hPyT - Hack Python Titlebar

A package for manipulating windows and titlebar of GUI applications made using Python. Supports Windows 7, 8.x, 10, and 11.

https://github.com/Zingzy/hPyT/assets/90309290/f86df1c7-b75b-4477-974a-eb34cc117df3

<br> <details> <summary>📖 Table of Contents</summary>

• hPyT - Hack Python Titlebar
  • 📚 Supported Libraries
  • 📦 Installing
  • 🧩 Running the preview app
  • 📥 Importing
  • NEW Features in v1.4.0 🎉
  • Hide/Unhide TitleBar - Understanding Window Geometry
    • Impact of Hiding the Title Bar
    • Potential Issues
    • Solution
    • Example Usage
    • Comparision of the dimensions with and without no_span=True:
    • Visual Example:
  • 🌈 Rainbow TitleBar
  • 🌈 Rainbow Border
    • 🔄 Synchronizing the Rainbow Effect with other elements
  • Hide/Unhide both Maximize and Minimize Buttons (Completely Hides both buttons)
  • Hide/Unhide All Buttons or Stuffs
  • Enable/Disable Maximize Button
  • Enable/Disable Minimize Button
  • 🎨 Custom TitleBar Color
    • Set TitleBar Color to Windows Accent Color
  • 🖌️ Custom TitleBar Text Color
  • 🖌️ Custom Border Color
    • Set Border Color to Windows Accent Color
  • Window Corner Radius
  • Window DWM Manipulation
    • Enable RTL Layout for the DWM Window
    • Disable DWM Transitions for the DWM Window
    • Window Cloaking
      • Example of window rendering with and without cloacking
  • Opacity
  • ⚡ Flashing Window
  • 💻 Window Management
    • Center a window on the screen
    • Center a secondary window relative to the primary window
    • Other basic window management functions
  • ✨ Window Animations
    • Circle Motion
    • Verical Shake
    • Horizontal Shake
  • ✏️ Stylize text
  • Workaround for other libraries
  • Miscellaneous
    • Get Windows Accent Color
    • Stylize text
  • 📜 hPyT Changelog
    • v1.4.0
    • v1.3.7
    • v1.3.6
    • v1.3.5
    • v1.3.4
    • v1.3.3
    • v1.3.2
    • v1.3.1
    • v1.3.0
    • v1.2.1
    • v1.2.0
    • v1.1.3
    • v1.1.2
    • v1.1.1
    • v1.1.0

</details>

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📚 Supported Libraries

• Tkinter & CustomTkinter
• PyQt
• PySide
• WxPython
• Kivy
• Almost all other UI libraries

[!IMPORTANT] Follow this section to see how to use hPyT with other libraries.

📦 Installing

pip install hPyT==1.4.0

🧩 Running the preview app

After installing the module, you can run the following command to open the preview/demo app:

python -m hPyT

...or try this even simpler command (if it doesn't work, check if your Python installation's Scripts folder exists in your PATH environment variable):

hPyT-preview

It looks like this:

This app allows you to play with hPyT's features and see them in action.

📥 Importing

from hPyT import *
from customtkinter import * # you can use any other library from the above mentioned list

window = CTk() # creating a window using CustomTkinter

NEW Features in v1.4.0 🎉

• Function to change corner radius of the window with the hPyT.corner_radius module
• Functions to manipulate DWM window attributes with the hPyT.window_dwm module
  • Enable RTL layout
  • Disable DWM transitions
  • Cloak the window

Hide/Unhide TitleBar

title_bar.hide(window, no_span = False) # hides full titlebar
# optional parameter : no_span, more details in the note below
# title_bar.unhide(window)

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description | | :-------: | :--: | :-----: | :----------: | | no_span | bool | False | If True, the content area height will not be adjusted to accommodate the title bar. |

<details> <summary><h3>❗Important Note when hiding the titlebar and using <code>no_span</code> parameter</h3></summary>

When hiding a title bar, the application window's total geometry and its content area geometry behave differently, which may introduce ambiguities. Here's a detailed explanation of the issue:

Understanding Window Geometry

1. Full Window Dimensions:

   • Includes the content area, title bar, and borders.
   • When the user specifies dimensions (e.g., 400x400), it usually represents the content area dimensions. The total window height becomes content height + title bar height + border width.
   • The color of the top border and title bar is usually the same in Windows 11 & 10, making it appear as a single entity. So when hiding the title bar, we also need to hide the top border.
   • However, in Windows 7 & 8, the top border is a different color from the title bar, so we don't need to hide the top border when hiding the title bar. Moreover removing the top border will make the window behave abnormally in these versions.

2. Content Area Dimensions:

   • Represents only the usable area inside the window, excluding the title bar and borders.

Impact of Hiding the Title Bar

When the title bar is hidden:

• The content area height expands to occupy the height previously used by the title bar. For example, a 400x400 content area might expand to 400x438 (assuming the visual title bar height is 38px).

Better illustrated in the following example:

...

def show_window_dimensions():
    hwnd: int = ctypes.windll.user32.GetForegroundWindow()

    x_with_decorations: int = root.winfo_rootx()  # X position of the full window
    y_with_decorations: int = root.winfo_rooty()  # Y position of the full window

    x_without_decorations: int = root.winfo_x()  # X position of the content area
    y_without_decorations: int = root.winfo_y()  # Y position of the content area

    titlebar_height: int = y_with_decorations - y_without_decorations
    border_width: int = x_with_decorations - x_without_decorations

    window_rect: RECT = get_window_rect(hwnd)

    width: int = window_rect.right - window_rect.left
    height: int = window_rect.bottom - window_rect.top

    print(f"Title bar height: {titlebar_height}")
    print(f"Border width: {border_width}")
    print(f"Main window dimensions: {width}x{height}")
    print(
        f"Content window dimensions: {root.winfo_geometry()}"
    )  # This will return the dimensions of the content area only

...

def click(e=None):
    root.update_idletasks()

    print("------ Before hiding title bar ------")
    show_window_dimensions()

	title_bar.hide(root)
	is_hidden = True

    print("------ After hiding title bar ------")
    show_window_dimensions()


button = CTkButton(root, text="Click Me", command=click)
button.place(relx=0.5, rely=0.5, anchor="center")

root.mainloop()

Output:

------ Before hiding title bar ------
Title bar height: 38
Border width: 9
Main window dimensions: 468x497
Content window dimensions: 450x450
------ After hiding title bar ------
Title bar height: 0
Border width: 9
Main window dimensions: 468x497
Content window dimensions: 450x488

By the above example, you can see that the content area height has increased from 450px to 488px after hiding the title bar.

Potential Issues

This automatic resizing may cause layout problems or unintended behavior in some applications. For instance:

• UI elements might overlap or stretch.
• Custom layouts may require recalibration.

Solution

To address this, a no_span parameter is introduced in the hide method. This parameter allows users to control whether the content area height should be adjusted dynamically to maintain its original size.

• Default Behavior (no_span=False): The content area height will expand to occupy the title bar's space.
• With no_span=True: The content area will be resized dynamically to maintain its original dimensions.

Example Usage

title_bar.hide(root, no_span=True)

Comparision of the dimensions with and without no_span=True:

- Content window dimensions: 450x488
+ Content window dimensions: 450x450

- Main window dimensions: 468x497
+ Main window dimensions: 468x459

Visual Example:

<div align="center">

| no_span = False | no_span = True | | :---------------: | :--------------: | | <img src="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Zingzy/hPyT/main/.github/assets/span.gif" alt="Height