I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

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dsperber
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I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#1 Post by dsperber » 12.11.2020, 17:05

I yield. No idea how to actually change colors, for example of the Address Bar, selected folder in the Tree, etc. Each item in Settings has a "color/font" tab, but for the life of me I don't know how to utilize what's on that dialog. And the HELP does not provide step-by-step instructions as to HOW to actually change a color, it only provides a picture of the dialog and says "you can change these colors".

I am absolutely lost. Please give me step-by-step instructions. Interestingly I've obviously applied these color changes years ago, but I've been rolling forward the INI files from previous versions. So now that I'm trying to re-customize a default 832 INI file to get everything I previously had but redone within an 832 starting INI, I have been stumped as to how I got the color changes applied in previous versions.

So the questions are twofold:

(a) how can I determine what the customized color RGB values are in my old INI for these items, and

(b) what is the step-by-step procedure for setting a customized color in the new INI using the "color/icon" tab dialog. Actually I'm pretty sure the answer to (1) implies (2), so if I can just know how to expose the RGB values in a currently customized FCXE setup getting that same dialog in the new 832 setup would let me set the color there.

So, here is the Address Bar color dialog as pictured in HELP. It's out of date a bit, but mostly accurate. Most significantly the steel-blue color of the items shown is really exactly what I want to achieve in the new 832 Address Bar. The current default color is more of a bright baby blue that I don't like. So I've always customized it back to the older original steel-blue. But now I can't figure out how I did it, and the "color/font" dialog is really a complete mystery to me. Not intuitive, at least to me. Nothing I push seems to provide clearly labeled things to push or change.

(1) Here's the HELP for Address Bar "color/icon" settings tab, showing the actual target steel-blue color I'd like to set my 832 Address Bar to:

Image

(2) Here's the default 832 Settings -> Address Bar -> color/icon tab, with the bright baby blue color I want to change:

Image

(3) Here's my current color/icon tab on another machine, with the carry-forward INI file I've been using. Obviously I made the color changes sometime in the past, but I cannot for the life of me remember how I did it.

Image


So if somebody can tell me how to find out what the old steel-blue RGB values are from my old INI, that will probably also instruct me as to where I need to get to in order to change the bright baby blue of the 832 default back to the steel-blue I want, for Address Bar and anything else I want to change color of.

For example, if I click on the "color" button, I get the following menu:

Image

I assume I'm then supposed to change the "background start" and "background stop" RGB values, to establish the gradient properly. But when I press "background start" I get just a totally mysterious color-choice dialog, that I have no idea what to do with.

Image

What do I do now?? I've tried going into "more colors", but the selected item and RGB values is apparentlyfor the bright baby-blue color. I look at my old color palette and the RGB values for steel-blue, and copy those RGB values into the custom color dialog window on 832. Then I push OK to apply it. But no color change occurs. Even when I close the Settings dialog and program and re-open, the Address Bar color is still the original default bright baby-blue, not the steel-blue I just OK'd.

On my old INI the "color palette" shows what I'm sure are the RGB values for steel-blue, and which I want to apply to 832. Looks like this:

Image

And on the 832 INI the "color palette" shows the bright baby-blue RGB as follows:

Image

I change the RGB value on the 832 dialog to match those of the old dialog and push OK, and then OK my way out. But the color change does not occur.

So how do I accomplish a color change? What am I missing? Is this a bug in 832?

Sure would be nice if the HELP provided these instructions.

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Dreamer
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#2 Post by Dreamer » 12.11.2020, 20:59

First, few useful links:

Color Schemes - Guide - FreeCommander Forum

FAQ – Color Schemes

You can save the color scheme from your old .ini file and then load that color scheme to new .ini file.

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#3 Post by dsperber » 13.11.2020, 06:59

But wait. That's really not the question. I don't want to have to learn all about color schemes (good as that might be), in order to use a single simple basic function that actually should be working.

So, it appears I've found how to see what the RGB value is in my old INI, and the displayed color matches. And opening the identical "more colors" button in 832 shows the default color and RGB value here. So it's now clear that I should simply have to enter the old RGB values in the 832 color palette dialog, save it,perhaps close and re-launch FCXE, and the color change should now be reflected.

Right??

Well it doesn't work!! So either I'm doing something wrong as far as SAVE/APPLY which needs something else or a different method, or there is a bug in 832.

That is what I'm asking. Is it a bug in 832? Does it work for others? Or is color changing it broken in 832?

