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Oakrey.Applications.UI 3.0.6

Oakrey.Applications.UI

A WPF UI library for .NET 10 that provides a DarkWindow base class with native DWM Mica/Acrylic backdrops, a ready-made TabbedWindow with animated page transitions and automatic Windows light/dark theme tracking, a thread-safe notification bar service, and severity-typed message box and prompt dialogs.

• Package: Oakrey.Applications.UI
• Target framework: .NET 10 (Windows / WPF)
• License: MIT

Main features

• DarkWindow � Window subclass that calls into dwmapi.dll to extend the DWM frame, enable immersive dark mode, and apply a native backdrop (Mica by default). Requires no additional configuration.
• TabbedWindow � full-featured navigation shell with a side-menu tab list, animated page transitions (fade + slide), optional bottom and left widget slots, configurable menu width, app version label, and automatic Windows light/dark theme following via a registry watcher.
• BackgroundType � Auto, None, Mica, Acrylic, Tabbed � configurable per TabbedWindow instance via a dependency property.
• WindowsTheme � Auto, Light, Dark � trackable and overridable; theme changes raise ThemeChangedEventArgs.
• NotificationService � static service with Error, Warning, Info, Progress factory methods and persistent/cancellable variants. Thread-safe; works before a NotificationBar is registered (null-object pattern).
• NotificationBar � UserControl that self-registers with NotificationService on construction. Hosts an ObservableCollection<INotification> bound to the UI.
• INotification / INotificationBar � interfaces enabling custom notification rendering or testing without a real UI.
• MsgBox � static helper with Show / ShowDialog overloads accepting message, title, Severity, and optional details string. Marshals to the UI thread automatically.
• Prompt � static helper for typed input dialogs: String, Int, Double, ComboBox, dynamic enum buttons, and the standard YesNo, OkCancel, YesNoCancel, SaveCloseCancel button sets.
• LoggerMessageBoxExtensions � ILogger extension methods that log and immediately show a matching MsgBox: ShowError, ShowWarning, ShowInfo, ShowSuccess, ShowDialogError, etc.

Project structure

UI/
 DarkWindow.cs # DWM dark window base class
 Notifications/
 INotification.cs # Notification handle interface
 INotificationBar.cs # Bar registration interface
 Icon.cs # Notification icon enum
 IconConverter.cs # Icon-to-resource converter
 Notification.cs # Default INotification implementation
 NotificationBar.xaml/.cs # UserControl - rendered notification list
 NotificationService.cs # Static notification factory
 CloseNotification.cs # Close-button notification subtype
 Prompts/
 Severity.cs (in Prompt.cs) # ERROR / WARNING / EXCEPTION / SUCCESS / INFO
 Prompt.cs # Static typed input dialog helpers
 MsgBox.cs # Static message box helpers
 LoggerMessageBoxExtensions.cs # ILogger + MsgBox bridge extensions
 DynamicButtonsWindow.xaml/.cs # Enum-driven button dialog
 DynamicButtonsCreator.cs
 PromptBoxString/Int/Double.xaml/.cs
 ComboBoxWindow.xaml/.cs
 MessageBoxGeneral.xaml/.cs
 TabbedWindow/
 TabbedWindow.cs # Main navigation shell Window
 TabWindowItem.cs # Tab descriptor (label, glyph, page Uri)
 BackgroundType.cs # DWM backdrop enum
 WindowsTheme.cs # Theme enum
 ThemeWatcher.cs # Registry-based theme change watcher
 ThemeChangedEventArgs.cs
 DwmNative.cs # P/Invoke wrappers for dwmapi.dll
 Glyph.cs / GlyphConverter.cs # Icon glyph support

Architecture

graph TD
 App["Your App.xaml.cs"] --> TabbedWindow
 App --> DarkWindow

 TabbedWindow --> ThemeWatcher["ThemeWatcher<br>(registry watcher)"]
 TabbedWindow --> DwmNative["DwmNative<br>(dwmapi P/Invoke)"]
 TabbedWindow --> TabWindowItem["TabWindowItem list<br>(label, glyph, page Uri)"]

 DarkWindow --> dwmapi["dwmapi.dll<br>(DwmExtendFrameIntoClientArea<br>DwmSetWindowAttribute)"]

