Create TPanel which looks like TMainMenu?

Question

I want to create a component which looks similar to TMainMenu but is based on TPanel. TMainMenu under Windows 7 has a gradient of colors.

How can I achieve similar effect for TPanel? Not any gradient but a Windows gradient so it looks like a native component.

I also tried TMainMenu.PaintTo but this method is not available.

Answer 1

This is actually easy thanks to the UxTheme API (uses UxTheme).

Using OpenThemeData and DrawThemeBackground,

procedure TForm1.FormPaint(Sender: TObject);
begin

  var R := Rect(0, 0, ClientWidth, 32);

  var h := OpenThemeData(Handle, 'MENU');
  if h <> 0 then
    try
      DrawThemeBackground(h, Canvas.Handle, MENU_BARBACKGROUND, MB_ACTIVE, R, nil);
    finally
      CloseThemeData(h);
    end;

end;

produces

Of course, in a real application, you would refactor this. For instance, you wouldn't hardcode the 32 constant; instead, you'd determine the appropriate menu bar height given current DPI scaling,