TTaskDialog Component and Common Dialogs like Open Dialog, Save Dialog, Print dialog, Font Dialog etc.

Rodrigo Ruz a Delphi MVP from Chile has provided a solution for that. He has relased ‘VCL Styles Utils’ units and classes for the above purpose. 

VCL Styles Utils
The VCL Styles Utils is a Delphi library which extend the RAD Studio VCL Styles, adding unique features like the support for Classic and New Common dialogs, Task Dialogs, Styling of popup and shell menus, Non client area components and much more.

Download
We can download VCL Styles Utils from folloring GitHub link and install the units on local.


Installation
1. Unzip or checkout the files of the library in a writable folder.

2. Under Tools, Environment Options, Library, add the directory where the VCL Styles Utils library have been installed 
Example : C:\Delphi\Libs\vcl-styles-utils\Common to the Win32 and Win64 library path.

Note : If you want to use the Vcl.Styles.Hooks unit you must also include the Delphi Detours Library files in your lib/search path 
Example : C:\Delphi\Libs\vcl-styles-utils\Common\delphi-detours-library

Features
Works in Delphi XE2-XE8, 10 Seattle, 10.1 Berlin, 10.2 Tokyo, 10.3 Rio.

Now lets check with an example.
Here I have created a sample Delphi application having single form with common controls like Button, Edit, CheckBox, RadioButton and Menus.  And on some Buttons click I am also opening Open dialog, save Dialog, Print dialog and others. I have applied VCL style to my application by writing following code in Dpr file.

program Project1;
uses
  Vcl.Forms,
  Unit1 in 'Unit1.pas' {Form1},
  Vcl.Themes,
  Vcl.Styles;
{$R *.res}
begin
  Application.Initialize;
  Application.MainFormOnTaskbar := True;
  TStyleManager.TrySetStyle('Amethyst Kamri');  //applies VCL style//
  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
  Application.Run;
end.


Here you can see that style is applied to above form in my application but when I clicked on menus or  buttons to open required dialogs, I found that style is not applied to those dialogs and menus.

unit Unit1;
interface
uses
  Winapi.Windows, Winapi.Messages, System.SysUtils, System.Variants, System.Classes, Vcl.Graphics,
  Vcl.Controls, Vcl.Forms, Vcl.Dialogs, Vcl.StdCtrls, Vcl.Samples.Spin,
  Vcl.ComCtrls, Vcl.ExtCtrls, Vcl.Menus,
  Vcl.Styles.DateTimePickers, Vcl.StdActns, Vcl.ExtActns, System.Actions,
  Vcl.ActnList, Vcl.PlatformDefaultStyleActnCtrls, Vcl.ActnMan, Vcl.ActnMenus,
  Vcl.ToolWin, Vcl.ActnCtrls;

type
  TForm1 = class(TForm)
    Button1: TButton;
    Button2: TButton;
    Button3: TButton;
    Button4: TButton;
    Button5: TButton;
    Button6: TButton;
    Edit1: TEdit;
    ComboBox1: TComboBox;
    Button7: TButton;
    CheckBox1: TCheckBox;
    RadioButton1: TRadioButton;
    RadioGroup1: TRadioGroup;
    ProgressBar1: TProgressBar;
    SpinEdit1: TSpinEdit;
    MainMenu1: TMainMenu;
    FILE1: TMenuItem;
    NEW1: TMenuItem;
    SAVE1: TMenuItem;
    CLOSE1: TMenuItem;
    EDIT2: TMenuItem;
    COPY1: TMenuItem;
    PASTE1: TMenuItem;
    PopupMenu1: TPopupMenu;
    POP11: TMenuItem;
    POP21: TMenuItem;
    POP31: TMenuItem;
    DateTimePicker1: TDateTimePicker;
    MonthCalendar1: TMonthCalendar;
    ActionManager1: TActionManager;
    EditCut1: TEditCut;
    EditCopy1: TEditCopy;
    EditPaste1: TEditPaste;
    HelpContents1: THelpContents;
    HelpTopicSearch1: THelpTopicSearch;
    HelpOnHelp1: THelpOnHelp;
    FileOpen1: TFileOpen;
    FileOpenWith1: TFileOpenWith;
    FileSaveAs1: TFileSaveAs;
    FilePrintSetup1: TFilePrintSetup;
    FilePageSetup1: TFilePageSetup;
    FileRun1: TFileRun;
    FileExit1: TFileExit;
    ActionToolBar1: TActionToolBar;
    ActionMainMenuBar1: TActionMainMenuBar;
    procedure Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button3Click(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button4Click(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button5Click(Sender: TObject);
    procedure Button6Click(Sender: TObject);
  private
    { Private declarations }
  public
    { Public declarations }
  end;

var
  Form1: TForm1;

implementation

{$R *.dfm}

procedure TForm1.Button1Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TOpenDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();
end;

procedure TForm1.Button2Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TSaveDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();

end;

procedure TForm1.Button3Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TPrintDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();

end;

procedure TForm1.Button4Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TFontDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();

end;

procedure TForm1.Button5Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TColorDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();

end;

procedure TForm1.Button6Click(Sender: TObject);
begin
  with TFindDialog.Create(self) do
    Execute();
end;

end.

