Skins and Themes
The legacy PPJ Windows desktop integration uses Skin-Soft Visual Styler to change the appearance of supported controls. PPJ Web uses Wisej.NET themes instead. These are separate rendering systems, not interchangeable skin files.
However, when skinning a migrated application that may use a user-define color scheme and may override Windows painting there may be problems with the skinning engine that may have to be resolved by cleaning up the application's code.
The skinner can be configured programmatically or by configuration file. Programmatically you can load skin files, remove or apply skinning to specific controls and forms, and tweak several low-level parameters to adapt the skinning process to your application. Using the external application's configuration file to configure skinning allows you to modify the application's skinning features without recompilation.
Compatibility
The skinning discussion describes a legacy Windows desktop integration. References to Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Office 2007 record its history, not current supported operating systems. Confirm compatibility with the installed PPJ release and supported Windows version.
Skin Files
Skin files are regular XML files ending with the .vssf extension. Available skins depend on the distribution. See Skin Files for loading and importing compatible files.
Applies only to PPJ WinForms.
Theme Files
Theme files are regular JSON files using the format defined by the Wisej.NET Theme System. The distribution includes built-in themes. You can extend the existing themes or create new ones using the free Theme Builder application.
Applies only to PPJ Web.
Help and API
We have made the integration as simple as possible and exposed the original Visual Styler component to use advanced features. Use the API and vendor help shipped with the installed component.
Configuration and Settings
To enable skinning simply add SalApplication.SkinApplication = true to the Main method or prior to the creation of the first form. In alternative you can enable and control skinning by using the new settings App.config. See Configuration.
Choosing the Correct System
WinForms skins and Wisej.NET themes are separate formats and rendering systems. Do not apply desktop SalSkinner configuration to a browser UI. In either target, test contrast, focus indicators, disabled controls, text clipping, and scaling after a theme change.