• 程序按钮（Application Button）
  “程序按钮”，这是我们为office中的Office button取的名字。它是一个巨大的圆形按钮，位于窗口的顶端，它提供了一个之前在“文件”菜单中出现过的下拉包功能，该程序按钮显示为标准的应用程序图标。
• 快速访问工具栏（Quick Access Toolbar）
  许多程序会在ribbon菜单一侧布置一个快速访问工具栏，可以放置在ribbon菜单的上方或者下方。该工具条允许包含和ribbon菜单一样的内容项，同时无论ribbon菜单是否处于打开状态，一些标准的命令依然会出现在工具栏内，例如“保存”和“后退” .
• 上下文关联标签（contextual tabs）
  在您配置的所有ribbon标签，您或许希望某一些标签只在某些特定的模式中才可见，比如，专门用于图像编辑的标签只有在图片被选择时才应该可见。 在 SandRibbon中，您可以在ribbon菜单中配置一定的“关联文本”，然后将这些关联文本简单得同标签连接起来，那么只有当这些关联文本被激活时对应的标签才会可见。您只需调用一个方法便可以设定这些激活用的关联文本。现在，上下文关联标签尺寸更加苗条，并采用不同的颜色以示区分。
• 无窗口控件库
  绝大多数的SandRibbon用户界面都是通过一个我们特别针对产品所专门开发的私有无窗口控件库运行的，该控件库无需大量的系统资源，便可提供所有高级用户界面（UI）所需的功能。它支持动画显示，弹出菜单和其他工具，令您的SandRibbon使用体验更加物有所值。
• 动画显示
  如以前我们所描述的一样，我们在产品中彻底支持动画过渡效果，当您用鼠标触发一个SandRibbon用户界面的时候，您便可以看到盘旋和推动的动画效果。动画过渡同样用于其他地方，比如在Galleries中提供光滑滚动效果。
• 按钮
  当然，ribbon的核心功能最终是通过按钮来提供给用户的，按钮可以通过鼠标或者键盘来激活。按钮一般采用同样的形状和尺寸，并根据与之对应得图像和文本内容进行调整。按钮可以单行显示或者按组排列。 当一个按钮关联有弹出菜单时，会在该按钮旁边布置一个下拉的小箭头。该下拉箭头可以整合在按钮中，比如点击按钮的任何一个部分都可以完成下拉操作；也可以单独分开布置，在激活按钮之后才可以点击下拉箭头激活弹出菜单。 和Office一样，垂直布置得按钮下拉箭头指示可以整合在文本的右边，以节约界面空间。通过这些小细节的处理，您将获得更好的使用界面。
• 层
  组成ribbon层的内容项中，可以包含交互性的项（比如按钮），也可以包含其他专门用于放置其他内容的容器（比如层）。层可以用来更好的组织命令的布置形式，以提供更便捷的操作。StripLayouts按照水平或者垂直方向布置内容项，嵌套在StripLayouts的诸如对齐和间隔的属性，一般都是您在设置ribbon层时最常用到的。 FlowLayouts将内容项从头到尾水平排布，但是当遇到水平边界的时候，内容项将转至下一行，该类型的层几乎专门用于图表式菜单（gallerie）中。
• 自动叠加Ribbon功能块
  因为界面空间的限制，您所设定的ribbon标签可能无法完全显示在ribbon功能块中，如果出现这种情况，SandRibbon将会把标签折叠成波浪形，仅仅显示他们对应的名称和图像。当您用鼠标点击时，整个功能块将会以弹出菜单形式完整显示出来，方便您按照常规方式选择功能标签。 在功能块中，内容项将根据他们的重要属性进行选择性排序，重要属性是一个简单的数字域，当功能块空间变狭窄的时间，依次将重要属性最小的内容项隐藏。
• 从右至左对齐
  为了满足那些具有从右至左的阅读习惯的地区和语言（比如阿拉伯国家），在软件编写的过程中，必须完全支持从右至左的对齐功能。当您使用SandRibbon时，您无需为此担心，因为从编写这个产品开始便考虑到了这个问题，您可以通过您的窗体的RightToLeft属性来完成这个功能——整个SandRibbon层将被镜像，所有的功能条和按钮将完全倒转其原有方向。
• 扩展性
  我们所开发的无窗体绘制架构，其中最大的好处在于：任何单元，无论是按钮、弹出菜单或者layout strip都可以由继承得到并支持行为的更改。您可以针对每一个单元扩展不同的鼠标样式、颜色样式、尺寸规格和界面布局。 除此之外，您还可以自定义现有的控件，这也意味着您可以根据应用程序的用途特点，定制整个全新的窗口部件。诸如ColorPicker或者 Slider之类的专门弹出窗口控件库，都可以完美得整合在您的ribbon布局之中。
• 滑动条
  滑动条控件一般布置在状态条之中，比如标准的windows窗体的滑动条控件和滚动条控件，一般都具有最小值（Minimum ）和最大值（ Maximum）属性，以及一个可以上下滑动的滑块。Glassy的加减按钮支持按照步长来改变滑动条的当前值，在Office 和SandRibbon 示例程序中，滑动条被用于缩放文档中的文本字符大小。
