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Converting to v20.1

The 20.1 version made major updates and improvements to themes and types defined in the Shared Library. The goal of this version was to modernize our UI control features/themes, and to make theme customization much easier.

The 'Complete Update Details' section in this topic gives information on the breaking API changes made, such as renamed/removed types/members. The sections before it walk through some selected larger breaking changes in detail.

Theme Name Changes

The old ThemeName enumeration that had all our predefined themes has been marked obsolete and a new static ThemeNames class with constant theme names has been added in its place. The use of string constants is better than prior use of an enumeration, since a ToString call on the values is no longer necessary.

As part of this change, we updated a number of built-in theme names for clarity per the list below:

  • Generic - Removed since the Microsoft operating systems that had non-Metro themes are now all end-of-life. Going forward, the MetroLight theme is the default for all operating systems.
  • Classic - Removed since Windows 10 no longer supports a Classic theme.
  • MetroLightBlue - Renamed to OfficeColorfulBlue.
  • MetroLightCyan - Renamed to OfficeColorfulTeal.
  • MetroLightGreen - Renamed to OfficeColorfulGreen.
  • MetroLightOrange - Renamed to OfficeColorfulOrange.
  • MetroLightPurple - Renamed to OfficeColorfulPurple.
  • MetroLightRed - Renamed to OfficeColorfulRed.
  • MetroLightRoyal - Renamed to OfficeColorfulIndigo.
  • MetroWhiteBlue - Renamed to OfficeWhiteBlue.
  • MetroWhiteCyan - Renamed to OfficeWhiteTeal.
  • MetroWhiteGreen - Renamed to OfficeWhiteGreen.
  • MetroWhiteOrange - Renamed to OfficeWhiteOrange.
  • MetroWhitePurple - Renamed to OfficeWhitePurple.
  • MetroWhiteRed - Renamed to OfficeWhiteRed.
  • MetroWhiteRoyal - Renamed to OfficeWhiteIndigo.
  • OfficeBlack - Renamed the optional old Aero-style Office 2010 black theme to Office2010Black so as not to be confused with modern Office themes. See the "Aero and Office 2010 Theme Updates" section below for notes on using this theme.
  • OfficeBlue - Renamed the optional old Aero-style Office 2010 blue theme to Office2010Blue so as not to be confused with modern Office themes. See the "Aero and Office 2010 Theme Updates" section below for notes on using this theme.
  • OfficeSilver - Renamed the optional old Aero-style Office 2010 silver theme to Office2010Silver so as not to be confused with modern Office themes. See the "Aero and Office 2010 Theme Updates" section below for notes on using this theme.

Other new predefined theme names were added to the ThemeNames enumeration as well.

ThemeManager Enhancements and Theme Definitions

A primary focus for this version has been making a new theme generation system that dynamically generates a complete theme based on theme definition options. In the past, a theme was implemented with hundreds of predefined asset resources (brushes, thicknesses, etc.) in a resource dictionary. With the new system, resource dictionaries are still used, but their contents are dynamically generated at run-time. Theme definitions (described in the Architecture topic) have many options that determine what is generated. For instance, colors can be adjusted to match company branding, checkboxes can be set to use accented appearances, and so on. Theme definitions can be edited and visualized with the new Theme Designer application described below.

Note that the tinting feature for themes is no longer available in the newer system since it only worked properly on the old predefined theme resource dictionaries. That being said, if you use the optional Aero-style themes, they still use predefined theme resource dictionaries and can be tinted.

ThemeManager now has a property that uses various API calls to determine which application mode (light, dark, or high-contrast) is requested by the system. An event is raised when this system preference changes (such as the system enters a high-contrast theme). The theme manager can also be configured to automatically switch application themes based on which application mode is selected by the end user. See the Getting Started topic for more information.

ThemeManager added a couple helper properties that can return whether animation should be supported on the current system, and if hardware-accelerated graphics are available.

Theme Designer Application

Actipro's WPF Theme Designer application makes it easy to fully configure a theme definition. There are settings for everything from colors and grayscale saturation amounts to corner radii and where accent colors are used. With every theme definition setting change, the application theme is immediately visualized so that you can see the exact outcome of the theme definition configuration. The Theme Designer even generates the code necessary to paste into your application OnStartup to replicate the theme definition.

See the Theme Designer Application topic for more information on the application.

WindowChrome Enhancements

The WindowChrome class, which renders a custom chrome for a Window, received many enhancements, the usage of which are described in the WindowChrome topic.

Windows can now render different title bar text than what is displayed in the Windows taskbar. Title bar text can be hidden, or even completely replaced with custom header UI.

Custom UI can optionally be injected on both the left and ride side of the title bar. Left-side custom UI appears next to the window title bar icon. Right-side custom UI appears next to the window system title bar buttons (minimize, maximize, close). All custom UI areas support MVVM concepts if desired, since object-based content and DataTemplate-based properties are provided for each.

Numerous options are available for controlling the layout of all title bar elements. The minimum title bar height can be set. The final arranged title bar height, and widths of the left/right content areas can be retrieved, which allows other elements in the window UI to position themselves in alignment if desired.

