C# Winform: How to set the Base Color of a TabControl (not the tabpage)

Question

It seems like a simple question but how do I set the bacground color of the \'tab control\', it seems to be derived from the standard window theme color. Is it Possible to c

Answer 1

I use something like this in mu TabControl derived class (and it will do gradients too):

protected override void OnDrawItem(DrawItemEventArgs e)
{
    // fill in the whole rect
    using (SolidBrush br = new SolidBrush(Theme.FormBackColor))
    {
        e.Graphics.FillRectangle(br, ClientRectangle);
    }

    // draw the tabs
    for (int i = 0; i < TabPages.Count; ++i)
    {
        TabPage tab = TabPages[i];
        // Get the text area of the current tab
        RectangleF tabTextArea = (RectangleF)GetTabRect(i);

        // determine how to draw the tab based on which type of tab it is
        Color tabTopBackColor = GetTopBackColor();
        Color tabBottomBackColor = GetBottomBackColor();
        Color tabTextColor = GetTextColor();

        // draw the background
        using (LinearGradientBrush br = new LinearGradientBrush(tabTextArea, tabTopBackColor, tabBottomBackColor, LinearGradientMode.Vertical))
        {
            e.Graphics.FillRectangle(br, tabTextArea);
        }

        // draw the tab header text
        using (SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(tabTextColor))
        {
            e.Graphics.DrawString(tab.Text, Font, brush, CreateTabHeaderTextRect(tabTextArea));
        }
    }
}

private RectangleF CreateTabHeaderTextRect(RectangleF tabTextArea)
{
    tabTextArea.X += 3;
    tabTextArea.Y += 1;

    tabTextArea.Height -= 1;

    return tabTextArea;
}