Lets see..

Style is not applied to main menu items.


Style is not applied to PopUp menu items.


Style is not applied to System menu


Style is not applied to Open Dialog


Style is not applied to Save Dialog


Style is not applied to Print Dialog


Style is not applied to Font Dialog


Style is not applied to Color Dialog


Style is not applied to find Dialog


Style is not applied to TTaskdialog component


Solution - Apply 'VCL Style Utils'

So to apply ‘VCL Style Utils’ in a Delphi project we need to add the following ‘VCL Style Utils’units to a Delphi Project file i.e in .dpr file.

  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Graphics ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Menus ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Forms ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.StdCtrls ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.ComCtrls ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.ScreenTips ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.SysControls,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.SysStyleHook;

like as follow

program Project1;
uses
  Vcl.Forms,
  Unit1 in 'Unit1.pas' {Form1},
  Vcl.Themes,
  Vcl.Styles,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Graphics ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Menus ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.Forms ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.StdCtrls ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.ComCtrls ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.ScreenTips ,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.SysControls,
  Vcl.Styles.Utils.SysStyleHook;
{$R *.res}
begin
  Application.Initialize;
  Application.MainFormOnTaskbar := True;
  TStyleManager.TrySetStyle('Amethyst Kamri');  //applies VCL style//
  Application.CreateForm(TForm1, Form1);
  Application.Run;
end.

And after added the unit for Delphi project file and now we can see VCL Style is applied to Dialogs, Menus and TTaskDialog components also.

Style is applied to Main Menu items


Style is applied to Popup Menu items


Style is applied to System Menu items


Style is applied to Open dialog.


Style is applied to Save dialog.


Style is applied to Print dialog.


Style is applied to Font dialog.


Style is applied to Color dialog.


Style is applied to Find dialog.


Style is applied to TTaskdialog dialog.



Comments

  1. EmZeeSeptember 1, 2020 at 4:50 AM

    Thanks! Was looking for something like this and appreciate your sharing!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MS Excel Automation in Delphi

-
In this blog I will describe how to read and write data from and to an Excel file. Sometime in our application we use Excel for reporting purpose, for data import / export purpose and for other works. So here I will explain how to access an Excel file and use for data read / write. For this Excel 2003 or later should have installed in our system. First use Excel2000 unit to uses clause. This unit comes with Delphi installation it self. You can get the unit in installed path C:\Program Files (x86)\Embarcadero\RAD Studio\10.0\OCX\Servers Uses    Excel2000; Before proceed I would mention an important word  LCID which is required at most places. So what it LCID? LCID = In Microsoft Excel, the LCID indicates the currency symbol to be used when this is an xlListDataTypeCurrency type.  Returns 0 (which is the Language Neutral LCID) when no locale is set for the data type of the column. We can get LCID in Delphi by using  GetUserDefaultLCID...
Read more

ShellExecute in Delphi

-
ShellExecute in Delphi – Launch external applications. ShellExecute is Delphi Windows API function that is mostly used for launch external applications from our Delphi application. This function is linked to the ShellExecute Windows  API function. The function returns an integer that corresponds to an error code which is very useful when we need to show some status  if the function worked  or not . By using ShellExecute we can also do following operations.... Can print documents from within my program, without explicitly starting the application  that created the document, such as: print a Word-document without starting Word. Can open browser with a local HTML page Can surf to a site i.e. open an external URL link from a Delphi application Can send mails thorugh outlook Syntax of Windows API function HINSTANCE ShellExecute(   _In_opt_        HWND hwnd,   _In_opt_        LPCTSTR lp...
Read more

Drawing Shapes in Delphi

-
Image
Believe me, drawing shapes in Delphi is so easy. To develop a software like CAD, Paint, CorelDraw Delphi provides large number of classes and members that supports to draw shapes on a form or on a graphic control. In Delphi, we draw shapes on canvas of a form or graphic controls. Canvas is an area of form where we can draw shapes, lines and can fill colors on shapes. In Delphi, every form or graphic controls have Canvas property which provides TCanvas object that can be used to draw shapes. TPen object is used to draw lines and we can set size, color of lines. TBrush object is used to set color and style to fill the shapes. Most frequently used classes for drawing shapes are TCanvas , TBitmap, TGraphics, TPen, TBrush TCanvas Use TCanvas as a drawing surface for objects that draw an image of themselves TBitmap   Bitmap is a powerful graphics object used to create, manipulate (scale, scroll, rotate, and paint), and store images in memory and as files on a disk....
Read more