• 弹出菜单控件
  弹出菜单控件可以与其上级控件关联，比如一个下拉按钮或者菜单项，他们也可以作为一个完全独立的控件，就像一个常规控件的文档关联菜单一样布置在您的窗体中。 SandRibbon中提供的弹出菜单控件远远超出了其原有版本所能提供的适用性。用于产品其他部分的同样类型的控件也可以用于弹出菜单控件中，也就是说它可以用于不同的用途之中，比如菜单、工具栏或者状态栏中，这样也使整个软件集的API函数保持统一。
• 图表式菜单（gallerie）
  图表式菜单（gallerie）控件为其他控件或者控件集提供了一个可以滚动的窗口。按钮集或者其他控件可以以一个滚动列表的形式显示在图表式菜单提供的用户界面中。图表式菜单（gallerie）控件可以直接布置在ribbon中，也可以关联到一个弹出菜单中。当采用直接布置ribbon方式时，您还可以为选择图表式菜单控件关联二级弹出菜单。 您可以将图表式菜单（gallerie）控件和图表式菜单按钮（GalleryButton ）控件组合。当按钮被绘制的时候，会生成对应的事件。比如您想要在图表式菜单中显示所有支持的不同的下划线样式，您可以简单得在图表式菜单中填入您需要数量的图表式菜单按钮，然后为每一个按钮选项匹配对应的事件：绘制对应的下划线样式。
• 即时预览
  当您的用户移动到某一个内容项时，他可以通过即时预览功能查看选择后的效果。SandRibbon通过执行一个事件来获取当前选项的方式来实现这一功能。您可以方便得获取程序执行选项后的效果信息 .与该事件相匹配的是一个非常有用的基础类，您可以使用它们令您的程序即时预览功能更加便捷。当取消即时预览功能时，SandRibbon会在您的类中自动调用Revert方法。
• 可调整大小的弹出式菜单
  许多弹出式菜单中会包含具有滚动条的图表菜单，如果您的用户想要调整弹出式菜单得大小，并有足够的界面空间可以一次性的查看所有的待选项，SandRibbons支持将许多弹出式菜单中的图表菜单定义为可调整大小的图表菜单。如果图表菜单指派给一个支持大小调整的弹出式菜单，那么您可以通过拖曳来调整其尺寸。
• 弹出式菜单中的菜单
  随着ribbon布局中提供的窗口小配件越来越多，您很容易忘记菜单依然是弹出式菜单的核心组成部分。在Office 2007用户界面中，菜单依然被广泛得使用着，所不同的是：绝大多数的菜单都与其他控件混合使用，并且很少在弹出式菜单中使用多个菜单。 因为菜单只是一种样式比较特殊的控件，因此它还可以布置在其他功能条中，比如添加标题的图表式菜单。当然，弹出式菜单匹配单独的菜单的形式更加常见，您或许会在您的SandRibbon程序中广泛使用这种菜单。
• 色彩适配器
  色彩适配器是显示在弹出菜单中的一个控件，它是一个独立式的控件，它提供了一个颜色集，您也可以添加其他颜色。色彩拾取器中的色彩选项水平排布，并搭配一个标题说明。您还可以指定显示颜色的级别，为每一种颜色提供不同亮度的颜色选择。所有的候选颜色都将以一种直观而现代的方式呈现，色彩设置方法也非常便捷。
• 配色方案
  SandRibbon中提供了与Office 2007一致的三种颜色方案：蓝色、银色和黑色。每一种配色方案都非常引人注目，您可以在您的程序中任选其一，您还可以为您的用户提供选择的功能。其默认方案是蓝色。
• RibbonForm
  通过从RibbonForm而不是传统的窗体继承，您可以调整您的自定义窗口形状，使之更接近Office 2007.。此类窗体将具备许多不同的特点，比如更加圆滑的边角，主题化的窗口形式，但是最主要的是：它支持在标题栏区域内同样显示ribbon内的元素。 当ribbon控件布置在一个RibbonForm中，这意味着您可以在脉络关联标签和快速访问工具栏中显示程序按钮、图像提示。当您的ribbon控件没有使用在RibbonForm中时，快速访问工具栏必须隐藏在其之下。
• 颜色表
  颜色表类似于一个配色方案，每一个配色方案对应一个颜色表。它是一个包含了多种颜色属性的类，用于定义所有的SandRibbon元素的界面绘制方案。虽然在控件集中提供了三种不同的颜色表，但是您还是根据您个人喜好自定义您自己的颜色表 比如，您或许希望通过设计器设计色彩鲜明的程序界面，或者您希望通过使用传统的系统颜色以保证用户界面的颜色属性可靠。
• 界面绘制
  SandRibbon对于您的窗体和布局的界面绘制操作，绝大多数是通过RibbonRenderer class所提供的大量方法完成的，如果您想要自定义元素的绘制方法，添加更多的色彩（您需使用具有颜色表），您可以选择继承的方式并用您自己的绘制方法替代原有类中的方法

