How to: Custom Paint a Menu Bar of a Sub-Menu

• Nov 13, 2018
• 2 minutes to read

This example shows you how to paint the menu bar using the BarCustomContainerItem.PaintMenuBar event. The sample handler fills the background of the bar with a texture and linear gradient brush. Then it paints the name of the container item, whose menu is displayed.

The image below demonstrates code execution. (Note that the BarCustomContainerItem.MenuBarWidth property of corresponding container items must be set to 20 to obtain similar output).

C#

using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
using DevExpress.XtraBars;

readonly Image textureImage = Image.FromFile(@"C:\Images\lblue.gif");
readonly Font textFont = new Font("Verdana", 11, FontStyle.Bold);
private void BarSubItem1_PaintMenuBar(object sender, BarCustomDrawEventArgs e) {
   // creating a texture brush and filling the background with an image
    using(var textureBrush = new TextureBrush(textureImage))
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(textureBrush, e.Bounds);
    // filling the background with a linear gradient brush
    using(var lBrush = new LinearGradientBrush(e.Bounds,
        Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 0, 0), Color.Blue, LinearGradientMode.Vertical))
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(lBrush, e.Bounds);

    // formatting the output string
    using(var outStringFormat = new StringFormat()) {
        outStringFormat.Alignment = StringAlignment.Near;
        outStringFormat.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center;
        outStringFormat.FormatFlags |= StringFormatFlags.DirectionVertical;

        // transforming the painting surface and bounding rectangle
        // this allows you to provide the proper string orientation
        e.Graphics.RotateTransform(180);
        Rectangle rect = e.Bounds;
        rect.Offset(-rect.Width, -rect.Height);

        // determining the caption of the owning container item and painting it
        BarItem item = sender as BarItem;
        string outString = item.Caption.Replace("&", "") + " menu";
        e.Graphics.DrawString(outString, textFont,
            Brushes.White, rect, outStringFormat);
        e.Graphics.ResetTransform();
    }

    // prohibiting default painting
    e.Handled = true;
}

VB.NET

Imports System.Drawing
Imports System.Drawing.Drawing2D

Private ReadOnly textureImage As Image = Image.FromFile("C:\Images\lblue.gif")
Private ReadOnly textFont As New Font("Verdana", 11, FontStyle.Bold)
Private Sub BarSubItem1_PaintMenuBar(ByVal sender As Object, _
 ByVal e As DevExpress.XtraBars.BarCustomDrawEventArgs) Handles BarSubItem1.PaintMenuBar
    ' creating a texture brush and filling the background with an image
    Using textureBrush = New TextureBrush(textureImage)
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(textureBrush, e.Bounds)
    End Using
    ' filling the background with a linear gradient brush
    Using lBrush = New LinearGradientBrush(e.Bounds, Color.FromArgb(0, 0, 0, 0), Color.Blue, LinearGradientMode.Vertical)
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(lBrush, e.Bounds)
    End Using

    ' formatting the output string
    Using outStringFormat = New StringFormat()
        outStringFormat.Alignment = StringAlignment.Near
        outStringFormat.LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center
        outStringFormat.FormatFlags = outStringFormat.FormatFlags Or StringFormatFlags.DirectionVertical

        ' transforming the painting surface and bounding rectangle
        ' this allows you to provide the proper string orientation
        e.Graphics.RotateTransform(180)
        Dim rect As Rectangle = e.Bounds
        rect.Offset(-rect.Width, -rect.Height)

        ' determining the caption of the owning container item and painting it
        Dim item As BarItem = TryCast(sender, BarItem)
        Dim outString As String = item.Caption.Replace("&", "") & " menu"
        e.Graphics.DrawString(outString, textFont, Brushes.White, rect, outStringFormat)
        e.Graphics.ResetTransform()
    End Using

    ' prohibiting default painting
    e.Handled = True
End Sub