Base a custom theme on a built in one

[Wolfgang Kamir]

Hi everyone!

I am trying to build a custom theme which is based on "OfficeSIlver" - or any other built-in theme... My first approach was to simply copy the according theme project to my solution and then run a "Search & Replace" to replace "Office_Silver" to "Office_Custom". I changed the "Build"-Settings of the project (assembly-name and default-namespace) accordingly.

Then I added a custom "Theme" class which derived from "Theme" and is named "Office_CustomTheme".
I referenced the new theme-project, instantiated the theme and set it as application-wide theme.

I get a LOAD of xaml-parsing-errors. Nothing seems to work right.
The least of my problems was the "external" namespace definition:
xmlns:external="clr-namespace:Telerik.Windows.Controls.External" 

 
(which just does not exist)

or some mysterious "external:Office_SilverThemeExternal":
x:Key="{telerik:ThemeResourceKey ThemeType=external:Office_SilverThemeExternal , ElementType=telerik:RadButton}"

After fixing that (renaming to my new local theme) still nothing works as expected, xaml-files are referenced but not found - if that is fixed some other obsucre errors pop up. After that I just gave up.

I am very disappointed - since telerik advertises that everything is easily and effortless to customize (in Blend even)
The documentation link that "should" probably describe how it is done the right way is down.

I would very much appreciate a step by step description on how to achieve this.

Thank you very much.

Kind regards,
Wolfgang

[Sia]

Hello Wolfgang Kamir,

I am sorry to hear that you have problems with our controls. Please be sure that we will provide you with the needed information.

Can you please let us know which Telerik controls you use in your application so that I can prepare a sample project for you? The version of the controls is also something I need for that.

Thank you,  
Sia
the Telerik team

[Wolfgang Kamir]

Hello Sia,

thank you for the quick response and sorry if I came across a little harsh - I was just frustrated after hours of fruitless searching for the right solution.

I use the latest version of WPF Controls: 2011.2.920.

I believe that the following controls will be necessary for the upcoming project:
 - GridView
 - Calendar
 - Docking
 - TabControl
 - Menu
 - DatePicker
 - MaskedInput
 - ToolBar
 - Ribbon (maybe, we are evaluating)
 - RichTextBox
 - ScheduleView
 - PropertyGrid
 - Expander
 - NumericUpDown
 - ComboBox
 - DataPager
 - PanelBar

... The list is long since we are trying to replace an existing and feature-packed Windows forms application that needs a facelifting and also a more structured (MVVM) approach.

Kind regards,
Wolfgang

[Sia]

Hello Wolfgang Kamir,

I will need some more time to send you a sample project. Please expect it very soon and excuse me for the delay.

Best wishes,
Sia
the Telerik team

[Sia]

Hi Wolfgang Kamir,

Please find attached the promised solution. Take a look and let me know how it works on your end. The main steps are exactly as described by you in your first post. I am not sure what went wrong with your custom theme but I hope that having this project to base your theme on will make the customizing process easier.

Greetings,
Sia
the Telerik team