Change the color of the title bar (caption) of a win32 application

Question

I want to change the color of the title bar in my application as I have seen done in programs such as Skype Preview. I have found only one solution offered on the internet for this (WM_NCPAINT) which seems to require me to draw a completely custom title bar which is of course not ideal when all I want to do is change the background color. Is anyone aware of a better solution? Someone suggested hooking GetSysColor, but it is never called with an index of 2 (COLOR_ACTIVECAPTION) so the color is being retrieved from elsewhere.

Current title bar:

_{(source: pbrd.co)}

End goal:

Answer 1

The first thing I'm going to say is: You have been warned! This is an awfully laborious task. It's a long way from easy and much time was spent reading the Wine sources (linux implementation of native win32 functionality)

Seeing this question brought back 'fond' (read: exasperating!) memories of my efforts to achieve the same result. The process is a somewhat convoluted one and foisters upon you a great many more responsibilities than simply painting the title-bar. (I've included about 500 lines of code)

Amongst other things, you need to handle window activation/inactivation, sizing, NC area buttons, application icon and title-text.

Using some (drawing) utility functions in other files I've not included, the following was achieved:

Both of which are modifications to this dialog:

With the assistance of these (color-keyed) images: and some stretching/drawing (the image is divided into 9 pieces)

I note upon re-vising this code, that the borders are over-drawn by the client-area. I imagine, because I've not sized it correctly in response to the WM_NCCALCSIZE message. I also used another image which did indeed have borders of 8pixels wide, rather than the 14 that these two show. (You can see the commented-out code in response to the message I mentioned)

The idea is that first, we sub-class the standard dialog-box's WindowProc. In this subclassed handler, we tell the Desktop Window Manager to disable composition for our window, we setup a layered window (this is how the black one appears semi-transparent) and then finally, do the non-client drawing ourselves in response to a WM_NCPAINT message.

I'll also point out that for reasons that have long since escaped me, I wasn't especially satisfied with the functioning of the code.

With that said, here's some code to sink your teeth into:

#define _WIN32_WINNT 0x0501 #define UNICODE 1 #include <windows.h> #include <commctrl.h> #include <stdio.h> #include "resource.h" #include "../graphics/graphics.h" #include <dwmapi.h> using namespace Gdiplus;  HINSTANCE hInst; LRESULT CALLBACK DlgSubclassProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam, UINT_PTR uIdSubclass, DWORD_PTR dwRefData); LRESULT onNcPaint(HWND hwnd, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam);  HBITMAP frameImg, frameRedImg, frameOrigImg; int frameIndex = 0;   //HRESULT DwmEnableComposition(UINT uCompositionAction);  typedef HRESULT (WINAPI *pFnDwmEnableComposition)(UINT uCompAction); typedef HRESULT (WINAPI *pFnDwmSetWindowAttribute)(HWND hwnd, DWORD dwAttribute, LPCVOID pvAttribute, DWORD cbAttribute);  #define WM_DMWNCRENDERINGCHANGED 0x31F // wParam = 1 (fRenderingEnabled = true) // wParam = 0 (fRenderingEnabled = false)   HRESULT EnableNcDwm(HWND hwnd, bool enable) {     HMODULE dwmMod = LoadLibrary(L"dwmapi.dll");     if (dwmMod)     {         pFnDwmSetWindowAttribute DwmSetWindowAttribute;         DwmSetWindowAttribute = (pFnDwmSetWindowAttribute)GetProcAddress(dwmMod, "DwmSetWindowAttribute");         HRESULT hr = S_OK;        DWMNCRENDERINGPOLICY ncrp;        if (enable)             ncrp = DWMNCRP_ENABLED;        else             ncrp = DWMNCRP_DISABLED;         // Disable non-client area rendering on the window.        hr = DwmSetWindowAttribute(hwnd, DWMWA_NCRENDERING_POLICY, &ncrp, sizeof(ncrp));        FreeLibrary(dwmMod);        if (SUCCEEDED(hr))        {           return hr;        }    }    return S_FALSE; }  /* #define DWM_EC_DISABLECOMPOSITION 0 #define DWM_EC_ENABLECOMPOSITION 1 HRESULT EnableDWM(HWND hwnd, bool enable) {     HMODULE dwmMod = LoadLibrary(L"dwmapi.dll");     pFnDwmEnableComposition DwmEnableComposition;     DwmEnableComposition = (pFnDwmEnableComposition)GetProcAddress(dwmMod, "DwmEnableComposition");     HRESULT hr = S_OK;     // Disable DWM Composition     if (enable)         hr = DwmEnableComposition(DWM_EC_ENABLECOMPOSITION);     else         hr = DwmEnableComposition(DWM_EC_DISABLECOMPOSITION);     FreeLibrary(dwmMod);    return hr; } */  BOOL CALLBACK DlgMain(HWND hwndDlg, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {     static bool isSubclassed = false;     switch(uMsg)     {         case WM_DMWNCRENDERINGCHANGED:         {             long dwEx = GetWindowLong(hwndDlg, GWL_EXSTYLE);             dwEx &= ~(WS_EX_LAYERED);             SetWindowLong(hwndDlg, GWL_EXSTYLE, dwEx);             InvalidateRect(hwndDlg, NULL, true);             UpdateWindow(hwndDlg);             MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(hwndDlg);         }         return 0;     //     case WM_ERASEBKGND:    //         {    //             RECT rc;    //             GetClientRect(hwndDlg, &rc);    //             FillRect((HDC)wParam, &rc, (HBRUSH) COLOR_BACKGROUND);    //             return 1;    //         }          case WM_INITDIALOG:         {             mSetAnchorMode(GetDlgItem(hwndDlg, IDC_BUTTON1), ANCHOR_CENTER);         }         return TRUE;          case WM_SIZE:         {             //MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(hwndDlg);             DeferAnchorsMove(hwndDlg);         }         return TRUE;          case WM_CLOSE:         {             EndDialog(hwndDlg, 0);         }         return TRUE;          case WM_COMMAND:         {             switch(LOWORD(wParam))             {             case IDC_BUTTON1:                 if (isSubclassed == false)                 {                     SetWindowSubclass( hwndDlg, DlgSubclassProc, 1, NULL);                     EnableNcDwm(hwndDlg, false);                     frameIndex++;                     frameIndex &= 1;        // make sure it can only be in range [0..1]                 }                 else                 {                     RemoveWindowSubclass( hwndDlg, DlgSubclassProc, 1);                     EnableNcDwm(hwndDlg, true);                 }                 isSubclassed = !isSubclassed;                //   InvalidateRect(hwndDlg, NULL, true);              //   