Skin Files
Screenshots and diagrams on this page illustrate the historical desktop tools or conversion workflow; installed versions may look different.
Applies only to PPJ WinForms.
The included skin files are available in the /Skins folder in the PPJ Framework installation. We provide skins for Office2007, Aero, Mac OSX and Vista. Each skin has several color scheme variations.
Additional skins can be downloaded from our web sites in the customers' support area in the resources section.
The three Office 2007 skins (blue, silver and black) are embedded in the PPJ Framework because we need them to synchronize the forms skinning with the Ribbon Bar visual styles.
In addition to the skins provided, you can import compatible .msstyles files or create your own. Availability on the internet does not establish format compatibility or permission to redistribute a skin.
Starting from PPJ 2014, Office 2010 (blue) skin was added.
The .msstyles format is Windows standard styles files format. The legacy importer targets supported Windows visual-style formats; modern .msstyles files are not necessarily compatible.
By default, when skinning is turned on, the skinning engine will use the built-in Office 2007 (Blue) skin. You can change the skin by calling:
SalApplication.LoadSkinFile(filePath);
To load the built-in Office 2007 styles you can simply use:
SalApplication.LoadSkinResource("Office2007Blue");
When using SalApplication.LoadSkin() methods the skinner is automatically enabled. There is no need to also use SalApplication.SkinApplication = true.
Import Windows XP Styles
You can import and convert most .msstyles files into .vssf files by using the ShowStyleImportDialog method directly on the VisualStyler object. See Visual Styler help for details on how to use this call.
Using the import dialog (shown in the image above) allows you to easily import and preview msstyles files as well as VisualStyler skins into your applications skins directory and resources.
Packaging
Keep external skin files in the deployed location or embed them with the resource names expected by the loader. Test loading without the development installation present. Record the skin source and permitted use alongside the application resources.