AppBar Control

Jul 30, 2021
12 minutes to read

The AppBar control is a Windows 8-style bar used to display application commands to end-users. The app bar is visible only when required by the end-user. When this bar is not used, it is hidden from view, allowing the end-user to conserve screen space.

AppBar_Overview

This document deals with the app bar features and consists of the following sections.

Overview
Adding an App Bar
Showing and Hiding an App Bar
App Bar Buttons
Predefined Buttons
Arranging Buttons in an App Bar
WPF Themes
Applying Data Templates to App Bar Buttons
Applying Styles to App Bar Buttons

Overview

You can use Windows Modern UI controls to create modern interfaces similar to the ones implemented in Windows Store applications. This bar can be placed at the top, bottom, left or right of a window, to display navigation, commands, and options to end-users only when necessary, saving valuable screen space. By default, the app bar is hidden from view, and seamlessly appears on the screen by right clicking in the application area. The app bar disappears from view when an end-user resumes interaction with the application anywhere outside the app bar.

In the following image, the app bar is displayed at the bottom of the application window and provides a set of buttons.

AppBar_Application

Adding an App Bar

Create a Windows Modern UI style application that consists of one or more screens using the NavigationFrame and NavigationPage objects. Use the NavigationPage.BottomAppBar or NavigationPage.TopAppBar property to display the app bar at the bottom or top of the page. Use both properties to display two app bars simultaneously.

The following example shows how to place a simple app bar at the bottom of the NavigationPage:

XAML

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:dx="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/core"
xmlns:dxwui="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/windowsui"
...
<dxwui:NavigationPage>
    <dxwui:NavigationPage.BottomAppBar>
        <dxwui:AppBar x:Name="appBar" IsOpen="True" HideMode="Sticky" IsExitButtonEnabled="True">
            <dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Zoom in" Glyph="{dx:DXImageGrayscale Image=ZoomIn_32x32.png}" />
            <dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Zoom out" Glyph="{dx:DXImageGrayscale Image=ZoomOut_32x32.png}" />
            <dxwui:AppBarSeparator />
            <dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Actual Size" Glyph="{dx:DXImageGrayscale Image=Zoom_32x32.png}" />
            <dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Rotate" HorizontalAlignment="Right" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=DrillDown_32x32.png}" >
                <dxwui:AppBarButton.Flyout>
                    <dxwui:MenuFlyout ShowIndicator="True">
                        <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="90° clockwise"/>
                        <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="90° counter clockwise" />
                        <dxwui:MenuFlyoutSeparator />
                        <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="Reset"/>
                    </dxwui:MenuFlyout>
                </dxwui:AppBarButton.Flyout>
            </dxwui:AppBarButton>
            <dxwui:AppBarSeparator HorizontalAlignment="Right" />
            <dxwui:AppBarToggleButton Label="Pin" HorizontalAlignment="Right">&#xE141;</dxwui:AppBarToggleButton>
            <dxwui:AppBar.Resources>
                <Style TargetType="dxwui:AppBarButton">
                    <Setter Property="AllowGlyphTheming" Value="True" />
                    <Setter Property="GlyphHeight" Value="24" />
                </Style>
            </dxwui:AppBar.Resources>
        </dxwui:AppBar>
    </dxwui:NavigationPage.BottomAppBar>
</dxwui:NavigationPage>

The following image illustrates the result of this markup.

AppBar_GeneralSample

Even if you do not use the NavigationPage, you can still add the AppBar to your interface. It is possible to add the AppBar to XAML markup as a child of any FrameworkElement (e.g., a Grid). Use the AppBar.Alignment property to define the side of the parent FrameworkElement at which the app bar appears. The following example demonstrates how to place the AppBar at the bottom of the window containing a Grid with a SlideView:

XAML

xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:dxwui="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/windowsui"
...
<Grid>
    <dxwui:AppBar Alignment="Bottom">
        <!--App bar buttons-->
    </dxwui:AppBar>
    <dxwui:SlideView .../>
</Grid>

Showing and Hiding an App Bar

By default, the app bar is hidden from view and appears when an end-user right-clicks on the application area. The app bar provides the AppBar.IsOpen property to specify if the app bar is visible. You can set this property in XAML to define the app bar’s initial state. You can respond to end-user actions, and show or hide the app bar by setting the AppBar.IsOpen property in code.

Handle the AppBar.Opened and AppBar.Closed events to respond to app bar visibility changes.

By default, the app bar is hidden from view when an end-user resumes interaction with the application, outside of the app bar area. It is possible to override the default behavior and specify how the app bar is closed using the AppBar.HideMode property.

App Bar Buttons

Buttons in the app bar are represented by the AppBarButton and AppBarToggleButton classes. The app bar buttons are round buttons with labels that invoke an associated action on click. You can assign a Command to its Command property or handle the Click event to implement an action.

