Develop Reference

Aero borders cut off space from my WPF window

Unfortunately I can't provide screenshots for comparison now, since I'm unable to use Aero here at work, but I'm having the following problem:
I'm creating a small WPF application. My main window is not resizable, and the sizes and positions of everything inside are fixed. Everything works fine here using some pre-defined theme (it's "Windows Classic" most likely). Once I run the exe at home though - with Aero enabled - the border size is way bigger, but the actual total window size stays the same it seems to me. So the borders go "into" my window, shrinking the actual usable space and thus some of my controls are overlapped by the borders and it looks asymmetrical.
What can I do about this, if anything? Is there some option to make the borders be attached "outside" my used window space?
Edit: Here is an uploaded image of the Aero version. I hope the problem can be seen. (It's at the bottom)

In my opinion a static size is a bad way in wpf.
There are different solutions:
1. make your window a bit heigher or
2. reduce the margin between your used content elements or
2. use a dynamic size of your content. A grid with rowdefinitions set to "X*" where x is the height in propotion to total height of your content.
But im not sure ... you use a style in your app or is the style directly set into element? If you use a xaml stysle file, is it possible the style overrides your set position or margin properties?

How do I make a chamfered corner using XAML?

I'm trying to make a chamfered corner on a custom control for Windows Phone 8. I'd like to achieve something much like the following:
http://jdcard.com/engl3007/arpln02.gif (I cannot post images yet because of my reputation)
I know it's possible to create a rounded corner, but I haven't had much luck at creating a chamfered corner. I'd like the corner to be only on the bottom right. The control should resize according to its contents.

Why not just create a control which puts an image with the desired effect in the background and aligned to the appropriate corner?

Any descent WPF Custom Window Theme, no border transparent with resize on simulated borders?

I've been looking around for quite a while now and can't really find a complete example and may just be missing some small element.
I'm trying to create a WPF Theme/Style/ControlTemplate/etc for a WINDOW. The one where Window borders set to none, allow transparency, and background set to transparent. So, yes, this means I have to define the buttons, borders, background, etc as I've found in other samples.
I've found a few links that utilize (and have that working) through the use of a "Thumb" control anchored to the lower-right.
What I'm missing is how to do resize from the respective borders that are constructed within the new ControlTemplate of the theme. I do have the buttons working for things like min/max/restore/close, but can't quite get how to handle the resize.
Thanks

I've used this link once. If I remember well, the resize border could be set to work as an arbitrary amount of pixels from the sides of the Window, even without a "real" border element.
http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/131515/WPF-Custom-Chrome-Library

Control background not displaying the way I want

Ok so I have a custom control and I am applying a background gradient to it. The control that it is in is set to anchor left and right and the image is set to Stretch on the control.
Here is what the background image looks like when its in the normal size of the form.
Here is what the background image looks like when the control is stretched.
Obviously I want it to look like the top one as far as the edges go. I am using Inkscape to develop the background image. Any help on how to avoid this blurry edge would be much appreciated.

I suggest trying 9 images in your control, one for every edge and one for every corner plus the middle container, maybe you've seen this technique in a lot of websites. If you set all images with good anchor, the top and bottom edges will stretch only sideways and the right and left will stretch upward and downward. The corners would never change and the container would be completly stretchable. I am worried about flickering though since it is in a winform. Worth trying.
If you use a fixed image, even if it is bigger and you shrink it, you'll lose the corners proportions.

When the system resizes the image it is approximating the missing pixels in the new stretched image. There is nothing you can do to prevent the blurring from occurring. The only sensible option I think is adding the image in higher resolution (which should be easy since you use Inkscape to create them) and have the system shrink it instead of stretch it.

width of the dropdown arrow

So in winforms, every dropdown combobox has this little arrow thingy to the right that tells the user it's a dropdown, kinda like this:
Now how do I figure out how wide that is in pixels? Reason is, I'm using ControlDrawToBitmap, this doesn't draw the text properly for the combo boxes, and I can redraw the contents, I just whack some of the arrows (which are drawn properly).

First idea that comes to mind: Check to see if the combobox button width tracks with the scrollbar width. The scrollbar width can be modified in user preferences. Use GetSystemMetrics() API to get the width of the various scrollbar pieces. If you change your system scrollbar width and it does not affect the size of a normal combobox, then ignore this.
Second idea: use the edit control's formatting rect to find out what the edit control thinks is the usable display area (minus the combo box). See EM_GETRECT in MSDN.
However, it sounds like this is just a hack workaround for your real problem: If you could get the controls to draw correctly to bitmap, then you wouldn't need this hackery.

I calculated it to be 9 pixels wide in photoshop