UpdateWindow(hwndDlg);              //   MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(hwndDlg);                 break;             }         }         return TRUE;     }      return FALSE; }  LRESULT CALLBACK DlgSubclassProc(HWND hwnd, UINT uMsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam, UINT_PTR uIdSubclass, DWORD_PTR dwRefData) {     static byte alpha = 255;     switch (uMsg)     {         case WM_ENTERSIZEMOVE:             printf("WM_ENTERSIZEMOVE\n");             return 0;             break;         case WM_EXITSIZEMOVE:             printf("WM_EXITSIZEMOVE\n");             return 0;             break;          case WM_MOUSEWHEEL:             if (((SHORT)(HIWORD(wParam))) > 0)             {                 if (alpha > 30)                     alpha -= 5;             }             else if (alpha < 255)                 alpha += 5;             SetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd, RGB(255,0,255), alpha, LWA_COLORKEY|LWA_ALPHA);             UpdateWindow(hwnd);             return 0;          case WM_DMWNCRENDERINGCHANGED:             {                // printf("WM_DMWNCRENDERINGCHANGED\n");                 long dwEx = GetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE);                 dwEx |= WS_EX_LAYERED;                 SetWindowLong(hwnd, GWL_EXSTYLE, dwEx);                 SetLayeredWindowAttributes(hwnd, RGB(255,0,255), alpha, LWA_COLORKEY|LWA_ALPHA);                 //MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(hwnd);                 DeferAnchorsMove(hwnd);                 InvalidateRect(hwnd, NULL, true);                 UpdateWindow(hwnd); //                showWndRect(hwnd);                 return 0;             }             break;          case WM_NCACTIVATE:         case WM_NCPAINT:           //  printf("WM_NCPAINT -");           //  printf("wParam: 0x%08d lParam 0x%08x\n", wParam, lParam);             onNcPaint(hwnd, wParam, lParam);             return 0;          case WM_NCCALCSIZE:             {                 RECT *rc = (RECT*)lParam;                 rc->left += 8;             // frame image margin widths                 rc->top += 30;                 rc->right -= 8;                 rc->bottom -= 8;  //                rc->left += 14;             // frame image margin widths //               rc->top += 39; //                rc->right -= 14; //                rc->bottom -= 14;             }             return (WVR_HREDRAW | WVR_VREDRAW);          case WM_NCHITTEST:             {                 POINT mousePos, rawMousePos;                 RECT clientRect, windowRect;                  mousePos.x = LOWORD(lParam);                 mousePos.y = HIWORD(lParam);                 rawMousePos = mousePos;                  GetClientRect(hwnd, &clientRect);                 GetWindowRect(hwnd, &windowRect);                 ScreenToClient(hwnd, &mousePos);                  if ((mousePos.x < clientRect.left) && (rawMousePos.y < windowRect.top+8))                     return HTTOPLEFT;                  if ((mousePos.x > clientRect.right) && (rawMousePos.y < windowRect.top+8))                     return HTTOPRIGHT;                  if ( (mousePos.x < clientRect.left) && (mousePos.y > clientRect.bottom))                     return HTBOTTOMLEFT;                  if ( (mousePos.x > clientRect.right) && (mousePos.y > clientRect.bottom))                     return HTBOTTOMRIGHT;                  if (rawMousePos.x < windowRect.left+11)                     return HTLEFT;                  if (rawMousePos.x > windowRect.right-11)                     return HTRIGHT;                  if (mousePos.y  > clientRect.bottom)                     return HTBOTTOM;                  RECT closeRect;                 SetRect(&closeRect, windowRect.left + 15, windowRect.top+7, windowRect.left+15+16, windowRect.top+25);                 if (PtInRect(&closeRect, rawMousePos))                 { //                    printf("over sys menu (appIcon) - %d,%d\n", mousePos.x, mousePos.y);                     return HTSYSMENU;                 }                  if (rawMousePos.y < windowRect.top+8)                     return HTTOP;                  