Features

• Application Button
  The application button is our name for the Office button in Office. It is a large, round button at the top of the window that presents a dropdown containing functionality previously found in the File menu. The application button typically shows the application icon.


• Quick Access Toolbar
  Most applications will feature a quick access toolbar alongside the ribbon, which can be placed below or above the ribbon itself. This toolbar can contain the same types of items as the ribbon, and typically presents commands that should be available no matter which ribbon tab is open, like Save and Undo.


• Contextual Tabs
  Of all the ribbon tabs you have configured for your application, you may want some groups of tabs to only be visible in certain modes. For example, a tab dealing with picture editing should only be visible when a picture is selected.
  In SandRibbon, you configure a number of Editing Contexts on the ribbon, then simply associate any number of tabs with an editing context. Those tabs will no longer be visible unless that editing context is active. Setting the active editing context is one method call. Contextual tabs are displayed slightly differently and the color of their editing context is used to differentiate them.


• Windowless Control Library
  Most of the SandRibbon user interface is run by a proprietary windowless control library we developed especially for the product, that has all the features necessary to power an advanced UI without taking too many system resources. It supports animations, popups and many other tools that will make your SandRibbon experience more rewarding.


• Animations
  As mentioned previously, we built supports for transitions into the product from the ground up. This made it easy for us to provide the hover and push animations you see while exploring a SandRibbon user interface with the mouse. Animations are used in other places too, like providing smooth scrolling effects in Galleries.


• Buttons
  Of course, at the core of the ribbon are the buttons that are eventually presented to the user. Buttons can be activated with the keyboard or with the mouse. They come in all shapes and sizes, adjusting to best fit the image and text that have been assigned to them. Buttons are either displayed standalone or in a group.
  When a popup is associated with a button it gains a dropdown arrow next to it. The dropdown can be either integral, i.e. clicking anywhere on the button opens it, or separate, i.e. clicking on the button activates the button and clicking on the dropdown shows the popup.
  Just like in Office, the dropdown indicator for a vertical button can actually be integrated right into the text, to save space. Small features like this allow better overall presentation of your user interface.


• Layout
  Of the items that comprise a ribbon layout, there are the interactive items (like buttons) and the items that are designed to contain other items (layouts). Layouts are essential for achieving a good presentation of your commands and are very easy to work with.
  StripLayouts align all their items in a horizontal or vertical strip. Properties such as the item justification and spacing, combined with nesting StripLayouts are all you need 99% of the time to configure any ribbon layout.
  FlowLayouts lay their items out horizontally, but wrap to the next line whenever the end of horizontal space is encountered. They are used pretty much exclusively by galleries.


• Automatic Collapsing of Ribbon Chunks
  As screen space diminishes there may not be enough room in any given ribbon tab for all the chunks you have configured. When this happens, SandRibbon will start collapsing them down to a chevron, which just displays their name and image. When the chevron is clicked the entire chunk is shown as a popup, allowing normal selection to take place.
  The order in which chunks are selected to be collapsed depends on their Importance property - a simple numeric field that ensures the chunks with the lowest importance are hidden first when space becomes tight.


• Right-to-left Support
  When writing software it is absolutely essential that it fully supports right-to-left reading order for those locales and languages that demand it (such as Arabic). When using SandRibbon you do not have to worry about this, as we wrote the product from the ground up to natively understand it. You can test this by changing the RightToLeft property on your form - your entire SandRibbon layout will be mirrored as all the strips and buttons reverse their direction.


