Skinning model for Calendar and Tabs in Ajax Control Toolkit

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Note: This article was originally posted on 2/2/2007. The original host of the article is no longer available. Due to the high demand for the content I am reproducing it in its entirety:

About a week ago we published a new version of the Ajax Control Toolkit to line up with the RTW bits of ASP.NET AJAX 1.0. This release included some new features including the Calendar behavior and the TabContainer control.  These two features utilize a CSS skinning model that is designed to be compatible with all of today's major browsers (IE 6/7, FireFox, Opera, Safari), however documentation around how the skinning model works has not yet been included in the Toolkit.

Skinning Model

The new skinning model uses CSS classes and child selectors to apply layout to the elements created by Calendar and Tabs.  This allows us to use CSS to define the visual representation for the controls and allow control implementers to modify the appearance.  Each control has a number of pre-defined skinnable elements which have specific class names defined.  A set of basic required CSS attributes are placed inside of a CSS file embedded as a WebResource inside the toolkit assembly.  In addition to the required attributes, a number of other attributes which define the default layout of the control are also included.  Each control contains a default "skin" which is basically a CSS class name that is applied higher in the DOM than the skinnable elements.  Using CSS child selectors you can override the default style and define your own custom style.

CalendarBehavior/Extender

The following table lists the built-in CSS class names applied to the elements within the calendar:

Class Children Attributes
.ajax__calendar_container The outer rectangular container that supplies the border around the calendar element. .ajax__calendar_header.ajax__calendar_body.ajax__calendar_footer border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_header A container element that holds the next and previous arrows and the title of the current view. .ajax__calendar_prev.ajax__calendar_title.ajax__calendar_next background-*color font-*
.ajax__calendar_prev An element that displays the arrow to view the previous set of data in the view (previous month/year/decade). none background-image
.ajax__calendar_title An element that displays the title of the current view (month name, year, decade) none color font-*
.ajax__calendar_next An element that displays the arrow to view the previous set of data in the view (previous month/year/decade) none  
.ajax__calendar_body A container element that holds the days, months, and years panes. Also provides a fixed rectangle with hidden overflow that is used for transitioning between views (next/previous month, or days/months/years) .ajax__calendar_days.ajax__calendar_months.ajax__calendar_years background-* color-* font-*
.ajax__calendar_days A container element that holds the layout for the days in a month. .ajax__calendar_dayname.ajax__calendar_day background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_dayname An element that displays the short name of the day of the week. none background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_day An element that displays the day of the month. none background-* color font-* border-*
.ajax__calendar_months A container element that holds the layout for the months in a year. .ajax__calendar_month background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_month An element that displays the month of the year. none background-* color font-* border-*
.ajax__calendar_years A container element that holds the layout for the years in a decade. .ajax__calendar_year background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_year An element that displays the year in a decade. none background-* color font-* border-*
.ajax__calendar_footer A container element that holds the current date .ajax__calendar_today background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_today An element that displays the current date none background-* color font-*
.ajax__calendar_hover This is applied to an element in the DOM above a day, month or year and is used to apply CSS attributes that show a hover state. .ajax__calendar_day .ajax__calendar_month .ajax__calendar_year background-* color font-* border-*
.ajax__calendar_active This is applied to an element in the DOM above a day, month or year and is used to apply CSS attributes that show the currently selected value. .ajax__calendar_day .ajax__calendar_month .ajax__calendar_year background-* color font-* border-*
.ajax__calendar_other This is applied to an element in the DOM above a day or year that is outside of the current view (day not in the visible month, year not in the visible decade). .ajax__calendar_day .ajax__calendar_year background-* color font-* border-*

The default style is called ".ajax__calendar" and uses the following CSS:

 .ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_container {
    border:1px solid #646464;
    background-color:#ffffff;
    color:#000000;
}
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_footer {
    border-top:1px solid #f5f5f5;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_dayname {
    border-bottom:1px solid #f5f5f5;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_day {
    border:1px solid #ffffff;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_month {
    border:1px solid #ffffff;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_year {
    border:1px solid #ffffff;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_active .ajax__calendar_day {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#0066cc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_active .ajax__calendar_month {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#0066cc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_active .ajax__calendar_year {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#0066cc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_other .ajax__calendar_day {
    background-color:#ffffff; 
    border-color:#ffffff;
    color:#646464;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_other .ajax__calendar_year {
    background-color:#ffffff;
    border-color:#ffffff;
    color:#646464;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_hover .ajax__calendar_day {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#daf2fc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_hover .ajax__calendar_month {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#daf2fc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_hover .ajax__calendar_year {
    background-color:#edf9ff;
    border-color:#daf2fc;
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_hover .ajax__calendar_title {
    color:#0066cc;
} 
.ajax__calendar .ajax__calendar_hover .ajax__calendar_today {
    color:#0066cc;
}

To create your own skin for calendar, copy the above CSS and change the .ajax__calendar skin class name to your own.  Finally, set this new skin class name to the CssClass property of the CalendarBehavior.

TabContainer

The following table lists the built-in CSS class names applied to the elements within TabContainer:

Class Children Attributes
.ajax__tab_header A container element that wraps all of the tabs at the top of the TabContainer.  .ajax__tab_outer border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_outer An outer element of a tab, often used to set the left-side background image of the tab.  .ajax__tab_inner border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_inner An inner element of a tab, often used to set the right-side image of the tab .ajax__tab_tab border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_tab An element of the tab that contains the text content. none border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_body A container element that wraps the area where a TabPanel is displayed.  none border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_hover This is applied to a tab when the mouse is hovering over.  .ajax__tab_outer border-* background-* color font-*
.ajax__tab_active This is applied to a tab when it is the currently selected tab.  .ajax__tab_outer border-* background-* color font-*

The default style is called ".ajax__tab_xp" and uses the following CSS:

 .ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_header {
    font-family:verdana,tahoma,helvetica;
    font-size:11px;
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-line.gif")%>) 
        repeat-x 
        bottom;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_outer {
    padding-right:4px;
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-right.gif")%>) 
        no-repeat 
        right;
    height:21px;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_inner {
    padding-left:3px;
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-left.gif")%>) 
        no-repeat;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_tab {
    height:13px;
    padding:4px;
    margin:0;
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab.gif")%>) 
        repeat-x;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_hover .ajax__tab_outer {
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-hover-right.gif")%>) 
        no-repeat 
        right;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_hover .ajax__tab_inner {
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-hover-left.gif")%>) 
        no-repeat;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_hover .ajax__tab_tab {
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-hover.gif")%>) 
        repeat-x;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_active .ajax__tab_outer {
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-active-right.gif")%>) 
        no-repeat 
        right;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_active .ajax__tab_inner {
    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-active-left.gif")%>)
        no-repeat;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_active .ajax__tab_tab {

    background:
        url(<%=WebResource("AjaxControlToolkit.Tabs.tab-active.gif")%>)
        repeat-x;
}
.ajax__tab_xp .ajax__tab_body {
    font-family:verdana,tahoma,helvetica;
    font-size:10pt;
    border:1px solid #999999;
    border-top:0;
    padding:8px;
    background-color:#ffffff;
}

To create your own skin for the tabs, copy the above CSS and change the .ajax__tab_xp skin class name to your own. Finally, set this new skin class name to the CssClass property of the TabContainer.