AppBar_ContentAndLabel

A label can be set from the AppBarButton.Label property of the Object type. In most cases, you use a String value to specify the button’s label, but it is possible to use any Object. If an assigned object is not derived from the UIElement class, the ToString method is used to display the label. Thus, you can override this method to customize the return value, if necessary. Use the AppBarButton’s FontFamily and FontSize properties to define the label’s text attributes. It is also possible to apply data templates to render the button’s label. For this purpose, the AppBarButton provides the AppBarButton.LabelTemplate and AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector properties.

You can display an icon in the app bar button. For this purpose, use its CommandButton.Glyph property. The CommandButton.GlyphWidth and CommandButton.GlyphHeight properties specify the dimensions of the frame into which the icon is fitted. The CommandButton.GlyphStretch property specifies how the icon is stretched to fill the frame. To paint the icon according to the currently applied theme, set the CommandButton.AllowGlyphTheming property to True.

Using the CommandButton.Glyph property is the recommended approach to specifying the button icon, but it is also possible to use the Content property. Any object can be assigned to this property. The following is a list of typical objects that can be used as button content.

String — Displays any text or a single character. Use the AppBarButton.ContentFontFamily and AppBarButton.ContentFontSize properties to define the content’s text attributes. The Segoe UI Symbol font provides numerous symbols you may need.
Path — Allows you to define a Shape as the button’s glyph.
Image — Allows you to display a custom image. You can also use an image from the DX Image Gallery.

See the example below to learn how to implement each of these approaches.

XAML

xmlns:dx="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/core"
...
<dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Path">
    <Path Width="27" Height="27" Stretch="Uniform">
        <Path.Data>
            <!--A Geometry that specifies the shape to be drawn-->
        </Path.Data>
    </Path>
</dxwui:AppBarButton>
<dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Segoe UI Symbol">
    &#xE128;
</dxwui:AppBarButton>
<dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Image">
    <Image Source="{dx:DXImageGrayscale Image=ZoomIn_32x32.png}"/>
</dxwui:AppBarButton>

The following image illustrates buttons with different content.

AppBar_DifferentContent

The AppBarToggleButton is a button that supports two states (checked and unchecked), using the AppBarToggleButton.IsChecked property. The AppBarToggleButton is typically used to represent Boolean options.

When an end-user toggles the AppBarToggleButton, its IsChecked property of the Boolean type changes accordingly. To respond to a check state toggle, handle the AppBarToggleButton.Checked and AppBarToggleButton.Unchecked events.

AppBar_ToggleButton

The app bar buttons are capable of displaying flyouts when clicked. The button’s Flyout property allows you to associate the Flyout or MenuFlyout control with the button. See sample code below.

XAML

<dxwui:AppBarButton Label="Rotate" Glyph="{dx:DXImage Image=DrillDown_32x32.png}" >
    <dxwui:AppBarButton.Flyout>
        <dxwui:MenuFlyout ShowIndicator="True">
            <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="90° clockwise"/>
            <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="90° counter clockwise" />
            <dxwui:MenuFlyoutSeparator />
            <dxwui:MenuFlyoutItem Content="Reset"/>
        </dxwui:MenuFlyout>
    </dxwui:AppBarButton.Flyout>
</dxwui:AppBarButton>

Predefined Buttons

The app bar provides two predefined buttons: the Back button and the Exit button. The label, content, position in the app bar, and action of these buttons are predefined. To display these buttons, use the AppBar.IsBackButtonEnabled and AppBar.IsExitButtonEnabled properties.

In multi-screen applications, if you use the NavigationFrame to implement navigation between screens, you can display the Back button in the app bar. The Back button returns an end-user to the previous page of the application. To enable the Back button, set the AppBar.IsBackButtonEnabled property to true. If it is possible to return to the previous page, the Back button is displayed at the leftmost position of the app bar; otherwise, the Back button is hidden. See the Navigation topic to learn more about navigation between screens.

When you implement a Windows Store style application, you may wish to display your window without a border by setting the Window‘s WindowStyle property to None. When a window is rendered without its border, the common Minimize, Maximize, Restore and Close buttons are not displayed. In this case, you can provide an end-user with the predefined app bar Exit button. If the AppBar.IsExitButtonEnabled property is set to true, the Exit button is displayed at the rightmost position of the app bar and closes the window on button click.

AppBar_PredefinedButtons

Arranging Buttons in an App Bar

The AppBar.ItemSpacing property allows you to adjust the distance between items in the AppBar. In normal mode, buttons in the AppBar are displayed with labels and spacing between them is specified by the AppBar.ItemSpacing property. The AppBar can also be rendered in compact mode. In this mode, buttons in the AppBar are displayed without labels and the spacing between them is reduced. To display the AppBar in compact mode, set the AppBar.IsCompact property to true. The following images demonstrate the same app bar displayed in regular mode and compact mode.