Normally the title bar renders completely separately from the window's content area. A property has been added that optionally supports merging the title bar and content areas in various ways. One option extends the Window.Background brush to fill the title bar background. Another option keeps the Window.Background over the normal content area, but moves the Window.Content to arrange in the title bar as well. There is a final option that moves both the Window.Background and Window.Content to render in the title bar.

The window's system menu, the one displayed when clicking the title bar icon or right-clicking the title bar, has been updated to show a themeable WPF-based menu instead of the typical Win32-based menu. The new menu is fully customizable via an event, allowing you to easily inject custom menu options.

WindowChrome now has support for animated overlays containing temporary custom content that is positioned over the entire window, such as for a home screen, an Office-like Backstage, or a processing indicator.

An alternate title bar style can be displayed for themes with a title bar background that is based on an accent color. The alternate style will render the title bar more like a traditional title bar. This is commonly seen when opening an Office-like Backstage overlay.

The style used for the custom window chrome has been simplified so that there is no separate template for Aero glass (due to glass support being removed) or for Classic/HighContrast themes. Now there is a single template used for all chromed windows. Similar changes were made to RibbonWindow.

See the WindowChrome topic and many new WindowChrome-related samples for details on all the new features.

DynamicImage and ImageProvider

One of the best enhancements in this version is to the DynamicImage control and the new ImageProvider class that it uses to manipulate images for various scenarios.

Features include:

  • Chromatic adaptation (color shifting) for images, which allows images designed for light themes to be automatically adjusted for use in dark themes.
  • Converting a monochrome vector image to render in the current foreground color.
  • Dynamic loading of pre-defined high-DPI and/or theme-specific image variations for raster images.
  • Conversion of images to grayscale.
  • Conversion of images to monochrome, in a specified color.

Some of these capabilities are extremely important when supporting various themes.

The ImageConverter value converter has been improved with optional Width, Height, and ImageProvider properties that are passed along to the DynamicImage instances that are created.

Glyphs

New shared glyph resources have been added and control templates throughout the Actipro libraries have been updated to make use of the glyphs for consistency. Modern themes now use chevron-style arrow glyphs.

Native Control Themes

A new TitleBarMenu control was added, which is a Menu control that is tailored for usage in window title bars. It updates its top-level menu items to render properly in title bars, and wraps menu items to new lines in overflow scenarios so that they all remain accessible.

Styles for native menu items have been improved by increasing their size, adjusting element alignment, and rendering input gesture text in a lower-contrast color. Theme definition options are available for menu corner radius and padding, along with menu item column widths and padding.

A theme definition option is available for popup shadow direction.

A new reusable style was added for MenuItem that gives the menu item an Office-like menu heading appearance.

ScrollBars

The ScrollBar template was updated and new theme resources added to support thumb brush, thickness, and corner radius customization. These new theme resources allow you to create thin-looking thumbs and/or rounded ends.

A new ScrollThemeProperties.HasButtons attached property was added that can be set on ScrollViewer or ScrollBar instances to determine if they have buttons, or only a thumb. A new theme resource provides the default for this setting.

Checks and Radio Buttons

CheckBox and RadioButton bullets have been updated to scale based on the control's font size. When using a large font size, the bullet will automatically scale up in proportion.

Theme definition options are available for bullet glyph kind (normal, inverted, accent), bullet relative size, border width, and CheckBox corner radius. Bullet relative size determines the relative size of the bullet compared to the control's font size. For instance, a large bullet size will render the bullet at nearly double the height of the control's font size. A border width of 2 can look best when using a large bullet relative size.

Check glyphs in CheckBox and Menu controls have been modernized.

The CheckBox and RadioButton templates have been updated to center the bullet and content vertically by default, which is the most common usage scenario. Set the VerticalContentAlignment property to Top to use a top-aligned bullet, and adjust the Padding property as needed.

Other Controls

Various Button, ToolBar, Expander, Slider, and other related control templates were updated to have a more modern appearance.

PopupButton (Shared Library)

The Shared Library's PopupButton was one of our oldest controls and we took time to modernize it for this version.

The control's popup used to be built completely via code and didn't have a default border/background. In this version, we updated the control template to include the Popup right in the template, and with a default border/background defined. New PopupBackground, PopupBorderBrush, PopupBorderThickness, PopupCornerRadius, and PopupPadding properties were added to support this.

If you customized the control's template, you must now include a Popup with name PART_Popup. Only bind the Popup.IsOpen property to IsPopupOpen when the PopupMenu property is null.

If the PopupMenu property is specified, it will now take priority over popup content supplied via PopupContent, PopupContentTemplate, and PopupContentTemplateSelector.

The DisplayMode property default was changed from Split to Merged, which is a far more common use of the control. A new CenterMerged option was added to the PopupButtonDisplayMode enumeration that renders similar to Merged but centers the content and indicator instead of the indicator being on the right side. The ButtonOnly option now will show a popup/menu like other modes and renders like Merged other than not showing a popup indicator.

