WinApplication.UseLightStyle Property

Enables the Light Style in a WinForms application.

Namespace: DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win

Assembly: DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win.v25.1.dll

NuGet Packages: DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win, DevExpress.ExpressApp.Win.Design

Declaration

C#

[Browsable(false)]
public bool UseLightStyle { get; set; }

VB.NET

<Browsable(False)>
Public Property UseLightStyle As Boolean

Property Value

Type	Description
Boolean	true, if the Light Style is enabled for a WinForms application; otherwise, false.

Remarks

The UseLightStyle property is bound to DockingViewStyle.

UseLightStyle value	WindowsFormsSettings.DockingViewStyle value
true	DockingViewStyle.Light
false	DockingViewStyle.Default

The Template Kit enables the Light Style for all new XAF WinForms applications. For this purpose, the wizard generates new projects with the FrameworkSettings.DefaultSettingsCompatibilityMode property set to Latest.

The Light Style uses the following templates:

• LightStyleMainForm - in applications with the Standard UI;
• LightStyleMainRibbonForm - in applications with the Ribbon UI.

The image below demonstrates the difference between a Layout with enabled and disabled Light Style:

The UseLightStyle property affects which built-in Controller XAF uses: the ChooseSkinController or the ConfigureSkinController.

UseLightStyle value	Built-in Controller
true	ConfigureSkinController
false	ChooseSkinController

The ConfigureSkinController provides new WinForms skin and palette runtime skin selectors for Bar UI and Ribbon UI.

WinForms UI	Skin selector	Palette selector
Bar UI	SkinDropDownButtonItem	BarButtonItem with a Dropdown Gallery
Ribbon UI	SkinDropDownButtonItem	SkinPaletteRibbonGalleryBarItem

Bar UI

Ribbon UI

If you want to enable the Light Style for an existing application, refer to the How to migrate a WinForms application to use the Light Style KB article.