AppBar_NormalMode

AppBar_CompactMode

The AppBarSeparator allows you to separate sets of app bar buttons, if the app bar displays a large number of commands.

AppBar_Separator

To specify alignment of app bar buttons and separators relative to the app bar, use the AppBarButton.Alignment and AppBarSeparator.Alignment properties.

WPF Themes

The app bar and its buttons are colored according to the Theme applied in the application. Here is the same app bar displayed in different themes: MetropolisDark, Office2013DarkGray and VS2010.

AppBar_Themes

If you do not apply a Theme explicitly, the default Theme is used.

AppBar_DefaultTheme

To learn more, see the List of DevExpress WPF Themes topic.

Applying Data Templates to App Bar Buttons

If you assign an Object other than a String to the AppBarButton.Label property, you may wish to apply a data template to render the label. The AppBarButton.LabelTemplate property provides this functionality.

To implement this feature, first declare a data template in XAML. Then assign this template to the AppBarButton.LabelTemplate property and set the AppBarButton.Label property to an object representing the label.

The following example shows how to declare a custom data template that renders the button’s label as a StackPanel containing two TextBlocks. The contents of these TextBlocks are obtained from a custom Label class:

namespace AppBar_LabelTemplate {
    // ...
    public class Label {
        public string LabelText { get; set; }
        public string LabelHint { get; set; }
        public Label() { }
        public Label(string text, string hint) {
            LabelText = text;
            LabelHint = hint;
        }
    }
}

Namespace AppBar_LabelTemplate
    ' ...
    Public Class Label
        Public Property LabelText() As String
            Get
                Return m_LabelText
            End Get
            Set
                m_LabelText = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_LabelText As String
        Public Property LabelHint() As String
            Get
                Return m_LabelHint
            End Get
            Set
                m_LabelHint = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_LabelHint As String
        Public Sub New()
        End Sub
        Public Sub New(text As String, hint As String)
            LabelText = text
            LabelHint = hint
        End Sub
    End Class
End Namespace

xmlns:dxwui="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/windowsui"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:AppBar_LabelTemplate"

<Window.Resources>
    <DataTemplate x:Key="labelTemplate">
        <StackPanel>
            <TextBlock FontFamily="Segoe UI Symbol" FontSize="12" Foreground="Black" Text="{Binding LabelText}"/>
            <TextBlock FontFamily="Segoe UI Symbol" FontSize="8" Foreground="Gray" Text="{Binding LabelHint}"/>
        </StackPanel>
    </DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>

<dxwui:AppBar>
    <dxwui:AppBarButton LabelTemplate="{StaticResource ResourceKey=labelTemplate}">
        <dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
            <local:Label LabelText="Save" LabelHint="Ctrl+S"/>
        </dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
        &#xE105;
    </dxwui:AppBarButton>
</dxwui:AppBar>

If you wish to create several data templates and apply one of them according to your own logic, use the AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector property. To implement this approach, create a DataTemplateSelector descendant and override the SelectTemplate method in code. Then declare distinct templates in XAML. Assign the DataTemplateSelector descendant to the AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector property and set the AppBarButton.Label property to an object representing the label.

The following example shows how to declare several data templates that render the button’s label in different ways and implement the data template selector.

namespace AppBar_LabelTemplate {
    // ...
    public class Label {
        public string LabelText { get; set; }
        public string LabelHint { get; set; }
        public Label() { }
        public Label(string text, string hint) {
            LabelText = text;
            LabelHint = hint;
        }
    }
    public class MyLabelTemplateSelector : DataTemplateSelector {
        public DataTemplate DefaultTemplate { get; set; }
        public DataTemplate NoHintTemplate { get; set; }
        public override DataTemplate SelectTemplate(object item, DependencyObject container) {
            if (item != null & item is Label) {
                Label l = item as Label;
                return l.LabelHint == null ? NoHintTemplate : DefaultTemplate;
            }
            else return DefaultTemplate;
        }
    }
}