if (mousePos.y < 0)                     return HTCAPTION;                 else                     return HTCLIENT;             }      }     return DefSubclassProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam); //    return DefWindowProc(hwnd, uMsg, wParam, lParam); }  LRESULT onNcPaint(HWND hwnd, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam) {     // draw Frame //     HBRUSH mBrush = CreateSolidBrush( RGB(0,113,201) );     HDC hdc = GetWindowDC(hwnd); //     HDC hdc = GetDCEx(hwnd, (HRGN)wParam, DCX_WINDOW);//|DCX_INTERSECTRGN);      RECT mRect, wndRect;     GetWindowRect(hwnd, &mRect);     wndRect = mRect;     mRect.right -= mRect.left;     mRect.bottom -= mRect.top;     mRect.left = 0;     mRect.top = 0;      HDC memDC = CreateCompatibleDC(hdc);     HBITMAP old, memBmp;     old = (HBITMAP)GetCurrentObject(memDC, OBJ_BITMAP);      memBmp = CreateCompatibleBitmap(hdc, mRect.right, mRect.bottom);     //memBmp = zCreateDibSection(hdc, mRect.right, mRect.bottom, 24);      SelectObject(memDC, memBmp);       //StretchNineDraw(HDC destDC, RECT destRect, HBITMAP srcImage, RECT srcRect,     //    int marginLeft, int marginTop, int marginRight, int marginBottom, int alpha);      if (frameIndex == 0) //        StretchNineDraw(memDC, mRect, frameImg, (RECT){0,0,33,58}, 16,41,16,16, 255);         StretchNineDrawNoAlpha(memDC, mRect, frameImg, (RECT){0,0,33,58}, 16,41,16,16);     else         StretchNineDraw(memDC, mRect, frameRedImg, (RECT){0,0,33,58}, 16,41,16,16, 255); //        StretchNineDrawNoAlpha(memDC, mRect, frameRedImg, (RECT){0,0,33,58}, 16,41,16,16);     //    StretchNineDrawNoAlpha(memDC, mRect, frameOrigImg, (RECT){0,0,17,39}, 8,30,8,8);     //1111drawImgNineSquareStretching(memDC, mRect, frameImg, (RECT){0,0,33,58}, 16,41,16,16);  //void StretchNineDrawNoAlpha(HDC destDC, RECT destRect, HBITMAP srcImage, RECT srcRect, //                   int marginLeft, int marginTop, int marginRight, int marginBottom)        // draw icon     HICON smallIcon = LoadIcon (NULL, IDI_APPLICATION);     DrawIconEx(memDC, 15, 9, smallIcon, 16, 16, 0,0, DI_NORMAL  );      // draw window text     wchar_t wndText[100];     RECT textRect;     textRect.left = 9 + 16 + 9;     textRect.top = 0;     textRect.right = 1000;     textRect.bottom = 32;     GetWindowText(hwnd, wndText, 99);     //int oldMode = SetBkMode(hdc, TRANSPARENT);     //int oldMode = SetBkMode(memDC, TRANSPARENT);     SetBkMode(memDC, TRANSPARENT);      HFONT oldFont, hfont0 = CreateFont(-13, 0, 0, 0, 0, FALSE, FALSE, FALSE, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, (L"Ms Shell Dlg"));     oldFont = (HFONT)SelectObject(memDC, hfont0);     DrawText(memDC, wndText, -1, &textRect, DT_VCENTER|DT_SINGLELINE|DT_LEFT);     SelectObject(memDC, oldFont);     DeleteObject(hfont0);       // top slice     BitBlt(hdc, 0,0, mRect.right,41, memDC, 0,0, SRCCOPY);      // left edge     BitBlt(hdc, 0, mRect.top + 41, 16, mRect.bottom - (41+16),            memDC, 0, mRect.top + 41, SRCCOPY);      // right edge     BitBlt(hdc, mRect.right-16, mRect.top + 41, 16, mRect.bottom - (41+16),            memDC, mRect.right-16, mRect.top + 41, SRCCOPY);      // bottom slice     BitBlt(hdc, 0,mRect.bottom-16, mRect.right,16, memDC, 0,mRect.bottom-16, SRCCOPY);    //   BitBlt(hdc, 0,0, mRect.right,mRect.bottom, memDC, 0,0, SRCCOPY);      ReleaseDC(hwnd, hdc);     SelectObject(memDC, old);     DeleteDC(memDC);     DeleteObject(memBmp);  //   ValidateRgn(hwnd, (HRGN)wParam);     return 0; }   int APIENTRY WinMain(HINSTANCE hInstance, HINSTANCE hPrevInstance, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nShowCmd) {     GdiplusStartupInput gdiplusStartupInput;     ULONG_PTR           gdiplusToken;     GdiplusStartup(&gdiplusToken, &gdiplusStartupInput, NULL);      frameImg = mLoadImageFile(L"frame.png");     frameRedImg = mLoadImageFile(L"frameRed.png");     frameOrigImg = mLoadImageFile(L"frameOrig.png");      hInst=hInstance;     InitCommonControls();     int result = DialogBox(hInst, MAKEINTRESOURCE(DLG_MAIN), NULL, (DLGPROC)DlgMain);      GdiplusShutdown(gdiplusToken);     return result; } 

