Please read this entire document ╤ believe it or not, it might just help you! I
know Mac users hate manuals, but please read this one. It can╒t hurt!
<< What this program does >>
Aurora is a cdev (Control Panel device) that sits in your System Folder
waiting to be activated by the modular Control Panel that╒s been with us since
System 4.1. With it, you can control the colors used to draw your windows,
controls (normal buttons, scroll bars, check/radio buttons), and menus. Ever
wanted puce scroll bars? Now╒s your chance! Ever wanted a mauve menu
bar? No problem! It╒s also very easy to do. Choose your color from the standard
Apple color wheel, and you╒re off to colorizing (and personalizing!) your
desktop.
<< Brief History >>
Aurora was originally two cdevs: WindCntlCdev, which let you change
only your window and control colors; and MenuColorCdev, which let you only
change your menu colors. These cdevs worked fine, but my most frequent
complaint was that it took two cdevs to do the same job that Kolor (another
cdev written by someone else) did in one. So what could I do? To make my
faithful testers happy, I took the code for both cdevs and combined it into one,
creating an easy to use hybrid cdev - Aurora.
<< System Requirements >>
Mac II or above with System 4.1 or above (needed for the Control Panel).
This should also work with an SE/30 that has a color monitor, but I don╒t know.
Maybe someone can test it and tell me (hint, hint!).
<< How to setup Aurora >>
Simple. Just drop it in your System Folder just like any INIT. Then you
can forget about it (until you get an upgrade, of course!).
<< How to use Aurora >>
When you select it from the Control Panel╒s icon list, you will see three
main buttons. Simply click the button corresponding to what you╒d like to
change: ╥Change Window Colors╙ for windows; ╥Change Control Colors╙ for
controls (buttons, scroll bars); and ╥Change Menu Colors╙ for menus. I told you
it was easy!
** NOTE: If you try to select Aurora with your monitor set to 2 colors,
Aurora will beep and gray out the Control Panel window. Just change your
screen depth (preferably to 256 colors) and re-open it. **
Let╒s say you want to change the title bar of your windows to a light
green (as I have mine). Click the ╥Change Window Colors╙ button and you are
presented with a dialog that is full of buttons. There is also a picture of a
standard window, colored appropriately, on the right. The window is originally
drawn with the current system settings and changes as you make changes. The
buttons on the right allow you to change the colors of the different parts: title
bar, frame, content, title hilight (the horizontal lines), and title bar text color.
We want to change the title bar, so click that button. Up comes the color picker
wheel. Let╒s pick our nice light green color. Choose the color from the wheel
and click OK. Notice that the title bar of the window on the right is now green.
Click IN THE MINI WINDOW to save your changes, and with the next application
you open, the title bar of any windows will be green! This same steps work for
both menus and controls.
<< Extra neat fiddly things >>
< Save reminders >
If you try to exit the cdev (choose another one or close the Control Panel)
and you have not saved your changes, you will be presented with a dialog that
allows you to save them. This just makes sure that you don╒t lose any of your
changes because you forget to save them. Turning off the computer, however,
will not prompt this message; but we all use Shut Down anyway, right?
< Revert To >
These buttons are at the bottom of the part selection dialogs and let you
quickly change or revert to commonly used color sets.
a. Revert to black and white - the normal black and white colors are
restored. These colors can never be removed and are always present.
b. Revert to System colors - sort of an Undo feature. It restores the
colors from the time you opened the cdev, regardless of how many times you
have saved new colors. NOTE: Clicking this suppresses the save dialog when you
quit. This shouldn╒t surprise you. (If you don╒t understand what I just said, try
changing the colors, clicking the ╥System Colors╙ button, and choose another
cdev. See? No warning about saving your colors!)
c. Revert to Saved - In the save dialog, there is a check box that allows
you to save the current colors inside this cdev for later restoration, as well as
in the System file (see below). This is the button that recalls those colors from
the disk. Aurora allows you to have 2 color sets: the one that you are currently
using, and one saved in the cdev. What I do is keep my normal set saved in the
cdev, then, if I ever need something in black and white (or I want to show off to
my friends some really weird colors), I can change them and then get my usual
colors back without having to mess with the Apple color wheel! Try it yourself!
** NOTE: The colors originally present (before you save your own) are the
colors that I use on my own Mac. If you want to see how I like things, use the
╥Revert to Saved╙ button to restore the menu, window, and control colors (you
have to do each individually: one button doesn╒t load all three!). If you don╒t like
them, change them! Its a free country! **
< Save into cdev >
This lets you use the ╥Revert to Saved Colors╙ button (see above). In the
save dialog, there is a check box at the bottom that is normally un-checked (no
╘x╒ in it). If you want to save the colors into the cdev, you simply check this
box. No matter what, however, THE COLORS WILL ALWAYS BE SAVED INTO THE
SYSTEM FILE, even if you check the box. At present time, there is no way to save
ONLY to the cdev. Sorry.
