How to make overlay control above all other controls?

Question

I need to make a control appear above all other controls, so it will partially overlay them.

Answer 1

If you are using a Canvas or Grid in your layout, give the control to be put on top a higher ZIndex.

From MSDN:

<Page xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation" WindowTitle="ZIndex Sample">
  <Canvas>
    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="3" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="100" Canvas.Left="100" Fill="blue"/>
    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="1" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="150" Canvas.Left="150" Fill="yellow"/>
    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="2" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="200" Canvas.Left="200" Fill="green"/>

    <!-- Reverse the order to illustrate z-index property -->

    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="1" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="300" Canvas.Left="200" Fill="green"/>
    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="3" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="350" Canvas.Left="150" Fill="yellow"/>
    <Rectangle Canvas.ZIndex="2" Width="100" Height="100" Canvas.Top="400" Canvas.Left="100" Fill="blue"/>
  </Canvas>
</Page>

If you don't specify ZIndex, the children of a panel are rendered in the order they are specified (i.e. last one on top).

If you are looking to do something more complicated, you can look at how ChildWindow is implemented in Silverlight. It overlays a semitransparent background and popup over your entire RootVisual.