The IsAutoFocusOnOpenEnabled property default was changed to true, which is the most common usage.

The IsPreviewMouseDownHandled property was removed since it wasn't used. The IsRounded property was removed, and can be replaced by setting the attached themes:ThemeProperties.CornerRadius property to 0 to mimic a false setting. The static ClosePopup property was renamed to ClosePopupCommand for clarity.

Grids

The PropertyGrid control gained some big updates related to the explicit specification of properties to display. Now when a PropertyModel is specified in the PropertyGrid.Properties collection, its CanAutoConfigure property is set to true, and its Value property is bound to a target property, the TypeDescriptorFactory will automatically fill in most of the PropertyModel properties for you. In summary, these updates make it very simple to mock up an explicit list of properties to display in a property grid with full editing features, even when those properties come from various locations.

The PropertyModel class has be updated to inherit FrameworkElement instead of DepedencyObject. This change works around issues in core WPF where XAML data binding wouldn't work ("Cannot find governing FrameworkElement..." error) without use of proxy objects. None of the visual/input-related properties from FrameworkElement are used in any way.

The IPropertyModel.StandardValuesSelectedValuePath property was added so that property editors that use a ComboBox to display a limited list of standard values can set the ComboBox.SelectedValuePath property.

The PropertyGrid.ImmediateStringValueTemplate property and the related DefaultValueTemplateKind.ImmediateString enum value was added to select it. The new DataTemplate is the same as the DefaultStringValueTemplate but uses a binding that updates immediately as text is typed instead of only on focus loss.

Ribbon

Massive updates were made to the Ribbon and its related controls to modernize it and match the latest Office version's appearance. There are new glyphs, subtle animations, better balance of whitespace, better shadows, and much more.

Several Aero glass-related properties on RibbonWindow and Ribbon were removed as part of the Shared Library's WindowChrome changes.

Fonts

'Segoe UI' is no longer set on the Ribbon and its controls as the default font. A default font size, which previously tended to be smaller than the default font size, is no longer set either. This helps remove font appearance inconsistency between the Ribbon and other portions of an application.

RibbonWindow

RibbonWindow was updated to not use a custom style, and now uses the default WindowChrome style. This change allows RibbonWindow to render the same as other windows in your application that use WindowChrome, and to make use of new WindowChome features.

RibbonWindow used to have a special property for display of a StatusBar along its bottom edge. Since a custom RibbonWindow style is no longer used, this feature has been removed. To work around this change, simply include the StatusBar at the bottom of your window's content.

Application Button

The application button appearance has been updated to always render like Ribbon tabs.

The Ribbon previously had a UseScenicLayout property that when set to false, would enable an old Office 2007-style orb application button. We no longer support Office 2007 styles and thus have removed this option in favor of the more modern application button style.

Backstage

In modern themes, the Backstage has been updated to use new animated WindowChrome overlay features when it is used via a Ribbon in a RibbonWindow.

The Backstage close button's appearance has been modernized.

Buttons

All buttons (Button, PopupButton, SplitButton, etc.) have had their appearances in various contexts modernized. This includes updating buttons in menu item contexts to seamlessly match the appearance of Actipro's improved native WPF menu item appearances. Buttons displayed as tab panel items (i.e., next to the Ribbon tabs) have a new appearance to match Office.

Contextual Tab Group

In making changes to match the latest Office themes, contextual tab groups no longer render any UI (such as a group background and label) in the Window title bar.

The category heading, filter button, popup gallery separator, and popup gallery resize grip appearances have been modernized. Color picker items have increased in size for easier touch accessibility. In-ribbon scroll animation was made faster.

Group

Whitespace improvements were made and collapsed group appearances were modernized. An improved dialog launcher glyph was created.

QuickAccessToolBar

Adjusted and modernized the QuickAccessToolBar appearance.

RecentDocumentMenu

Improved the glyph used to indicate pinned items.

Screen Tip

Adjusted whitespace for content.

Separator

Adjusted separator appearances for various contexts, and added a new Large variant for the MenuItem context that renders a line and heading label.

Tab

Updated the appearance to match Office, and added an animated underline for the selected tab. Selecting a tab now animates the tab's content into view.

ToggleMinimizationButton

Updated the glyph and added directly into the Ribbon to automatically show when Ribbon.IsMinimizable is true. If an instance of this button was previously placed in the Ribbon.TabPanelItems, it can be removed now that it's built into Ribbon.

Docking/MDI

The new ShadowChrome class was placed in certain Docking/MDI templates in place of the older DropShadowChrome. Certain properties changed as a result.

  • StandardSwitcher's DropShadowZOffset property was removed. A new ShadowElevation property was added.
  • WindowControl's DropShadowColor and DropShadowZOffset properties were removed. A new ShadowElevation property was added.

Views

The new MultiColumnPanel control can arrange child elements in columns based on available width.

