I join TPanel using standard delphi docking features. And the name of the docked form looks like this:
How can I change its appearance?
Appearance appears from TCaptionedDockTree. You can write your own descendant and designate it DefaultDockTreeClassto replace it. Override the label height AdjustCaptionRect. To change the actual drawing of the label, override GetDockCaptionDrawerto return your own child TDockCaptionDrawerusing the overriden DrawDockCaptionand / or methods DockCaptionHitTest.
TCaptionedDockTree
DefaultDockTreeClass
AdjustCaptionRect
GetDockCaptionDrawer
TDockCaptionDrawer
DrawDockCaption
DockCaptionHitTest