 NotificationBar["NotificationBar (UserControl)"] --> NotificationService["NotificationService (static)"]
 NotificationService --> INotificationBar
 NotificationService --> INotification

 MsgBox["MsgBox (static)"] --> Invoker["Oakrey.Async.Windows.Invoker<br>(UI thread marshal)"]
 Prompt["Prompt (static)"] --> Invoker
 LoggerExt["LoggerMessageBoxExtensions"] --> MsgBox
 LoggerExt --> ILogger["Oakrey.Log.ILogger"]

Requirements

• .NET 10 or higher
• Windows (WPF)
• Windows 11 or Windows 10 build 22000+ recommended for Mica/Acrylic backdrops

Installation

.NET CLI

dotnet add package Oakrey.Applications.UI

Package Manager Console

Install-Package Oakrey.Applications.UI

NuGet Package Manager

1. Open Visual Studio.
2. Navigate to Tools > NuGet Package Manager > Manage NuGet Packages for Solution.
3. Search for Oakrey.Applications.UI and click Install.

Example usage

DarkWindow

Inherit from DarkWindow instead of Window. No additional code is required; the Mica backdrop and dark title bar are applied automatically.

<ui:DarkWindow x:Class="MyApp.MainWindow"
 xmlns:ui="clr-namespace:Oakrey.Applications.UI;assembly=Oakrey.Applications.UI"
 Title="My App" Width="1000" Height="700">
 
</ui:DarkWindow>

TabbedWindow

<ui:TabbedWindow x:Class="MyApp.MainWindow"
 xmlns:ui="clr-namespace:Oakrey.Applications.UI.TabbedWindow;assembly=Oakrey.Applications.UI"
 Theme="Auto"
 BackgroundType="Mica"
 AppVersion="1.0.0"
 MenuWidth="220">
 <ui:TabbedWindow.Tabs>
 <ui:TabWindowItem Label="Dashboard" Page="/Pages/DashboardPage.xaml"/>
 <ui:TabWindowItem Label="Settings" Page="/Pages/SettingsPage.xaml"/>
 </ui:TabbedWindow.Tabs>
</ui:TabbedWindow>

NotificationBar

Place the control once in your shell window XAML. It self-registers with NotificationService on construction.

<notifications:NotificationBar
 xmlns:notifications="clr-namespace:Oakrey.Applications.UI.Notifications;assembly=Oakrey.Applications.UI"
 VerticalAlignment="Bottom"/>

Trigger notifications from anywhere in the application:

NotificationService.Info("File loaded successfully.");
NotificationService.ErrorPersistent("Connection lost.");

INotification progress = NotificationService.ProgressCancellable("Uploading...");
// later:
progress.Close();

MsgBox

MsgBox.Show("Operation failed.", Severity.ERROR, exception.Message);
MsgBox.ShowDialog("Confirm deletion?", "Delete record", Severity.WARNING);

Prompt

if (Prompt.String(out string? name, "Enter your name", "Name"))
{
 // name is set
}

if (Prompt.Int(out int count, "Enter count", "Count"))
{
 // count is set
}

if (Prompt.YesNo(out YesNo result, "Save changes?", "Confirm"))
{
 // result == YesNo.Yes or YesNo.No
}

ILogger extensions

// Logs via Oakrey.Log and shows a MsgBox in one call
logger.ShowError("Export failed", exception);
logger.ShowWarning("Low disk space", "Only {0} MB remaining", freeMb);

Development notes

• NotificationService uses a null-object NullNotificationBar before any NotificationBar is registered, so notification calls are always safe and do not throw.
• All MsgBox and Prompt methods marshal to the UI thread internally via Oakrey.Async.Windows.Invoker, making them safe to call from background threads.
• ThemeWatcher monitors HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize via WMI event subscription and raises ThemeChanged on change.
• DwmNative and DarkWindow both call dwmapi.dll directly via P/Invoke. AllowUnsafeBlocks is required and is already set in the project file.
• To create a custom notification renderer, implement INotificationBar and register it with NotificationService.RegisterNotificationBar(bar).

Project information

• Author: Oakrey
• Company: Oakrey
• License: MIT
• NuGet: Oakrey.Applications.UI
• Repository: Azure DevOps