How can I add a separator between tabs in a tabcontrol? - wpf

Question

I'm styling my tabs so that it just displays the header text but I want to add a separator between them. Right now the tabs look like:
Content1 Content2
Is there a way I can add a Separator between the tabs so that it looks like:
Content1 | Content2
I can already style a vertical separator like that but I can't figure out how to place it in between the tabs. I don't want to use a tab border to fake a divider and I would like to stay away from using
<TabItem Header="|" IsEnabled="False" /> to fake it too. Is there an elegant solution for this?
This is what I have so far:
<TabControl Background="Transparent" BorderThickness="0">
<TabItem Header="Content1">
<!--content1-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Content2">
<!--content2-->
</TabItem>
<TabControl.Resources>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type TabItem}">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type TabItem}">
<Border Margin="2,0">
<ContentPresenter ContentSource="Header" Margin="10,2" />
</Border>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="True">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="White" />
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsSelected" Value="False">
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="Gray" />
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</TabControl.Resources>
</TabControl>
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I ended up just going with this:
<TabItem IsEnabled="False" IsHitTestVisible="False">
<TabItem.Header>
<Separator Style="{StaticResource {x:Static ToolBar.SeparatorStyleKey}}" Height="10" Background="Black" />
</TabItem.Header>
</TabItem>

Answer 2

For anyone who came here too to see the possible answer (like me).
I did it this way:
In your Resources define three styles
Style 1 (with both separators):
<Style TargetType="TabItem" x:Key="TabItemWithBothSeparators">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="TabItem">
<Border BorderBrush="DarkGray" BorderThickness="1,0">
<Grid Name="Panel">
<ContentPresenter x:Name="ContentSite" ContentSource="Header" />
</Grid>
</Border>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Style 2 (with left separator):
<Style TargetType="TabItem" x:Key="TabItemWithLeftSeparator">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="TabItem">
<Border BorderBrush="DarkGray" BorderThickness="1,0,0,0">
<Grid Name="Panel">
<ContentPresenter x:Name="ContentSite" ContentSource="Header" />
</Grid>
</Border>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Style 3 (without separators):
<Style TargetType="TabItem" x:Key="TabItemWithoutSeparators">
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="TabItem">
<Grid Name="Panel">
<ContentPresenter x:Name="ContentSite" ContentSource="Header" />
</Grid>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
Then set the styles this way (code example below):
On odd TabItems count (1,3,5,7,...) set style to TabItemWithoutSeparators
On even TabItems count (2,4,6,8,...) set style to TabItemWithBothSeparators
When your last TabItem count is even, set its style to TabItemWithLeftSeparator otherwise set to TabItemWithoutSeparators
Example with even TabItems count
<TabItem Header="Item 1" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithoutSeparators}">
<!--content 1-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Item 2" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithBothSeparators}">
<!--content 2-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Item 3" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithoutSeparators}">
<!--content 3-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Item 4" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithLeftSeparator}">
<!--content 4-->
</TabItem>
Example with odd TabItems count
<TabItem Header="Item 1" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithoutSeparators}">
<!--content 1-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Item 2" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithBothSeparators}">
<!--content 2-->
</TabItem>
<TabItem Header="Item 3" Style="{StaticResource TabItemWithoutSeparators}">
<!--content 3-->
</TabItem>
Hope, this helps! Fore sure there is a more elegant way to get this separators...