Font Size Theme Resources

When using Actipro themes in your app, font sizes are now configurable. A theme definition option allows the base font size for the application to be set. This font size is applied via Actipro theme styles to top-level containers like Window, ToolTip, etc.

The base font size becomes the "medium" font size for the various font size theme resources that are available. Numerous font sizes smaller and larger than the "medium" font size are also available via theme resources. By using these theme resources instead of fixed font size numbers in your application, you can ensure font size consistency and can also easily adjust all font sizes throughout your application via a simple theme definition property change.

Aero Glass Support Removed

Windows 7 was the last Windows version to support Aero glass. Windows 7 is now end-of-life and no longer supported by Microsoft, so we have removed all glass-related code from our themes and controls. This allowed us to simply our code by removing a lot of unnecessary complex internal logic for Aero glass features.

Aero and Office 2010 Theme Updates

Windows 7 and Office 2010 are both end-of-life and are no longer support by Microsoft. Some customers may still wish to use Aero-style themes (AeroNormalColor, OfficeBlack, OfficeBlue, and OfficeSilver) in their applications so we are keeping these available as options.

We've moved the four Aero-style themes to a new ActiproSoftware.Themes.Aero.Wpf.dll assembly to reduce the size of the Shared assembly. The four themes can now only be used if this optional Aero assembly is referenced by your application, and you perform this register call in your application startup logic:

ThemesAeroThemeCatalogRegistrar.Register();

The Office 2010 themes used to require a similar register call via ThemesOfficeThemeCatalogRegistrar, but that class was renamed to ThemesAeroThemeCatalogRegistrar.

Again, the AeroNormalColor theme will no longer work unless the optional Aero assembly is referenced and the Register call is made in app startup.

Tinting

The older style of predefined asset resources in a resource dictionary supported a tinting mechanism as a way of altering colors if you didn't like the defaults. While the Aero-style themes support this mechanism since they are still implemented with the older predefined resource dictionary design, generated themes created with theme definitions do not support tinting. The reason is that generated themes allow you to customize the grayscale palette using various theme definition options, so tinting isn't needed.

As such, various tint-related types (like TintedThemeCatalog, TintGroup, etc.) that now only work with the Aero-style themes have been moved into the ActiproSoftware.Themes.Aero.Wpf.dll assembly.

Windows XP Themes Removed

Windows XP has been end-of-life and no longer supported by Microsoft for several years, so the related Windows XP themes (LunaNormalColor, LunaHomestead, LunaMetallic, and RoyaleNormalColor) we provided were removed.

The ActiproSoftware.Themes.Luna.Wpf.dll assembly that contained those themes is also no longer available.

Legacy Docking/MDI Codebase Removed

The 16.1 version made some large improvements to Docking/MDI, including some API changes. We previously temporarily included the old API as an optional install for those who couldn't immediately upgrade to the newer API.

The ActiproSoftware.Docking.Legacy.Wpf.dll and ActiproSoftware.Docking.Interop.Prism.Legacy.Wpf.dll assemblies are no longer shipped in the v20.1 distribution. If you were previously using those assemblies, please upgrade to the newer Docking/MDI API that has been out since v16.1.

Visual Basic Sample Projects Removed

In consideration that a vast majority of our customers work in C# instead of Visual Basic, and that it takes a significant amount of time to keep the Visual Basic sample projects in sync with their C# equivalents, we have stopped including Visual Basic sample projects. This will allow our development to move in a more agile way.

If you work in Visual Basic and need to convert sample code from C#, please search the web for "convert c# to vb.net" and you will find many free online tools to assist.

ANTLR and Irony Add-on Sample Projects Removed

The sample projects for the optional add-ons that integrate ANTLR v3 And Irony parsers with SyntaxEditor are no longer available in the installation due to these add-ons being deprecated. Contact our support team if you have a need to download the sample projects.

Complete Update Details

The list below is the entire detailed update log, including breaking changes.

ThemeManager (Shared Library)

  • RegisteredThemeDefinitions property, and RegisterThemeDefinition, UnregisterThemeDefinition, CreateDefaultThemeDefinition, and GetThemeDefinition methods added, all of which deal with theme definitions.

  • SystemApplicationMode property added, which returns the system preferred theme mode (light, dark, or high-contrast). Related SystemApplicationModeChanged event added.

  • RegisterAutomaticThemes method added, which can automatically switch application themes to specified themes when SystemApplicationMode changes.

  • IsAnimationSupported property added, which determines if UI animation should be enabled.

  • IsGraphicsHardwareAccelerationSupported property added, which returns whether hardware-accelerated graphics are available on the system.

  • SystemTheme property and SystemThemeChanged event removed, since they are no longer useful with Windows 7 being end-of-life.

  • The AeroNormalColor (Windows 7 style) theme was moved to a new optional ActiproSoftware.Themes.Aero.Wpf.dll assembly, and now requires a ThemesAeroThemeCatalogRegistrar.Register() call at app startup to use.

