Oakrey.Applications.UI 3.0.5

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