Find below the functions that: - Load a png file (uses GDI+) - stretch draw this image onto the borders

/* BMP, GIF, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, Exif, WMF, and EMF */ HBITMAP mLoadImageFile(wchar_t *filename) {     HBITMAP result = NULL;     Bitmap bitmap(filename, false);     bitmap.GetHBITMAP(0, &result);     return result; }   void GetRectSize(LPRECT tgt, int *width, int *height) {     *width = (tgt->right - tgt->left) + 1;     *height = (tgt->bottom - tgt->top) + 1; }  BOOL SetRectSizePos(LPRECT tgt, int xPos, int yPos, int width, int height) {     return SetRect(tgt, xPos, yPos, xPos+(width-1), yPos+(height-1)); }  BOOL MoveRect(LPRECT tgt, int newX, int newY) {     int width, height;     GetRectSize(tgt, &width, &height);     return SetRectSizePos(tgt, newX,newY, width,height); }  //  ****** marginLeft = 6 //   ....|....|....  * //  ..tL.|.tM.|.tR.. * //  ---------------- * marginTop = 3 //  ..mL.|.mM.|.mR.. //  ---------------- * marginBottom = 3 //  ..bL.|.bM.|.bR.. * //   ....|....|....  * //            ****** marginRight = 6 void CalcNineRects(LPRECT srcRect, RECT *dest, int marginLeft, int marginTop, int marginRight, int marginBottom) {     int srcWidth, srcHeight;     int leftWidth, midWidth, rightWidth;     int topHeight, midHeight, botHeight;     int xOrig, yOrig;      GetRectSize(srcRect, &srcWidth, &srcHeight);     xOrig = srcRect->left;     yOrig = srcRect->top;      leftWidth = marginLeft;     midWidth = srcWidth - (marginLeft + marginRight) - 1;     rightWidth = marginRight;      topHeight = marginTop;     midHeight = srcHeight - (marginTop + marginBottom) - 1;     botHeight = marginBottom;      SetRectSizePos(&dest[0], xOrig, yOrig, leftWidth, topHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[1], xOrig+(leftWidth), yOrig, midWidth, topHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[2], xOrig+(leftWidth+midWidth), yOrig, rightWidth, topHeight);      SetRectSizePos(&dest[3], xOrig, yOrig+(topHeight), leftWidth, midHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[4], xOrig+(leftWidth), yOrig+(topHeight), midWidth, midHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[5], xOrig+(leftWidth+midWidth), yOrig+(topHeight), rightWidth, midHeight);      SetRectSizePos(&dest[6], xOrig,yOrig+(topHeight+midHeight), leftWidth, botHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[7], xOrig+(leftWidth), yOrig+(topHeight+midHeight), midWidth, botHeight);     SetRectSizePos(&dest[8], xOrig+(leftWidth+midWidth), yOrig+(topHeight+midHeight), rightWidth, botHeight); }  void StretchNineDraw(HDC destDC, RECT destRect, HBITMAP srcImage, RECT srcRect,                     int marginLeft, int marginTop, int marginRight, int marginBottom,int alpha) {     RECT destRectList[9], srcRectList[9];     int i;     int curSrcWidth, curSrcHeight, curDestWidth, curDestHeight;     HDC srcDC;     HBITMAP oldSrcBmp;      srcDC = CreateCompatibleDC(destDC); //    GetCurrentObject(srcDC, OBJ_BITMAP);     oldSrcBmp = (HBITMAP) SelectObject(srcDC, srcImage);      BLENDFUNCTION bf = {AC_SRC_OVER,0,alpha,AC_SRC_ALPHA};      int destHeight, destWidth;     GetRectSize(&destRect, &destWidth, &destHeight);      CalcNineRects(&srcRect, srcRectList, marginLeft, marginTop, marginRight, marginBottom);     CalcNineRects(&destRect, destRectList, marginLeft, marginTop, marginRight, marginBottom);     // printf("dst rect: %d,%d - %d,%d -- \n", destRect.left, destRect.top, destRect.right,destRect.bottom);     for (i=0; i<9; i++)     {         GetRectSize(&srcRectList[i], &curSrcWidth, &curSrcHeight);         GetRectSize(&destRectList[i], &curDestWidth, &curDestHeight);          AlphaBlend( destDC,                     destRectList[i].left, destRectList[i].top,                     curDestWidth, curDestHeight,                      srcDC,                     srcRectList[i].left, srcRectList[i].top,                     curSrcWidth, curSrcHeight,                      bf                    );     }     SelectObject(srcDC, oldSrcBmp);     DeleteDC(srcDC); } 

