Application level definition files

Color attribute descriptors

The color attribute descriptors allow you to define the colors of various elements of the FMLI screen. The color descriptors can only be defined in the initialization file. They will be ignored in other files.

curses(3ocurses) requires that the colors be set in pairs. This means you must set both the foreground and background for a specific element of the screen; otherwise it will default to monochrome. The pair for each color descriptor is indicated in the descriptions that follow.

NOTE: If you set the foreground and background to the same color, you will not be able to see the text.

The colors that can be used as values for the color attribute descriptors, for either foreground or background, are the following:

black
blue
green
cyan
red
magenta
yellow
white

You may redefine these colors, or add new ones, with setcolor(1fmli). Of course, if the terminal your application is being run on cannot display color, FMLI automatically defaults to monochrome.

The following descriptors can be used in the initialization file to specify color attributes for the various screen elements. All of these descriptors are of type string and accept the color values listed previously.

If the terminal your application is running on does not support color, these descriptors are ignored. (You can use the built-in variable HAS_COLORS to test for color support.)

active_border: The active_border descriptor defines the color of the frame border when a frame is current (border foreground). This will enforce the ``solid line'' look of the screen border. The background for the active border is defined by screen.
active_title_bar: The active_title_bar descriptor defines the color of the title background when a frame is current (background for active_title_text).
active_title_text: The active_title_text descriptor defines the color of the title text when a frame is current (foreground for active_title_bar).
banner_text: The banner_text descriptor defines the color of all text on the banner line. If this descriptor is not defined in the initialization file, the banner text defaults to white. The background for this text is defined by screen.
highlight_bar: The highlight_bar descriptor defines the color of the menu selector bar (background for highlight_bar_text).
highlight_bar_text: The highlight_bar_text descriptor defines the color of the menu selector bar text (foreground for highlight_bar).
inactive_border: The inactive_border descriptor defines the color of the frame border when a frame is non-current (border foreground). The background for the inactive border is defined by screen.
inactive_title_bar: The inactive_title_bar descriptor defines the color of the title background when a frame is non-current (background for inactive_title_text).
inactive_title_text: The inactive_title_text descriptor defines the color of the title text when a frame is non-current (foreground for inactive_title_bar).
screen: The screen descriptor defines the color of the screen (screen background)
slk_bar: The slk_bar descriptor defines the color of the screen-labeled function keys (background for slk_text).
slk_text: The slk_text descriptor defines the color of the screen-labeled function key text (foreground for slk_bar).
window_text: The window_text descriptor defines the color of the text in a frame (text foreground). If this descriptor is not defined in the initialization file, it defaults to white. The background for this text is defined by screen.

setcolor(1fmli), example of

Defining color for the banner line

The color for text on the banner line is controlled by the descriptor banner_text. If this descriptor is not set, the default is white text on a background that is the same color as the background for the rest of the screen.

   banner_text=yellow

would make all text on the banner line yellow, and the background would be whatever you set it to for the rest of the screen.