Reproducing the Office2007blue Group Summary Line

[Stainless]

Hi!
Sorry, the title should be: Reproducing the Office2007blue Group Row Line.

After upgrading from 2009-Q1 to 2013-Q2, we found out that the ControlDefault Theme (Office2007Blue) for the gridview's "Group Rows" look significantly different, and cannot be simply reproduced with any provided theme in the 2013-Q2 release.

We really liked having the Group Row looking like:
1) The Group Expansion icon in the first column
2) The Group Summary Text
3) A light-blue horizontal line, with a thickness of about 5 pixels, with rounded endpoints, vertically centered in the row, and going to the last column.

Thanks for your help in reproducing this look using 2013-Q2 technology!

[Peter]

Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting Telerik Support.

Due to our controls' evolution we have modified ControlDefault (Office2007Blue) theme design accordingly. However, you are allowed to create your custom theme starting from the ControlDefault theme via Visual Style Builder. 
You can read more details about using the VisualStyleBuilder here:
1.     Loading predefined themes
2.     Working with Repository Items
3.     Saving and Loading Theme Files
4.     Loading Themes from an External File
5.     Loading Themes from a Resource
6.     Applying Theme to a Control
7.     http://tv.telerik.com/watch/winforms/visualstylebuilder/whats-new-visual-style-builder-q1-2010

I hope this information helps. Should you have further questions, I would be glad to help.

Regards,
Desislava 
Telerik

[Stainless]

Hello Peter,

Thanks for pointing me to the custom theming solution. I read through the articles you suggested and played with the Visual Style Builder in an attempt to satisfy the given specifications. In the Visual Style Builder, the closest I got was by applying an ImageShape (referencing an image file within which a simple blue line is drawn) to the RadGridView's GridGroupHeaderRowElement. That solution is invalid since the ImageShape is applied to the whole row's background, making the group header row's text look "crossed out" by the blue line behind. Did you have the idea of another theming solution that would have satisfied the specs?

I'm still looking for an appropriate solution: I'm thinking about handling the RowPaint event of the SummaryRow, but I'm getting trouble with the row children hierarchy in locating the right end of the group summary text label: The RowPaint documentation  only describes how to play with data cells.

Any other idea? Thanks for your help!
Eric

[Dess | Tech Support Engineer, Principal]

Hello Eric,

Thank you for contacting us again.

The most appropriate and easiest way to make a custom design is creating your own theme. You can change the GroupExpander image sign with the arrow from the Office2007Blue theme. Please find attached 1.GroupExpander.png, which shows how to change the image. The same approach can be used for modifying the group summary text. Change the GridGroupHeaderRowElement's BackColor and ForeColor in order to create closer visual representation of the group summary row's text to the desired theme. You are also allowed to edit the text font as well.

Note: for easy finding of the necessary element, you may use RadControlSpy in the Visual Style Builder (Tools -> Show Spy)

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any additional questions.

Regards,
Desislava
Telerik