RadControls for WinForms
Contents

Adding a custom theme as a resource

  1. Create a new Windows Application, drag a RadControl, i.e. RadButton, from your Toolbox to your form.
  2. Create a new custom theme and save it somewhere on your hard drive.
  3. Right-click the project node in the Solution Explorer, choose Add >> Existing Item and add the custom theme file. This will automatically copy the custom theme file in your project's directory. You can also add a new folder (Add >> New Folder) where you can put your custom theme.
  4. Set the custom theme's Build Action property to Embedded Resource.
  5. Add a RadThemeManager to the form.
  6. From the RadThemeManager's Action Menu (click the Smart Tag to open it) choose Load Theme from resources.
  7. You will be prompted to enter the resource location. C# and VB.NET compilers differ from one another, so:
    • In a C# application the pattern is ProjectName.FolderName.ThemeFileName.Extention if the theme file is in a folder as mentioned in step 3, otherwise it is just ProjectName.ThemeFileName.Extention
    • In a VB.NET application, it does not matter whether the theme file is in a folder or not, the pattern is always the same: ProjectName.ThemeFileName.Extention.
  8. Build the application. This will include the custom theme file in your assemblies.
  9. Now you can apply the theme to the RadButton.
  10. Note: To be sure about the theme resource location in step 7, you can use Reflector. After building the project simply reflect the built assembly/executable and you will see it.