• Extensibility
  One of the benefits that comes with the windowless rendering framework we developed is that any element, whether a button or a popup or a layout strip, can be inherited from and its behavior changed. It receives its own mouse, painting, measuring and layout messages that can be extended by the developer.
  As well as customization of existing controls this means that entire new widgets can be developed for specific uses in your application. Special purpose control, like the ColorPicker or Slider packaged with the library can be written to seamlessly integrate with your ribbon layout.


• Sliders
  The slider control is usually situated in the status bar. Like the standard Windows Forms slider and scrollbar controls it has Minimum and Maximum properties, and a thumb that can be slid between them. Glassy plus and minus buttons allow step-by-step changing of the value. In Office and the SandRibbon demonstration application this is used to zoom the document text.


• Popup Controls
  Popups can be associated with a parent, i.e. a dropdown button or a menu item, or they can be completely standalone such as a context menu that is associated with a normal control on your form.
  The popups available in SandRibbon go far beyond what was previously available in terms of flexibility. The same type of control that is used elsewhere in the product is also used on popups, meaning that they need not be considered differently to a menubar or toolbar or statusbar in terms of what they contain. This also makes their API identical to the rest of the suite.


• Galleries
  The Gallery control offers a scrollable window on to another control or controls. This allows an interface where a group of buttons or other choices is displayed as a scrollable list. This can be placed on a ribbon directly or more commonly within a popup. When placed in a ribbon you can choose to associate a further popup with the gallery.
  You will normally couple a Gallery with GalleryButton controls. These are buttons that generate an event when they need to be painted. For example you might want a gallery to display all the different types of Underline styles that are available. You would simply fill a Gallery with as many GalleryButtons as needed and respond to their events to draw a preview of each option.


• Live Preview
  Live preview refers to the ability for your application to show a preview of what would happen to the user's selection if they clicked an item, as they hover over it. SandRibbon makes this possible by exposing an event and passing the current selection to it. Your application can then make use of this information if it needs to.
  Coupled with the event is a useful base class which you can utilize in your application to make the process of showing a preview much easier. SandRibbon automatically calls the Revert method on your class when the preview should be cancelled.


• Resizable Popups
  Some popups will contain scrollable galleries, and in this case it is natural that the user may want to resize the popup if they have a lot of screen space, so they can see all the options at once. SandRibbons allows you to designate a gallery as the resizable gallery within a popup. Once a gallery is designated the popup shows a resize bar that the user can drag.


• Menus in Popups
  With the advent of all the new widgets available in ribbon layouts it is sometimes easy to forget that the menu control is still the backbone of all popups. In the Office 2007 user interface menus are still used extensively, the only difference being that they are often mixed with other controls in a popup, and multiple menus in one popup is not uncommon.
  Since a menu is just another type of control, they can be laid out in a strip with (for example) galleries and headings around them. Of course, a popup with a single menu control is perfectly possible and you will probably use this configuration a lot in your SandRibbon applications.


• Color Pickers
  The color picker is a control usually displayed in popups. It is a self-contained control that has a collection of Colors which you, the developer, add to it. These colors are shown in a horizontal strip, optionally with a heading. You can also specify that a number of color graduations are shown, in which case light and dark variations of each color are also made available for selection. These are all presented in an intuitive fashion and the control is very easy to configure.


• Color Schemes
  SandRibbon ships with the same three color schemes as Office 2007: Blue, Silver and Black. They are all very attractive presentations and you can choose any one for your application. You can also allow your users to make the choice. Blue is the default.


• RibbonForm
  By choosing to inherit from RibbonForm instead of Form, your windows will adopt the custom shape seen in Office 2007. This will give them different characteristics such as more rounded corners and themed window frames, but more importantly will allow the ribbon to display its elements in the titlebar area.
  When your ribbon control is on a RibbonForm this will unlock the ability to show the application button, graphical hints to the position of contextual tabs and the quick access toolbar. When your ribbon control is not used in conjunction with a RibbonForm the quick access toolbar must be shown below it.


• Color Tables
  A color scheme is analogous to a color table. Each color scheme maps to a color table, which is a class that contains the many color properties that define how all SandRibbon elements are drawn. Although there are three color table implementations packaged with the suite, is it easy to customize them with your own colors.
  For example, you may wish your designers to come up with a distinct color for your application. Or you might choose to take your colors from the traditional system color table to ensure they are in keeping with the user's color preferences.


• Renderers
  Most of the drawing done by SandRibbon to present your forms and layouts goes through the many methods of the RibbonRenderer class. If you wish to customize the way elements are drawn beyond mere color changes (for which you would use color tables) you can inherit from and override members of this class to perform your own drawing.