Custom Themes

Since version 4.2 MindFusion.Scheduling enables the creation of user-defined themes. The Theme class is now abstract and can be inherited. In order to create a custom theme, you have to define a new class derived from Theme and implement all abstract properties.

In order to work properly, all properties of the theme must be explicitly initialized. The theme properties cannot have undefined values. For example a property of type State cannot have Unspecified value. This ensues from the fact that the theme is the last layer in the appearance hierarchy and the mechanism to propagate a request further in the hierarchy when a theme property is undefined will fail. This requirement makes custom theme creation really tedious to be done manually. In order to automate this process, you can use the MindFusion Theme Editor, a small application installed with MindFusion.Scheduling. To learn more about the editor, please refer to Theme Editor.

The following sample code illustrates what is the usual structure of a custom theme class:

C# Copy Code
public class MyTheme : MindFusion.Scheduling.WinForms.Theme
{
    public MyTheme()
    {
        this._controlAppearance = ControlAppearance.System;
        this._listViewSettings = base.CreateListViewSettings();
        this._itemSettings = base.CreateItemSettings();
        // Instantiate the rest of the fields

        // Initialize all objects
    }

    public override ControlAppearance ControlAppearance
    {
        get { return this._controlAppearance; }
    }

    public override ListViewSettings ListViewSettings
    {
        get { return this._listViewSettings; }
    }

    public override ItemSettings ItemSettings
    {
        get { return this._itemSettings; }
    }

    // Override all other theme properties and return
    // the corresponding objects

    private ControlAppearance _controlAppearance;
    private ListViewSettings _listViewSettings;
    private ItemSettings _itemSettings;
    // Declare all other necessary fields
}

C# Copy Code
public class MyTheme : MindFusion.Scheduling.WinForms.Theme { public MyTheme() { this._controlAppearance = ControlAppearance.System; this._listViewSettings = base.CreateListViewSettings(); this._itemSettings = base.CreateItemSettings(); // Instantiate the rest of the fields // Initialize all objects } public override ControlAppearance ControlAppearance { get { return this._controlAppearance; } } public override ListViewSettings ListViewSettings { get { return this._listViewSettings; } } public override ItemSettings ItemSettings { get { return this._itemSettings; } } // Override all other theme properties and return // the corresponding objects private ControlAppearance _controlAppearance; private ListViewSettings _listViewSettings; private ItemSettings _itemSettings; // Declare all other necessary fields }

Visual Basic Copy Code
Public Class MyTheme
    Inherits MindFusion.Scheduling.WinForms.Theme

    Public Sub New()

        Me._controlAppearance = ControlAppearance.System
        Me._listViewSettings = MyBase.CreateListViewSettings()
        Me._itemSettings = MyBase.CreateItemSettings()
        ' Instantiate the rest of the fields

        ' Initialize all objects

    End Sub

    Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ControlAppearance() As ControlAppearance

        Get
            Return Me._controlAppearance
        End Get

    End Property

    Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ListViewSettings() As ListViewSettings

        Get
            Return Me._listViewSettings
        End Get

    End Property

    Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ItemSettings() As ItemSettings

        Get
            Return Me._itemSettings
        End Get

    End Property

    ' Override all other theme properties and return
    ' the corresponding objects

    Private _controlAppearance As ControlAppearance
    Private _listViewSettings As ListViewSettings
    Private _itemSettings As ItemSettings
    ' Declare all other necessary fields

End Class

Visual Basic Copy Code
Public Class MyTheme Inherits MindFusion.Scheduling.WinForms.Theme Public Sub New() Me._controlAppearance = ControlAppearance.System Me._listViewSettings = MyBase.CreateListViewSettings() Me._itemSettings = MyBase.CreateItemSettings() ' Instantiate the rest of the fields ' Initialize all objects End Sub Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ControlAppearance() As ControlAppearance Get Return Me._controlAppearance End Get End Property Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ListViewSettings() As ListViewSettings Get Return Me._listViewSettings End Get End Property Public Overrides ReadOnly Property ItemSettings() As ItemSettings Get Return Me._itemSettings End Get End Property ' Override all other theme properties and return ' the corresponding objects Private _controlAppearance As ControlAppearance Private _listViewSettings As ListViewSettings Private _itemSettings As ItemSettings ' Declare all other necessary fields End Class

All objects that cannot be instantiated directly, such as MonthSettings and ControlStyle can be created by calling various protected methods of the base Theme class. For example, in order to create a MonthSettings object, you need to invoke Theme.CreateMonthSettings.