DevExpress AutoFormats Overview
- 2 minutes to read
Each product from the DevExpress ASP.NET product line is shipped with a set of built-in DevExpress AutoFormats - predefined visual themes - that allow you to provide a consistent appearance through your website pages. You can easily apply the desired DevExpress AutoFormat to individual DevExpress web controls or use it as a theme for the entire web page or website.
DevExpress AutoFormats are developed based on the ASP.NET Themes and Skins technology. As a theme, DevExpress AutoFormat is made up of a set of elements - skins, cascading style sheets (CSS) and images - which are organized in a specific hierarchical structure. From version v2009 vol 2, the theme elements of all available built-in AutoFormats are, by default, embedded as resource files into a specific ASPxThemes Assembly shipped within the installation.
To make the DevExpress AutoFormats functionality implemented by the ASPxThemes.dll assembly available within your web application, a specific ASPxHttpHandlerModule should be registered within the application’s Web.Config file. This module is responsible for immediate and seamless retrieval of the required theme files from the assembly when they are requested, without the necessity to store these files within the application’s App_Theme folder. This approach is particularly useful when you just need to apply DevExpress AutoFormats to individual controls.
If you want to apply a DevExpress AutoFormat as a theme for individual web pages or the entire web site, your project should have the App_Theme folder with a subfolder representing the AutoFormat - this is how the ASP.NET Theme functionality works. To copy AutoFormat files to your project’s App_Theme folder use the ASPxThemeDeployer tool. This tool provides you with an option to copy all the required resource files (such as image and CSS files together with skin files) or only skin files. If you only need to apply a predefined AutoFormat without modifying its settings, copying only skin files is sufficient. Copying all theme files provides you with the capability to modify file sources and customize the predefined visual appearance, if required.