Use the SelForeColor and SelBackColor properties to define colors for the selected items. The control highlights the selected items only if the SelBackColor and BackColor properties have different values, and the SelForeColor and ForeColor properties have different values. The SelBackColor property may display transparent areas using EBN files. The SelForeColor property is applied only if it is different that the control's foreground color. Use the SingleSel property to specify whether the control supports single or multiple selection. Use the SelectItem property to programmatically select an item giving its handle. The SelectedItem and SelectCount properties get the collection of selected items. Use the FocusItem property to get the focused item. The control fires the SelectionChanged event when user changes the selection. Use the SelectableItem property to specify the user can select an item. How do I assign a new look for the selected item?

The following VB sample changes the visual appearance for the selected item. The SelBackColor property indicates the selection background color. Shortly, we need to add a skin to the Appearance object using the Add method, and we need to set the last 7 bits in the SelBackColor property indicates the index of the skin that we want to use. The sample applies the "" to the selected item(s):

With Grid1
    With .VisualAppearance
        .Add &H23, App.Path + "\selected.ebn"
    End With
    .SelForeColor = RGB(0, 0, 0)
    .SelBackColor = .SelBackColor Or &H23000000
End With

The sample adds the skin with the index 35 ( Hexa 23 ), and applies to the selected item using the SelBackColor property.

The following C++ sample applies a new appearance to the selected item(s):

#include "Appearance.h"
m_grid.GetVisualAppearance().Add( 0x23, COleVariant(_T("D:\\Temp\\ExGrid_Help\\selected.ebn")) );
m_grid.SetSelBackColor( m_grid.GetSelBackColor() | 0x23000000 );
m_grid.SetSelForeColor( 0 );

The following VB.NET sample applies a new appearance to the selected item(s):

With AxGrid1
    With .VisualAppearance
        .Add(&H23, "D:\Temp\ExGrid_Help\selected.ebn")
    End With
    .SelForeColor = Color.Black
    .Template = "SelBackColor = 587202560"
End With

The VB.NET sample uses the Template property to assign a new value to the SelBackColor property. The 587202560 value represents &23000000 in hexadecimal. 

The following C# sample applies a new appearance to the selected item(s):

axGrid1.VisualAppearance.Add(0x23, "D:\\Temp\\ExGrid_Help\\selected.ebn");
axGrid1.Template = "SelBackColor = 587202560";

The following VFP sample applies a new appearance to the selected item(s):

With thisform.Grid1
    With .VisualAppearance
        .Add(35, "D:\Temp\ExGrid_Help\selected.ebn")
    EndWith
    .SelForeColor = RGB(0, 0, 0)
    .SelBackColor = .SelBackColor + 587202560
EndWith

How do I assign a new look for the selected item?

 

The component supports skinning parts of the control, including the selected item. Shortly, the idea is that identifier of the skin being added to the Appearance collection is stored in the first significant byte of property of the color type. In our case, we know that the SelBackColor property changes the background color for the selected item. This is what we need to change. In other words, we need to change the visual appearance for the selected item, and that means changing the background color of the selected item. So, the following code ( blue code ) changes the appearance for the selected item:

With Grid1
    .VisualAppearance.Add &H34, App.Path + "\aqua.ebn"
    .SelBackColor = &H34000000
End With

Please notice that the 34 hexa value is arbitrary chosen, it is not a predefined value. Shortly, we have added a skin with the identifier 34, and we specified that the SelBackColor property should use that skin, in order to change the visual appearance for the selected item. Also, please notice that the 34 value is stored in the first significant byte, not in other position. For instance, the following sample doesn't use any skin when displaying the selected item:

With Grid1
    .VisualAppearance.Add &H34, App.Path + "\aqua.ebn"
    .SelBackColor = &H34
End With  

This code ( red code ) DOESN'T use any skin, because the 34 value is not stored in the higher byte of the color value. The sample just changes the background color for the selected item to some black color ( RGB(0,0,34 ) ). So, please pay attention when you want to use a skin and when to use a color. Simple, if you are calling &H34000000, you have 34 followed by 6 ( six ) zeros, and that means the first significant byte of the color expression. Now, back to the problem. The next step is how we are creating skins? or EBN files? The Exontrol's exbutton component includes a builder tool that saves skins to EBN files. So, if you want to create new skin files, you need to download and install the exbutton component from our web site. Once that the exbutton component is installed, please follow the steps.

Let's say that we have a BMP file, that we want to stretch on the selected item's background.

1. Open the VB\Builder or VC\Builder sample
2. Click the New File button ( on the left side in the toolbar ), an empty skin is created. 
3. Locate the Background tool window and select the Picture\Add New item in the menu, the Open file dialog is opened.
4. Select the picture file ( GIF, BMP, JPG, JPEG ). You will notice that the visual appearance of the focused object in the skin is changed, actually the picture you have selected is tiled on the object's background.
5. Select the None item, in the Background tool window, so the focused object in the skin is not displaying anymore the picture being added.
6. Select the Root item in the skin builder window ( in the left side you can find the hierarchy of the objects that composes the skin ), so the Root item is selected, and so focused.
7. Select the picture file you have added at the step 4, so the Root object is filled with the picture you have chosen.
8. Resize the picture in the Background tool window, until you reach the view you want to have, no black area, or change the CX and CY fields in the Background tool window, so no black area is displayed.
9. Select Stretch button in the Background tool window, so the Root object stretches the picture you have selected.
10. Click the Save a file button, and select a name for the new skin, click the Save button after you typed the name of the skin file. Add the .ebn extension.
11. Close the builder

You can always open the skin with the builder and change it later, in case you want to change it.

Now, create a new project, and insert the component where you want to use the skin, and add the skin file to the Appearance collection of the object, using blue code, by changing the name of the file or the path where you have selected the skin. Once that you have added the skin file to the Appearance collection, you can change the visual appearance for parts of the controls that supports skinning. Usually the properties that changes the background color for a part of the control supports skinning as well.