Theming System

Overview

The theming system has three layers that work together:

• BeepThemesManager — Static manager that discovers IBeepTheme implementations via assembly reflection, fires ThemeChanged events
• BeepStyling — Central coordinator with 130+ painter classes across 27 design systems (Material3, Fluent2, iOS15, AntDesign, ChakraUI, etc.)
• BaseControl / BeepiFormPro — All controls and forms subscribe to theme events and re-render automatically

BeepThemesManager — Theme Discovery & Switching

BeepThemesManager is a static class in TheTechIdea.Beep.Winform.Controls.ThemeManagement. On startup it scans all loaded assemblies for classes implementing IBeepTheme and collects them automatically.

using TheTechIdea.Beep.Winform.Controls.ThemeManagement;

// Call once at startup — scans assemblies via reflection
BeepThemesManager.InitializeThemes();

// Switch theme at runtime — all controls respond automatically
BeepThemesManager.ApplyTheme("MaterialBlue");

// Listen for theme changes
BeepThemesManager.ThemeChanged += (sender, theme) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Theme changed to: {theme.ThemeName}");
};

// Listen for form style changes
BeepThemesManager.FormStyleChanged += (sender, style) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Form style changed to: {style}");
};

Key Members

IBeepTheme Interface

Every theme implements IBeepTheme. You can create custom themes by inheriting BeepThemeBase:

using TheTechIdea.Beep.Vis.Modules2;

public class MyCustomTheme : BeepThemeBase, IBeepTheme
{
    public MyCustomTheme()
    {
        ThemeName = "MyCustomTheme";
        
        // Colors
        PrimaryColor = Color.FromArgb(99, 102, 241);
        SecondaryColor = Color.FromArgb(139, 92, 246);
        BackgroundColor = Color.FromArgb(249, 250, 251);
        SurfaceColor = Color.White;
        TextColor = Color.FromArgb(31, 41, 55);
        
        // Typography
        FontFamily = "Inter";
        FontSize = 14f;
        
        // Borders
        BorderRadius = 8;
        BorderWidth = 1;
        BorderColor = Color.FromArgb(229, 231, 235);
    }
}

Themes are auto-discovered: just compile them into any assembly loaded by your app and call InitializeThemes(). No manual registration needed.

BeepStyling — 27 Design Systems

BeepStyling is a static class in TheTechIdea.Beep.Winform.Controls.Styling that coordinates 130+ painter classes across 7 categories:

Additionally, 5 helper systems provide shared utilities: Colors, Spacing, Borders, Shadows, and Typography.

using TheTechIdea.Beep.Winform.Controls.Styling;

// Set the global control style — all painters switch to match
BeepStyling.SetControlStyle(BeepControlStyle.Material3);

// Listen for style changes
BeepStyling.ControlStyleChanged += (s, style) =>
{
    Console.WriteLine($"Control style: {style}");
};

BaseControl Painter Kinds

Every control inheriting from BaseControl has a PainterKind property that selects the visual strategy:

var card = new BeepPanel();
card.PainterKind = BaseControlPainterKind.Card;       // Card with shadow
card.Size = new Size(300, 200);

var btn = new BeepButton();
btn.PainterKind = BaseControlPainterKind.Glassmorphism; // Frosted glass
btn.Text = "Glass Button";

BeepiFormPro Form Styles

BeepiFormPro supports 35+ form styles via the FormStyle enum. Each style has a dedicated form painter:

public class MyApp : BeepiFormPro
{
    public MyApp()
    {
        FormStyle = FormStyle.Cyberpunk; // Try any style
    }
}

Key Classes Summary