  • The Aero-style Office 2010 themes (OfficeBlack, OfficeBlue, and OfficeSilver) were moved from the old ActiproSoftware.Themes.Office.Wpf.dll to the new ActiproSoftware.Themes.Aero.Wpf.dll assembly. Use ThemesAeroThemeCatalogRegistrar instead of ThemesOfficeThemeCatalogRegistrar to register these optional themes.

  • The LunaNormalColor, LunaHomestead, LunaMetallic, and RoyaleNormalColor themes defined in the optional ActiproSoftware.Themes.Luna.Wpf.dll are no longer available.

ThemeName (Shared Library)

  • Use the new ThemeNames static class with string constant theme names in place of ThemeName moving forward.
  • The LunaNormalColor, LunaHomestead, LunaMetallic, and RoyaleNormalColor members were removed.

WindowChrome (Shared Library)

  • Refined and improved our custom window chrome template, adding a lot of new customizable features along the way.
  • HasTitleBar property added, which hides the title bar when set to false.
  • Attached TitleBarHeader property added, which can be set on a Window to use different title text in the title bar. Set it to null to hide the window's title bar text.
  • TitleBarHeaderTemplate property added, which can be set to replace title bar text with custom header UI.
  • TitleBarLeftContentTemplate property and attached TitleBarLeftContent property added, both of which can be used to inject custom UI in the left side of the window's title bar, next to the icon.
  • TitleBarRightContentTemplate property and attached TitleBarRightContent property added, both of which can be used to inject custom UI in the right side of the window's title bar, next to the system title bar buttons.
  • TitleBarContentTemplate property renamed to TitleBarRightContentTemplate.
  • TitleBarMinHeight attached property added, which sets the minimum height of the title bar.
  • TitleBarHeaderMargin property added, which is the margin around the header.
  • TitleBarHeaderMinWidth property added, which sets the header minimum width when not all title bar elements fit in the available space.
  • TitleBarLeftContentMaxWidthOverflowPercentage and TitleBarRightContentMaxWidthOverflowPercentage properties added, set the maximum percentage of total title bar space to use for each area when not all title bar elements fit in the available space.
  • TitleBarMergeKind property added, which can be set to BackgroundOnly to have the Window.Background brush fill the title bar area, or set to Full to have the Window.Content extend to fill the title bar area.
  • TitleBarTextAlignment property renamed to TitleBarHeaderAlignment and changed to return HorizontalAlignment.
  • GlassThickness, IsGlassActive, and IsGlassEnabled properties removed since Aero glass is no longer supported.

DynamicImage and ImageProvider (Shared Library)

  • ImageProvider class added that supports adapting source images for various scenarios (themes, scales, grayscale, monochrome, etc.).
  • DynamicImage control updated to call into ImageProvider to support rich functionality.
  • DynamicImage control updated to watch for theme, DPI, and foreground changes and adapt its image when appropriate.
  • UseMonochrome property added to the DynamicImage control to support monochrome images.
  • ImageSourceContentConverter and ImageSourceContentConversionMode types moved to the Legacy assembly where they will be deprecated. Use the improved DynamicImage control instead.
  • ImageSourceContentConverter.CanConvertToMonochrome attached property replaced with the new ImageProvider.CanAdapt attached property.
  • ImageSourceContentConverter.BrightnessThreshold static property replaced with the new ImageProvider.MonochromeBrightnessThreshold property.

SharedResourceKeys (Shared Library)

These style updates were made:

  • MenuHeadingStyleKey added to render special MenuItems as text-based headings.
  • ToolWindowTitleBarButtonBaseAlternateStyleKey renamed to CloseToolWindowTitleBarButtonBaseStyleKey to clarify its purpose.
  • WindowTitleBarButtonBaseAlternateStyleKey renamed to CloseWindowTitleBarButtonBaseStyleKey to clarify its purpose.

These glyph template updates were made:

  • LargeLeftArrowGlyphTemplateKey (formerly ScrollLeftGlyphTemplateKey), LargeUpArrowGlyphTemplateKey, LargeRightArrowGlyphTemplateKey (formerly ScrollRightGlyphTemplateKey), LargeDownArrowGlyphTemplateKey added for large sized arrows.

  • LeftArrowGlyphTemplateKey, UpArrowGlyphTemplateKey, RightArrowGlyphTemplateKey, DownArrowGlyphTemplateKey added for normal sized arrows.

  • SmallLeftArrowGlyphTemplateKey, SmallUpArrowGlyphTemplateKey, SmallRightArrowGlyphTemplateKey, SmallDownArrowGlyphTemplateKey added for small sized arrows.

  • ExternalWindowGlyphTemplateKey added for use in buttons that open an external window.

  • MenuCheckGlyphTemplateKey, MenuIndeterminateCheckGlyphTemplateKey, and MenuPopupGlyphTemplateKey added for use in menu items.

  • MinusGlyphTemplateKey and PlusGlyphTemplateKey added for use in decrease/increase buttons.

  • SmallDropDownArrowGlyphTemplateKey added for use in small drop-down buttons.

  • SmallMinusGlyphTemplateKey and SmallPlusGlyphTemplateKey added for use in decrease/increase buttons.