Again, I'm not saying color schemes might not be wonderful. But it's not really relevant to my dilemma. And I shouldn't have to "work around" a bug in the program using some complicated technique that's based on having an old currently properly colorized FCXE that I can borrow from. What if I were a completely brand new FCXE user who had no such old version that had been custom colorized, that I could copy from?

Bottom line: it appears I've discovered the correct method for determining what the old RGB value was, opening the old color through the "more colors" button to see the actual RGB. And then simply repeating that process in the 832 version should now let me set the correct RGB in 832. And it should take hold, right? So why doesn't it.

Does it actually work for you? Can you change a specific item's color using 832?

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#4 Post by dsperber » 13.11.2020, 08:21

Well, I've figured out how to get the color change to "stick". But I'm certain this shouldn't be the method that was intended. Obviously the program is not doing what I think it should be doing the straightforward way.

If you look at the initial color palette presented, it looks like this:

Image

Note that the lower portion of the presentation are actually individual buttons for the individual colorizable items in Windows desktop. And nothing is selected, at least by default. However looking at my old FCXE setup, it appears that the "background start" item SHOULD have had the "active caption" button selected in that lower portion. And once that button is pushed, if I then push the "more colors" button and set the RGB values I want (same as I've been doing repeatedly up until now, but without having the "active caption" button selected) and then push OK, well magically the color I set is now successfully applied!!

Image

Similarly, in order to make the "background end" color change I want (to get the proper gradient), I again have do do something similar as described above, because once again by default there is no Windows colorization item selected in the lower portion of the color palette. And this time, I first have to select the "inactive caption" button in the lower portion. Then, again, push "more colors" and set the RGB values for the "background end" lower gradient color, and OK. And now once again, that lower gradient color settings is now successfully applied!!

Image

And then I can push OK to get out of Settings, and presto zingo... my Address Bar color has now finally been changed to match my previous FCXE setups. So I have finally emerged victorious.

I don't believe this is really how it should work in terms of getting FCXE to apply my specified color change, but it seems to be a way to make it work. Note, however, that this also affects the gradient background for other items on the Address Bar's color/icon tab presentation. For example note that the filtered item (which is red) also now has this steel-blue gradient background instead of the original white. Perhaps that's intended, I don't know. But doing what I had to do, and selecting the "active caption" and "inactive caption" items first in order to get the color change to really apply, that seems to have also affected other items that involve "background".

Again, I really would like instructions from Marek on exactly how one is truly supposed to make color changes. Step by step instructions, and use the Address Bar as an example, starting from a brand newly installed default INI setup. This info is not in the HELP, but needs to be. Or, at least presented here in a reply.

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#5 Post by dsperber » 13.11.2020, 13:43

Ok. I've now managed to get my Address Bar color changed by selecting the "active caption" and "inactive caption" items in the lower part of the color palette, which for some reason then resulted in my OK to apply the RGB color values to actually take effect. Previously I was doing the exact same thing except that the OK did not get the RGB color values applied. The original color was left unchanged. So some mysterious connection between those Windows colorization items in the bottom part of the color palette seem extremely crucial. This is not explained anywhere, especially not in the HELP, but it does appear to be critical.

So, having gotten past that first hurdle, I now have a second color-change objective that again I cannot seem to accomplish. Same exact problem, where setting the RGB values and pushing OK has no effect at all. In particular there are two other items I'd like to change the color of: (1) selected-active/selected-inactive folder in the TREE pane, as well as (2) selected-active/selected-inactive folder/file in the FOLDERS/FILES pane.

Turns out that for somre reason using the physically identical INI file (i.e. actually copied from one machine to the other), the colors of these two items as they appear running on a Win7 machine are different that the same two items as they appear running on a Win10 machine. And I would like to understand why. And I would also like to change the color of the two items on my Win7 machine to match the color of the same two items as they appear on the Win10 machine.

That's the objective. Seems simple enough. Except I can't get the OK to actually apply the RGB colors I set. Unlike the Address Bar colorizing trick, I don't know what perhaps must be done for these current two items because NO Windows colorizing item in the lower part of the color palette is selected in either Win7 or Win10. So whatever color is appearing (and they actually are two different colors, despite the fact that I copied the same INI file from one machine to the other). In other words the "more colors" for each actually presents two different RGB values! This only seems possible if the color isn't coming from the INI file itself, but rather from a Windows-related colorization value and the corresponding colors being used for this 'hook" are different in Win7 than in Win10. It can't be in the INI since those are identical. It must be a color difference for that Windows color item between Win7 and win10.