Namespace AppBar_LabelTemplate
    ' ...
    Public Class Label
        Public Property LabelText() As String
            Get
                Return m_LabelText
            End Get
            Set
                m_LabelText = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_LabelText As String
        Public Property LabelHint() As String
            Get
                Return m_LabelHint
            End Get
            Set
                m_LabelHint = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_LabelHint As String
        Public Sub New()
        End Sub
        Public Sub New(text As String, hint As String)
            LabelText = text
            LabelHint = hint
        End Sub
    End Class
    Public Class MyLabelTemplateSelector
        Inherits DataTemplateSelector
        Public Property DefaultTemplate() As DataTemplate
            Get
                Return m_DefaultTemplate
            End Get
            Set
                m_DefaultTemplate = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_DefaultTemplate As DataTemplate
        Public Property NoHintTemplate() As DataTemplate
            Get
                Return m_NoHintTemplate
            End Get
            Set
                m_NoHintTemplate = Value
            End Set
        End Property
        Private m_NoHintTemplate As DataTemplate
        Public Overrides Function SelectTemplate(item As Object, container As DependencyObject) As DataTemplate
            If item IsNot Nothing And TypeOf item Is Label Then
                Dim l As Label = TryCast(item, Label)
                Return If(l.LabelHint Is Nothing, NoHintTemplate, DefaultTemplate)
            Else
                Return DefaultTemplate
            End If
        End Function
    End Class
End Namespace

xmlns:dxwui="http://schemas.devexpress.com/winfx/2008/xaml/windowsui"
xmlns:local="clr-namespace:AppBar_LabelTemplate"

<Window.Resources>
    <DataTemplate x:Key="labelTemplate">
        <StackPanel>
            <TextBlock FontFamily="Segoe UI Symbol" FontSize="12" Foreground="Black" Text="{Binding LabelText}"/>
            <TextBlock FontFamily="Segoe UI Symbol" FontSize="8" Foreground="Gray" Text="{Binding LabelHint}"/>
        </StackPanel>
    </DataTemplate>
    <DataTemplate x:Key="noHintLabelTemplate">
        <TextBlock FontFamily="Segoe UI Symbol" FontSize="12" Foreground="Black" Text="{Binding LabelText}"/>
    </DataTemplate>
</Window.Resources>

<dxwui:AppBar>
    <dxwui:AppBarButton>
        <dxwui:AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector>
            <local:MyLabelTemplateSelector DefaultTemplate="{StaticResource ResourceKey=labelTemplate}" NoHintTemplate="{StaticResource ResourceKey=noHintLabelTemplate}"/>
        </dxwui:AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector>
        <dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
            <local:Label LabelText="Save" LabelHint="Ctrl+S"/>
        </dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
        &#xE105;
    </dxwui:AppBarButton>
    <dxwui:AppBarButton>
        <dxwui:AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector>
            <local:MyLabelTemplateSelector DefaultTemplate="{StaticResource ResourceKey=labelTemplate}" NoHintTemplate="{StaticResource ResourceKey=noHintLabelTemplate}"/>
        </dxwui:AppBarButton.LabelTemplateSelector>
        <dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
            <local:Label LabelText="Settings"/>
        </dxwui:AppBarButton.Label>
        &#xE115;
    </dxwui:AppBarButton>
</dxwui:AppBar>

Applying Styles to App Bar Buttons

You can apply Styles to the AppBarButton and AppBarToggleButton. The Style class allows you to set common settings for several instances of buttons. By using Styles, you can create a set of buttons with predefined content, and use these buttons in multiple places in your application. The following example shows how to implement this approach. A base Style (with the AppBarButtonStyle key) specifies the AppBarButton.FontFamily and AppBarButton.FontSize properties. Two other Styles (with the HomeAppBarButtonStyle and FindAppBarButtonStyle keys), based on this one, specify the AppBarButton.Content and AppBarButton.Label properties.

XAML

<!--Define Styles in a resources dictionary-->
<Window.Resources>
    <Style x:Key="AppBarButtonStyle" TargetType="dxwui:AppBarButton">
        <Setter Property="FontFamily" Value="Segoe UI Symbol"/>
        <Setter Property="FontSize" Value="14"/>
    </Style>
    <Style x:Key="HomeAppBarButtonStyle"
              TargetType="dxwui:AppBarButton"
              BasedOn="{StaticResource AppBarButtonStyle}">
        <Setter Property="Content" Value="&#xE10F;"/>
        <Setter Property="Label" Value="Home"/>
    </Style>
    <Style x:Key="FindAppBarButtonStyle"
              TargetType="dxwui:AppBarButton"
              BasedOn="{StaticResource AppBarButtonStyle}">
        <Setter Property="Content" Value="&#xE11A;"/>
        <Setter Property="Label" Value="Find"/>
    </Style>
</Window.Resources>

<!--Use defined Styles in your application-->
<dxwui:AppBar>
    <dxwui:AppBarButton Style="{StaticResource ResourceKey=HomeAppBarButtonStyle}"/>
    <dxwui:AppBarButton Style="{StaticResource ResourceKey=FindAppBarButtonStyle}"/>
</dxwui:AppBar>

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Controls

Tools

Controls and Extensions

Tools

Maintenance Mode

Overview

Adding an App Bar

Showing and Hiding an App Bar

App Bar Buttons

Predefined Buttons

Arranging Buttons in an App Bar

WPF Themes

Applying Data Templates to App Bar Buttons

Applying Styles to App Bar Buttons