Finally, the code for anchoring controls to the window (automatically recalculate their position when the window is re-sized)

typedef struct ANCHORPROPERTY {     long anchorType;     RECT rc; } *pANCHORPROPERTY;  #define ANCHOR_NONE                  0 #define ANCHOR_WIDTH                 1 #define ANCHOR_RIGHT                 2 #define ANCHOR_CENTER_HORZ           3 #define ANCHOR_HEIGHT                4 #define ANCHOR_HEIGHT_WIDTH          5 #define ANCHOR_HEIGHT_RIGHT          6 #define ANCHOR_BOTTOM                7 #define ANCHOR_BOTTOM_WIDTH          8 #define ANCHOR_BOTTOM_RIGHT          9 #define ANCHOR_CENTER_HORZ_BOTTOM    10 #define ANCHOR_CENTER_VERT           11 #define ANCHOR_CENTER_VERT_RIGHT     12 #define ANCHOR_CENTER                13  pANCHORPROPERTY getWndAnchor(HWND hwnd); bool removeAnchor(HWND hwnd); bool mSetAnchorMode(HWND hwnd, long anchorMode); BOOL CALLBACK AnchorEnum(HWND hwnd, LPARAM lParam); void MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(HWND controlParent); void DeferAnchorsMove(HWND controlParent); long getChildCount(HWND controlParent);  pANCHORPROPERTY getWndAnchor(HWND hwnd) {     return (pANCHORPROPERTY)GetProp(hwnd, L"anchor"); }  bool removeAnchor(HWND hwnd) {     pANCHORPROPERTY pAnchor;     if (GetProp(hwnd, L"anchor") != NULL)     {         pAnchor = (pANCHORPROPERTY)RemoveProp(hwnd, L"anchor");         delete pAnchor;     }     return false; }  bool mSetAnchorMode(HWND hwnd, long anchorMode) {     bool result = false;     RECT rc, pr;     POINT p;     if (IsWindow(hwnd))     {         pANCHORPROPERTY pAnchor;         pAnchor = getWndAnchor(hwnd);         if (pAnchor == NULL)         {             pAnchor = new ANCHORPROPERTY;             SetProp(hwnd, L"anchor", pAnchor);         }         GetWindowRect(hwnd, &rc);         p.x = rc.left;         p.y = rc.top;         ScreenToClient( GetParent(hwnd), &p);         GetClientRect( GetParent(hwnd), &pr);     //    printf("pos: %d,%d\n", p.x, p.y);         pAnchor->anchorType = mmin( mmax(anchorMode, ANCHOR_NONE), ANCHOR_CENTER);         pAnchor->rc.left = p.x;         pAnchor->rc.top = p.y;         pAnchor->rc.right = pr.right - (rc.right-rc.left + p.x);         pAnchor->rc.bottom = pr.bottom - (rc.bottom - rc.top + p.y);         result = true;     }     return result; }  BOOL CALLBACK AnchorEnum(HWND hwnd, LPARAM lParam) {     RECT pr, rc;     long x,y,xW,yH;     pANCHORPROPERTY pAnchor;     pAnchor = (pANCHORPROPERTY)GetProp(hwnd, L"anchor");     if (pAnchor != NULL)     {         if (pAnchor->anchorType != ANCHOR_NONE)         {        //     printf("child enumerated - %d\n", pAnchor->anchorType);             RECT client, wnd;             GetClientRect(hwnd, &client);             GetWindowRect(hwnd, &wnd);        //     printf("WndRect: %d x %d", (wnd.right-wnd.left) + 1, (wnd.bottom-wnd.top)+1);        //     printf("client: %d x %d", client.right-client.left+1, client.bottom-client.top+1 );              int wW, wH, cW,cH;             wW = (wnd.right-wnd.left) + 1;             wH = (wnd.bottom-wnd.top) + 1;             cW = (client.right-client.left) + 1;             cH = (client.bottom-client.top) + 1;              GetClientRect(hwnd, &rc);             GetClientRect(GetParent(hwnd), &pr);             switch (pAnchor->anchorType)             {             case ANCHOR_WIDTH:                  x = pAnchor->rc.left;                  y = pAnchor->rc.top;                  xW = mmax(pr.right - pAnchor->rc.left - pAnchor->rc.right, 0);                  yH = rc.bottom;                  break;               case ANCHOR_RIGHT:               // = 2                   x  = (pr.right - rc.right - pAnchor->rc.right) - (wW-cW);                   y  = pAnchor->rc.top;                   xW = rc.right +  (wW-cW);                   yH = rc.bottom + (wH-cH);                //   printf("xPos, yPos: %d, %d - Size: %d x %d\n", x,y,xW,yH);                   break;               case ANCHOR_CENTER_HORZ:         // = 3                   