D2006: How to disable the IDEs gradient toolbars

A newsgroup poster recently asked if he could disable the gradient toolbars for BDS 2006. Unfortunately this is not possible within the IDE but it is possible with a little bit of code.

This post will probably not format too well!

1. Save the code below in a unit called TBCAddIn.
2. Create a New Win32 Package
3. Add the TBCAddIn Unit to the Package
4. Install the Package into the IDE
5. Making the change configurable is an exercise left to the reader...

I installed the package and it worked. Restarting the IDE also showed the gradient disabled. Making additional toolbars visible while running the IDE also showed those toolbars with the gradient disabled.

Generated with HyperDelphi unit TBCAddIn; interface type TTBCConfig = class public class procedure SetGradient(const aVisible: Boolean); end; procedure Register; implementation uses Classes , Controls , ComCtrls , Windows , ExtCtrls ; procedure Register; begin // disable the toolbar gradient by default TTBCConfig.SetGradient(False); end; { TTBCConfig } const MAIN_WND_CLASS = 'TAppBuilder'; class procedure TTBCConfig.SetGradient(const aVisible: Boolean); var i: Integer; lWinCtrl: TWinControl; lWnd: Hwnd; lCtrlBar: TControlBar; begin lWnd := FindWindow(MAIN_WND_CLASS, nil); lWinCtrl := FindControl(lWnd); if lWinCtrl <> nil then begin lCtrlBar := nil; // find the control bar on the app builder form for i := 0 to lWinCtrl.ControlCount - 1 do begin if lWinCtrl.Controls[i] is TControlBar then begin lCtrlBar := TControlBar(lWinCtrl.Controls[i]); break; end; end; if lCtrlBar <> nil then begin // disable/enable gradient for controlbar depending on parameter if aVisible then lCtrlBar.DrawingStyle := ExtCtrls.dsGradient else lCtrlBar.DrawingStyle := ExtCtrls.dsNormal; for i := 0 to lCtrlBar.ControlCount - 1 do begin if lCtrlBar.Controls[i] is TToolbar then begin // disable/enable gradient for toolbars depending on parameter if aVisible then TToolbar(lCtrlBar.Controls[i]).DrawingStyle := ComCtrls.dsGradient else TToolbar(lCtrlBar.Controls[i]).DrawingStyle := ComCtrls.dsNormal; end; end; end; end; end; end.