  • ToolBarOverflowDropDownArrowGlyphTemplateKey added for toolbar overflow buttons.

  • WindowTitleBarButtonBackGlyphTemplateKey added for a window title bar Back button.

  • WindowTitleBarButtonMenuBarsGlyphTemplateKey added for a window title bar Menu button.

AssetResourceKeys (Shared Library)

This list contains changes and removals only:

  • Accent*BrushKey properties removed and replaced with more comprehensive PrimaryAccent* properties.
  • ApplicationButton*BrushKey properties removed since the Ribbon application button is now themed the same as Ribbon tabs.
  • ButtonHighlight*BrushKey properties removed since Luna themes are no longer supported.
  • *BulletChromeBorderStyleKey and *ElementChromeBorderStyleKey properties removed since Classic themes are no longer supported.
  • ContainerLight*BrushKey, ContainerMedium*BrushKey, and ContainerDark*BrushKey properties migrated to new ContainerBackground*BrushKey properties.
  • ContainerBorderNormalBrushKey property to new ContainerBorder*BrushKey properties.
  • ContextualTabGroupAreEffectsEnabledBooleanKey, ContextualTabGroupUseColorsBooleanKey, ContextualTabUseColorsBooleanKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • ControlBackgroundNormalBrushKey property renamed to ContainerBackgroundLowBrushKey.
  • ControlForegroundNormalBrushKey property renamed to ContainerForegroundLowNormalBrushKey.
  • ControlForegroundDisabledBrushKey property renamed to ContainerForegroundLowDisabledBrushKey.
  • DockingWindowContainer*BrushKey properties renamed to ToolWindowContainer*BrushKey for clarity. Use the new TabbedMdiContainerBackgroundNormalBrushKey property in place of DockingWindowContainerBackgroundNormalBrushKey for tabbed MDI containers only.
  • ComboBoxUseAlternateStyleBooleanKey, DropDownGlyphAlternateBackgroundDisabledBrushKey, DropDownGlyphAlternateBackgroundNormalBrushKey, DropDownGlyphUseAlternateGeometryBooleanKey properties removed since Classic themes are no longer supported.
  • DocumentTextAccent1ForegroundNormalBrushKey and DocumentTextAccent2ForegroundNormalBrushKey properties renamed to DocumentHeading1ForegroundNormalBrushKey and DocumentHeading2ForegroundNormalBrushKey respectively.
  • EditRulerMarginBorderNormalBrushKey, EditSelectionBackgroundFocusedBrushKey, EditSelectionForegroundFocusedBrushKey, EditSelectionSemiTransparentBackgroundFocusedBrushKey, EditSelectionSemiTransparentBackgroundNormalBrushKey, EditSelectionSemiTransparentBorderFocusedBrushKey, EditSelectionSemiTransparentBorderNormalBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • ExpanderGlyph*BrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • ListColumnHeader*BrushKey and ListRowHeader*BrushKey properties consolidated into ListHeader*BrushKey properties.
  • ListToggleButtonExpansion*BrushKey properties renamed to ListToggleButtonExpanderGlyph*BrushKey properties.
  • ListToggleButtonExpansionBorderNormalCornerRadiusKey and ListToggleButtonExpansionBorderNormalThicknessKey, ListToggleButtonExpansionForegroundCheckedBrushKey, ListToggleButtonExpansionForegroundHoverBrushKey, ListToggleButtonExpansionForegroundNormalBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • MenuSeparatorHighlightNormalBrushKey property removed due to template simplification.
  • NavigationBarPopupButtonBackground*BrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • RaftingWindowBorderActiveBrushKey, RaftingWindowBorderInactiveBrushKey, and RaftingWindowBorderNormalCornerRadiusKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • RibbonGroupBackgroundPressedBrushKey, RibbonGroupBorderHoverBrushKey, RibbonGroupSeparatorOpacityMaskNormalBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • RibbonSeparatorBorderNormalBrushKey, RibbonSeparatorBorderNormalThicknessKey, and RibbonSeparatorOpacityMaskNormalBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • RibbonTabItemBackgroundFocusedBrushKey, RibbonTabItemBackgroundSelectedBrushKey, RibbonTabItemBorderFocusedBrushKey, RibbonTabItemBorderHoverBrushKey, RibbonTabItemForegroundSelectedBrushKey, RibbonTabItemInnerBorderFocusedBrushKey, RibbonTabItemInnerBorderHoverBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • RibbonToolBarTrayInnerBorderNormalBrushKey property removed since it is no longer used.
