Create a System-tray styled box in Winforms (C#)

Question

I\'ve been hunting about for some resources on this, and I can\'t find any, so I\'ll bring in here.

I want to make a window similar in style to the quick launch box

Answer 1

Assumptions :

1. this is a fixed size form, never re-sizable

2. you want this to work on XP as well as Vista (i.e., without using Vista specific techniques like 'Glass). I mention this because, after all, the System Tray does go back to the late paleolithic :)

Here's how :

1. create a Form the same size as your .png file

2. set the ControlBox, MaximizeBox, MinimizeBox properties to 'false

3. set FormBorderStyle to 'None

4. set the transparency key of the Form to some color, and set the background color of the Form to the same color : note use a color that does not occur in the .png file.

5. put a PictureBox on the Form, set its Dock property to 'Fill : set its Margin property #0 for all Margins : set its BackColor to 'Transparent : then, naturally, set the Image property of the PictureBox to your .png file.

NOTE :

If you have prepared your .png image so it is bounded by a transparent area so that it appears rounded : you can use that directly and skip over the whole step of actually making the Form a Rounded Rectangle by use of an API call to set the Region of the Form : this does mean your Form will have a standard rectangular bounding box. If you can live with this : this is a simpler solution. For how to set the Region : read on ...

6. see "How to make form rounded rectangle or round or triangle" here on SO for how to set the Region of the Form to a RoundedRect : this SO entry has several other links in it to code examples : the link mentioned by Zyphrax here uses the same basic technique.

7. experiment with the settings to the 'CreateRoundRect to get the rounded corner effect you want.