Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!swrinde!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!decwrl!adobe!heaven!heaven.woodside.ca.us From: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us (Glenn Reid) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: Apps in color Keywords: color interface Stuart Message-ID: <468@heaven.woodside.ca.us> Date: 5 Apr 91 19:46:14 GMT References: Sender: glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us Lines: 37 Scott Hess writes > In article <1991Apr03.112138.37367@slate.mines.colorado.edu> mfriedel@slate.mines.colorado.edu writes: > If anyone out there wishes to push color support in Stuart, feel free > to UPS me a colorstation. I'd want at least 24M of RAM, and a 400M > hard disk. PS: Don't expect the machine back anytime soon, either :-). You don't really need a color machine to support color in your App. I added color support to TouchType on a black-and-white machine, and never even saw it in color until much later, when someone from NeXT was demoing it and I got to watch :-) I said something like "hey, that's pretty neat. I've never seen it in color before." I got a couple of strange looks. Colors are supplied by the color panel, and they are accurate as far as that goes. If you see something change gray levels (on your B&W system) when you apply a color, it's working. There really isn't that much to it at the interface level. You only have to modify your data structures to have someplace to store the color and tweak your drawing routines a little bit, to use "setrgbcolor" or "NXSetColor()" (even better--supports all the color models). By the way, it is NOT a good idea to use different background colors in a window, or to change the window border, or the color of fonts. It is a violation of the user interface guidelines, and not worth it. If you want that kind of color support, buy an Amiga :-) Stuart is a terminal emulator, and I can't think of a single good reason why you should be able to change colors in a terminal emulator, other than to amuse yourself. Color is reserved for the CONTENTS of a window, and should be used only for things that really are colored, or for better illustration/rendering (as in CAD or scientific visualization). Color should not be used, in general, for elements of the user interface. This is as it should be. -- Glenn Reid RightBrain Software glenn@heaven.woodside.ca.us NeXT/PostScript developers ..{adobe,next}!heaven!glenn 415-851-1785 (fax 851-1470)