  • ScrollBarButtonGlyphUseAlternateGeometryBooleanKey, ScrollBarButtonHighlightDisabledBrushKey, ScrollBarButtonHighlightHoverBrushKey, ScrollBarButtonHighlightNormalBrushKey, ScrollBarButtonHighlightPressedBrushKey, WorkspaceScrollBarButtonHighlightDisabledBrushKey, WorkspaceScrollBarButtonHighlightHoverBrushKey, WorkspaceScrollBarButtonHighlightNormalBrushKey, WorkspaceScrollBarButtonHighlightPressedBrushKey properties removed since Luna themes are no longer supported.
  • SeparatorHighlightNormalBrushKey property removed due to template simplification.
  • SliderBackgroundNormalBrushKey, SliderThumbHorizontalHighlightDisabledBrushKey, SliderThumbHorizontalHighlightFocusedBrushKey, SliderThumbHorizontalHighlightHoverBrushKey, SliderThumbHorizontalHighlightNormalBrushKey, SliderThumbHorizontalHighlightPressedBrushKey, SliderThumbVerticalHighlightDisabledBrushKey, SliderThumbVerticalHighlightFocusedBrushKey, SliderThumbVerticalHighlightHoverBrushKey, SliderThumbVerticalHighlightNormalBrushKey, SliderThumbVerticalHighlightPressedBrushKey properties removed due to template simplification.
  • StatusBarSeparatorOpacityMaskNormalBrushKey property removed since it is no longer used.
  • TabControlHighlightNormalBrushKey, TabItemHighlightDisabledBrushKey, TabItemHighlightHoverBrushKey, TabItemHighlightNormalBrushKey, TabItemHighlightSelectedHoverBrushKey, TabItemHighlightSelectedNormalBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • TabbedMdiContainerTabControlBackgroundActiveNormalBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemBackgroundActiveSelectedBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemBorderActiveSelectedBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemForegroundActiveSelectedBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemGlyphBackgroundActiveFocusedBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemGlyphBackgroundActiveSelectedBrushKey, TabbedMdiContainerTabItemGlyphBackgroundHoverBrushKey,TabbedMdiContainerTabItemGlyphBackgroundInactiveSelectedBrushKey, ToolWindowContainerTabControlForegroundNormalBrushKey properties removed due to template simplification.
  • TabItemBackgroundSelectedHoverBrushKey and TabItemBorderSelectedHoverBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • ThumbBorder*BrushKey properties consolidated into a single ThumbBorderNormalBrushKey property.
  • ToolBarGripperHighlightNormalBrushKey property removed since it is no longer used.
  • WindowGlassExtensionBackgroundActiveBrushKey and WindowIsGlassEnabledBooleanKey properties removed since Aero glass is no longer supported.
  • WindowNonGlassExtensionBackgroundActiveBrushKey and WindowNonGlassExtensionBackgroundInactiveBrushKey properties renamed to WindowTitleBarExtensionBackgroundActiveBrushKey and WindowTitleBarExtensionBackgroundInactiveBrushKey respectively.
  • WindowTitleBarInnerBorderActiveBrushKey and WindowTitleBarInnerBorderInactiveBrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • WindowTitleBarButtonHighlight*BrushKey and WindowTitleBarButtonInnerBorder*BrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • WindowTitleBarButtonAlternate*BrushKey properties renamed to CloseWindowTitleBarButton*BrushKey to better clarify their purpose.
  • WindowTitleBarButtonAlternate*InactiveDisabledBrushKey and WindowTitleBarButtonAlternate*InactiveNormalBrushKey properties removed since they were always set to the same values as the non-"Alternate" equivalents.
  • WindowTitleBarButtonAlternateMarginNormalThicknessKey property renamed to WindowTitleBarButtonMarginNormalThicknessKey.
  • WindowTitleBarForegroundShadowActiveBrushKey property removed since Luna themes are no longer supported.
  • WindowTitleBarQuickAccessToolBarAlignTopBooleanKey and WindowTitleBarUseSystemFontBooleanKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • WindowTitleBarToolBarTray*BrushKey properties removed since they are no longer used.
  • WorkspaceDark*BrushKey, WorkspaceMedium*BrushKey, and WorkspaceLight*BrushKey properties replaced with more comprehensive ContainerBackground*BrushKey properties.
  • WorkspaceVeryDarkForegroundNormalBrushKey property removed and WorkspaceVeryDarkBackgroundNormalBrushKey property renamed to DockHostBackgroundNormalBrushKey.
  • TintedResourceDictionary, TintedResourceDictionaryReference, TintedThemeCatalog, TintGroup, TintGroupCollection, TintGroupNames, and TintGroupSets types moved to the ActiproSoftware.Themes.Aero.Wpf.dll assembly since they now only work with the older Aero-style themes.