Anyway, that's the new objective. And again I'm looking for help because FCXE simply does not appear able to apply my RGB color changes. So I must be doing something wrong.

--> I want to get the TREE selected item color in Win7 to match the color in Win10. That's the objective.

(1) Here are two screenshots of the three items whose color I'm concerned with: Address Bar, selected TREE item, and selected FOLDER/FILE item. Note that the actual color as well as the RGB values are identical in both Win7 and Win10. These pictures demonstrate that.

(a) Win7 Image

(b) Win10 Image

(2) And here are the corresponding RGB values for the same three items: Address Bar, selected TREE item, and selected FOLDER/FILE item. Again, both the colors and RGB values are the same in both Win7 and Win10. I won't show the Address Bar, Background End RGB screenshots but trust me, they are again identical for both Win7 and Win10. Also, note that the colors and RGB values are correctly identical for the Address Bar as well as for the FOLDER/FILE selected items. This is expected, and as it should be. However the colors and RGB values for the TREE selected item is DIFFERENT in Win7 and Win10. This is the issue, and I want to make Win7 be the same color as exists in Win10... but I can't succeed.

(a) Win7 RGB for Address Bar, Background Start Image

(b) Win10 RGB for Address Bar, Background Start, same as Win7 Image

(c) Win7 RGB for FOLDER/FILE selected active Image

(d) Win10 RGB for FOLDER/FILE selected active, same as Win7 Image

(e) Win7 RGB for TREE selection Image

(f) Win10 RGB for TREE selection, different from Win7 Image

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#6 Post by dsperber » 13.11.2020, 13:49

(3) So, I then change the RGB values for Win7 TREE selection to match the values for Win10: 138, 240, 101.

(g) Win7 TREE selection changed RGB before OK Image

(h) Win7 TREE selection after OK, close, re-launch (unchanged) Image


Note that my attempt to change the color of TREE selection was unsuccessful. I entered different RGB values and pushed OK. I then pushed APPLY (and no change onscreen to the color). I then closed FCXE and re-launched it. Had zero effect. TREE selected item color is unchanged from before. The color of that item was just as it was before I attempted to change it. And when I went back to look at the RGB values, sure enough they were indeed UNCHANGED FROM THEIR ORIGINAL VALUES, even though I had changed them and pushed OK.

Image

Image

It's clear that either FCXE is broken and this color change doesn't work. Or, I'm doing something wrong. Or, the color for TREE selection item isn't coming from the RGB value as shown, but rather from some other Win10 colorization element that is completely fixed and independent of FCXE's colorization functionality.

So... can someone tell me if it is actually possible to change the TREE selection color using FCXE's functionality?? I must obviously be doing something wrong, because it seems (a) unchangeable, and (b) clearly derived from a Windows color item and not from FCXE colorization functionality.

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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#7 Post by ralfso » 13.11.2020, 20:42

I have no possibillity to check Win 7, but you have to put RGB values (138, 240, 101) in the fields on the right R=red, G=green, B=blue).

I think I remember that the lightblue color was the windows highlight color.

Try at settings > select items:
On: Theme off (need program restart)
Off: Use Windows colors
https://freecommander.com/fchelpxe/en/General4.html
Regards
Ralf

Win10 (64-bit), Intel i7-2600 (3,4 GHz), 8 GB Ram, 500 GB SSD, 2x2000 GB HD, NVIDIA GeForce 545

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#8 Post by dsperber » 14.11.2020, 02:31

ralfso wrote: 13.11.2020, 20:42 I have no possibillity to check Win 7, but you have to put RGB values (138, 240, 101) in the fields on the right R=red, G=green, B=blue).
You're absolutely correct. I'm misspeaking. When I casually use the term RGB I'm really referring to that custom color palette which allows setting a color using either of two sets of three number. You can specify a color either using (a) its HUE, SAT, or LUM values, or (b) its RED, GREEN or BLUE value. Either set can be used.

And you're right, I have been casually referring to RGB numeric when I'm really referring to the HUE, SAT and LUM numeric value. So the actual absolute numeric values I've been calling RGB are really HSL value, entered into the HSL fields.