x  = (pr.right - rc.right) / 2;                   y  = pAnchor->rc.top;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_HEIGHT:              // = 4                   x  = pAnchor->rc.left;                   y  = pAnchor->rc.top;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = mmax(pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.top - pAnchor->rc.bottom, 0);                   break;               case ANCHOR_HEIGHT_WIDTH:        // = 5                   x = pAnchor->rc.left;                   y = pAnchor->rc.top;                   xW = mmax(pr.right - pAnchor->rc.left - pAnchor->rc.right, 0);                   yH = mmax(pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.top - pAnchor->rc.bottom, 0);                   break;               case ANCHOR_HEIGHT_RIGHT:        // = 6                   x  = pr.right - rc.right - pAnchor->rc.right;                   y  = pAnchor->rc.top;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = mmax(pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.top - pAnchor->rc.bottom, 0);                   break;               case ANCHOR_BOTTOM:              // = 7                   x  = pAnchor->rc.left;                   y  = pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.bottom - rc.bottom;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_BOTTOM_WIDTH:        // = 8                   x  = pAnchor->rc.left;                   y  = pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.bottom - rc.bottom;                   xW = mmax(pr.right - pAnchor->rc.left - pAnchor->rc.right, 0);                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_BOTTOM_RIGHT:        // = 9                   x  = pr.right - rc.right - pAnchor->rc.right;                   y  = pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.bottom - rc.bottom;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_CENTER_HORZ_BOTTOM:  // = 10                   x  = (pr.right - rc.right) / 2;                   y  = pr.bottom - pAnchor->rc.bottom - rc.bottom;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_CENTER_VERT:         // = 11                   x  = pAnchor->rc.left;                   y  = (pr.bottom - rc.bottom) / 2;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_CENTER_VERT_RIGHT:   // = 12                   x  = pr.right - rc.right - pAnchor->rc.right;                   y  = (pr.bottom - rc.bottom) / 2;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;               case ANCHOR_CENTER:              // = 13                   x  = (pr.right - rc.right) / 2;                   y  = (pr.bottom - rc.bottom) / 2;                   xW = rc.right;                   yH = rc.bottom;                   break;             }             if (lParam == 0)                 SetWindowPos(hwnd,0, x,y, xW,yH, SWP_NOZORDER|SWP_NOCOPYBITS);             else                 DeferWindowPos((HDWP)lParam, hwnd, 0, x,y, xW,yH, SWP_NOZORDER|SWP_NOCOPYBITS);         }     }     return true; }  void MoveAnchorsImmediatelly(HWND controlParent) {     EnumChildWindows(controlParent, AnchorEnum, 0); }  BOOL CALLBACK CountEnum(HWND hwnd, LPARAM lParam) {     long *pCount = (long*)lParam;     ++(*pCount);     return true; }  long getChildCount(HWND controlParent) {     long curCount = 0;     EnumChildWindows(controlParent, CountEnum, (LPARAM)&curCount);   //  printf("Child count: %d\n", curCount);     return curCount; }  void DeferAnchorsMove(HWND controlParent) {     HDWP deferMoveHandle;     int childCount = getChildCount(controlParent);     deferMoveHandle = BeginDeferWindowPos(childCount);     EnumChildWindows(controlParent, AnchorEnum, (LPARAM)deferMoveHandle);     EndDeferWindowPos(deferMoveHandle); } 

Answer 2

You may try to create a window without a frame; i found reference here: opening a window that has no title bar with win32

and then make your own title bar inside your application, in the color you like (located at the top of the window starting from the visible part).