AnimatedExpanderDecorator (Shared Library)

  • ExpandDuration and CollapseDuration property defaults reduced from 250ms to 150ms to speed up animations by default, and easings added to animations.

GlassWindow (Shared Library)

  • GlassWindow class removed since Aero glass is no longer supported.

PopupButton (Shared Library)

  • A Popup is now built into the PopupButton template.
  • PopupBackground, PopupBorderBrush, PopupBorderThickness, PopupCornerRadius, and PopupPadding properties added to support customization of the popup chrome.
  • CenterMerged option added to PopupButtonDisplayMode enumeration.
  • ButtonOnly display mode option now will show a popup/menu if one is defined. This allows the PopupButton to show popups even when there is no popup indicator.
  • DisplayMode property default changed to Merged, which is the most common usage.
  • IsAutoFocusOnOpenEnabled property default changed to true, which is the most common usage.
  • IsPreviewMouseDownHandled property removed since it wasn't used.
  • IsRounded property removed. Set the attached themes:ThemeProperties.CornerRadius property to 0 to mimic setting IsRounded to false.
  • If the PopupMenu property is specified, it will now take priority over popup content supplied via PopupContent, PopupContentTemplate, and PopupContentTemplateSelector.
  • Static ClosePopup property renamed to ClosePopupCommand for clarity.

TitleBarMenu (Shared Library)

  • TitleBarMenu control added, for use in WindowChrome custom title bars.

TransitionPresenter (Shared Library)

  • DefaultDuration property default reduced from 500ms to 200ms to speed up animations by default.

Value Converters (Shared Library)

  • CharacterCasingConverter added that can be used to uppercase or lowercase a string.
  • Width, Height, and ImageProvider properties added to ImageConverter and passed onto the created DynamicImage instance.

WindowControl (Docking/MDI product)

  • IsTitleBarTextShadowEnabled property removed since XP themes are no longer supported.

TypeDescriptorFactory (Grids product)

  • A new feature makes the explicit specification of properties via PropertyGrid.Properties very simple. Simply set a PropertyModel's new CanAutoConfigure property to true and place a Binding on the Value property to the target property, and the data factory will do the rest.
  • AutoConfigurePropertyModel method added, which is called for explicitly-defined PropertyModel instances whose CanAutoConfigure properties are set to true.
  • GetDisplayNameFromName method added that converts a property's Name to a DisplayName when executing the AutoConfigurePropertyModel method.

IPropertyModel (Grids product)

  • StandardValuesSelectedValuePath property added to allow setting of ComboBox.SelectedValuePath in property editors for limited standard values.

PropertyModel (Grids product)

  • PropertyModel now inherits FrameworkElement instead of DependencyObject to work around core WPF issues with data binding.
  • CanAutoConfigure property added that can auto-configure most PropertyModel properties based on a Value binding.

PropertyGrid (Grids product)

  • ImmediateStringValueTemplate property added, which is the same as DefaultStringValueTemplate, but uses a binding that updates immediately as text is typed instead of only on focus loss.

DefaultValueTemplateKind (Grids product)

  • ImmediateString value added that can select the new PropertyGrid.ImmediateStringValueTemplate``DataTemplate.

ContextualTabGroup (Ribbon product)

  • AreEffectsEnabled, MaxTitleAreaWidth, OuterGlowBrush, UseColors properties removed since contextual tab groups no longer render UI in the title bar.

QuickAccessToolBar (Ribbon product)

  • IsApplicationButtonVisible, IsItemOuterGlowEnabled properties removed since they are no longer needed.
  • IsBelowRibbon property default changed to false.

Ribbon (Ribbon product)

  • ContextualTabGroupContainerHeight, ContextualTabGroupContainerOffset, and SelectedContextualTabGroupColor properties removed since contextual tab groups no longer render UI in the title bar.
  • IsGlassActive and IsGlassExtensionEnabled properties removed since Aero glass is no longer supported.
  • IsRibbonWindowIconVisible property removed since it is no longer needed.
  • IsTitleBarAreaVisible property removed since it is no longer needed. Set QuickAccessToolBarLocation to None to mimic false now.
  • Static SystemHasSegoeUIFont property removed since it is no longer needed.
  • UseScenicLayout property removed since the Office 2007 orb style of application button is no longer supported.
  • ApplicationButtonDefault16.png image file that used to be included in the Ribbon assembly and can be set to Ribbon.ApplicationButtonImageSource is now included in the Sample Browser project instead.

RibbonWindow (Ribbon product)

  • GlassExtensionHeight, IsGlassActive, IsGlassEnabled properties removed since Aero glass is no longer supported.
  • StatusBar property removed since RibbonWindow no longer uses a custom template. Put your StatusBar at the bottom of your window's content instead.
  • TitleBarScaleTransform property removed since it is no longer needed.

RibbonWindowTitleBarText (Ribbon product)

  • ApplicationNameBrush, DocumentNameBrush, and UsesSystemFont properties removed since they are no longer needed.

Tab (Ribbon product)

  • IsTinted, TintColor, TintedSelectedInnerBorderBrush, TintedSelectedOuterBorderBrush, UseColors properties removed since they are no longer needed.

MultiColumnPanel (Views product)

  • MultiColumnPanel control added that can arrange child elements in columns based on available width.

AeroWizardTitleBar (Wizard product)

  • AeroWizardTitleBar class removed since it's no longer used. See notes below on AeroWizardWindow for details.

AeroWizardWindow (Wizard product)

  • AeroWizardWindow class removed since it's no longer used. It was previously based on the GlassWindow class, which is no longer applicable with Windows 7 being end-of-life. See the Aero Wizards topic for new Window XAML that can be used instead, rendering a Back button in the window's title bar via new WindowChrome features.