< dogcow item >
At the top right of the main window, there is a dogcow. The dogcow,
created by Apple Development and Tech Support (DTS), is a strange genetic
mutation, brought on my too much programming in assembly. Dogcows, in their
normal manifestation, say ╥Moof.╙ (What else would they say??) Anyway,
clicking on the dogcow (named Clarus by DTS) shows some more info about this
cdev. It can be dismissed by simply clicking anywhere (for you programming
geeks: the click is NOT passed to any background application, even if the
application asks for them. I call FlushEvents so that if the user clicks
somewhere they shouldn╒t, nothing goes wrong. You are now returned to your
regularly scheduled documentation, already in progress...) As I said, click
anywhere to dismiss the notes.
<< Notes >>
1. This works by replacing the ╘wctb╒, ╘cctb╒, and ╘mctb╒ ID = 0 resources in the
current System file. That means that different disks can have different
window, control, and menu colors.
2. When you change the window/control/menu colors, the current application
(or, if under Multifinder, ALL open applications) will NOT change. To get them to
change, you must re-start. After you make your changes, all NEWLY OPENED
applications will have the new colors, regardless of whether or not you restart.
3. For better looking (and faster) screen updates, keep the window background
color white. Some applications (such as the Finder and Microsoft Word) don╒t like the background color to be anything but white ╤ so it EXPLICITLY paints it that way. This means that whatever color you pick for the background color WILL BE PAINTED OVER WITH WHITE! This is NOT a bug in my program!!! I have also heard this as a criticism of Kolor which is VERY unfair, since it╒s the application calling the shots, not the cdev (isn╒t that how it should be?).
4. If you don╒t want the title bar to be inverted (black on white) when you
switch to 2 colors, keep the Title Bar Color either white or a light color. Some
people might think an inverted title bar is neat - to each his own....
5. If the window was not designed to be color (by the actual programmer), the
control colors will act funny:
The frame color will be matched to the closest ORIGINAL color (red,
green, blue, cyan, magenta, yellow, black, white) no matter what you tell it to
be. The text color, body color, and thumb color (for scroll bars) will also behave
the same way. This is a limitation of the Macintosh - not of my program. If a
window is supposed to be in color (such as some in Word 4.0 and the Control
Panel), everything will work as specified. Again, this is NO FAULT OF MY OWN or of any other cdev that performs the same function.
6. Try to stick as near as possible to the normal menu colors. Keeping all item
and menu names black makes for easier reading. Also try to keep the menu
background color as light as possible for easier reading of the items. Menus are
made to be used, and even though they may look nice, if you can╒t read them,
they╒re useless.
<< Thank you╒s >>
In this cdev, I use a FreeWare file called Default CDEF, a CDEF that
automatically outlines the default button in a dialog. Saves me the trouble of
having to worry about it. Anyway, I can╒t find who its written by, but it is
⌐1989 by Lim Unlimited.
Thank you to the people at TML Systems for the TML Pascal v3.0 that I
used to create the old versions. The latest version is done with Apple╒s MPW C.
I want to thank Apple (again) for MPW, which I think is kinda╒ neat. I also need
to thank DTS for Clarus the dogcow.
I want to thank all the people who tested my earlier cdevs. I would have
been lost without you.
Lastly, I want to thank Jeffrey Roach (my good, but odd, friend) for
thinking up the word ╘glux.╒ Glux is a nonsense word (kinda╒ like ╘foo╒ and ╘bar╒)
used to name variables or procedures that don╒t currently have a name.
One really last note. This program is NOT Shareware, its Freeware. This
means that I╒m not charging for it, but I still retain all the rights to the
program and its documentation. The reason that this isn╒t Shareware is that the
idea behind Shareware sets out to make people feel guilty about not paying for
software - almost a ╥Big Brother Is Watching You╙ type of deal - I don╒t want
to do this to people! I want people to feel good about using my software!
I have spent a lot of time and effort on this so if you like it (or anything
else with my name on it for that fact), I╒d appreciate it if you sent me what you
think it is worth - a better name would be Pay-If-You-Like-It-Ware. If you
don╒t want to give me money, send me your ideas about the cdevs and any
problems you have and I will try to send you updates on further versions as they
come out.
Mike Pinkerton
2136 Owls Cove Lane
Reston, VA 22091
Thank you for helping me to test this software. If I ever upgrade it, the
price of upgrade will only be the postage for me to send a disk back to you. I'd
appreciate any comments - no matter how bad or good they may be. I want to
know how to make these programs better. Just write me at the above address.
The StuffIt file on here is for distributing these files anywhere you please
under the following conditions:
1. This document accompanies ANY OR ALL files
2. My name is not removed from any program IN ANY WAY, SHAPE, OR FORM
3. The code is not changed, fiddled with, or eaten.
4. You tell me how you like it and how well it works.
5. You MAY decompile this cdev to see how they work, but you may not alter
the code or any of the resources. I learned how to do my FKEY from poking
through the Monitors cdev. You learn a lot that way.