What's important though is that if you look at the Win7 vs. Win10 custom color palettes that show BOTH the HSL and RGB numbers, they are the same sets pf SIX number in Win7 and Win10 for both Address Bar and FOLDER/FILE items. And the colors produced is likewise the same for both Win7 and Win10. It is only for TREE selection, where the numbers differ between Win7 and Win10, and appropriately producing two different shades of blue on the screen. I happen to want to get the darker Win10 color RGB(0,118,215) into the Win7 world which currently shows a lighter blue with RGB(51,153,255) but I could just as easily have come up with ANY color I want to change FCXE to present, be it Win7 or Win10. I am simply unable to change the current color to any other color (and by the way that's true no matter whether I attempt it using FCXE in Win7 or Win10, it's not working period).

And my point is that no matter how I try to set the six values in the color palette (using either HSL or RGB, since when you set one triplet of values the other triplet automatically changes accordingly, since they are just two different ways to describe a color) it doesn't stick!! Not being save. Next time you look it's exactly what it was before you made the change and pushed OK.

==> It's not working.

Try at settings > select items:
On: Theme off (need program restart)
Off: Use Windows colors
https://freecommander.com/fchelpxe/en/General4.html
I don't understand what you want me to do.

Default FCXE setup has the "Theme off" checkbox OFF, i.e. not checked. And the "Use Windows colors" checkbox is ON, i.e. the checkbox is checked.

So do you want me to reverse the two settings? Do you want me to CHECK the "Theme off" checkbox and also UNCHECK "Use Windows colors checkbox? I've now done that, closed FCXE and re-launched. Then I changed RGB for TREE selection to be 0, 118, 215 (which is equivalent to HSL of 138.240,101), closed FCXE and re-launched. AND NOTHING HAS BEEN CHANGED!! The color and both HSL/RGB values are exactly as they were before.

Looks like the THEME OFF and USE WINDOWS COLORS items ON have no effect, no matter what state they're both in. It is simply impossible to change colors regardless of whether these two checkboxes are ON/OFF or OFF/ON.

==> It's not working.

So, just to summarize: I want to set TREE selection color in Win7 to have the same HSL(138,240,101) and RGB(0,118,215) values as appear in Win10. But again, I could pick any different color in the universe to want to change it to. ANY COLOR!! I just want to change the current color to a different color. And it doesn't work.

Thoughts?

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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#9 Post by Marek » 14.11.2020, 13:07

I see no problem with color selection.
If you use "More Colors..." button then after selection the color in the additional dialog (Windows standard dialog) you should click on selected color in the first dialog:
SelectColor(2).png
SelectColor(2).png (25.41 KiB) Viewed 20545 times
What is your used scaling because the color selection dialog is not right scaled on your PC?

dsperber
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Re: I give up. Can't figure out how to change color (e.g. Address Bar)

#10 Post by dsperber » 15.11.2020, 08:41

Marek wrote: 14.11.2020, 13:07 I see no problem with color selection.
If you use "More Colors..." button then after selection the color in the additional dialog (Windows standard dialog) you should click on selected color in the first dialog:
SelectColor(2).png
AHA!!! I had no idea. There's no mention of this critical final step in the HELP info or instructions. No real discussion at all of how to use this dialog, other than to show a picture of it.

Furthermore, if it's true I didn't know (but was told above by @ralfso) that in order for custom colors to work I also needed to check "theme off" and also uncheck "use Windows colors", in the Settings -> Select items -> General tab. Again, I didn't pick up on that requirement from reading HELP info or instructions. But my upcoming experimenting will confirm if that is actually true (which it probably is).

Anyway, I will now do a bit more experimenting and investigation. Rather than using blue, and shades of blue, for the purpose of diagnosis and learning I will use visually distinct ORANGE for the selected active/inactive items in the TREE pane. And I will use visually distinct GREEN for the selected active/inactive items in the FOLDER/FILE pane. I will confirm whether or not the two mentioned items which need to be checked and unchecked in Settings -> select items are as have now been told to me to flip. Note that these two critical settings ARE NOT DELIVERED THAT WAY BY DEFAULT, which by delivered default show the exact opposite of "theme off" UNCHECKED and "use Windows colors" CHECKED.

Let's see if I can get ORANGE and GREEN colors to appear in those two panes the way I want, and when I want. If/once I succeed then I will put them back to blue dark and light as I really want.

What is your used scaling because the color selection dialog is not right scaled on your PC?
Always 125%. Sometimes Win7 and sometimes Win10, but always 125%.

Sometimes 1920 x 1080, or 1920 x 1200, or 2560 x 1440. But always 125%.

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