VT-241 / VT340 Color Management Software -- Users' Guide Version 5.1 April, 1988 Having a VT-241, VT-340, (or other color ReGIS terminal) is much more fun if you use color combinations other than Red-Blue-Green. These programs make it easy for the user to control his/her terminal colors. A side-effect is that a user connecting a color terminal is immediately given a set of pleasant colors. Colors also allows the user to easily save and restore up to 9 favorite color combinations. Since there is no way to tell if a terminal is a VT-240 or a VT-241 (ReGIS monochrome or color), the programs key on the ReGIS characteristic. VT-240s handle the color commands OK. oo Some third-party terminals and (particularly) terminal emulators may not like these programs. We know of some which "lie" to SET TERM/INQ, and others which don't properly exit from ReGIS mode when sent the standard sequence (\). [Sigh!] oo VT-241 terminals must be SETUP to do Mono + Color Display, or the PCO and XCO programs will not work properly. There does not seem to be a convenient way to check for this from the programs. oo A note about VT-340 terminals: Although technically a 4-color text (16-color ReGIS) terminal, the VT-340 does not provide a "Mono + Color Display" mode like the VT-241. In Color mode, the VT-340 uses the normal text color for its reverse video color. Therefore, you will usually only see 3 colors on your VT-340. These programs do recognize VT-340 terminals (if the Device Attributes Response is set to VT340), and act appropriately. If you have trouble with PCO or XCO, check the Device Attributes Response of your VT-340. Commands The following commands are associated with Color Management. They are described in more detail later in this guide. OCO Used if terminal is garbaged - Fixes your CRT & restores colors. Also used to select from your saved colors. NCO Gets a new set of random, contrasting colors. CCO Gets a new set of random, complementary ("artsy") colors. SCO Gets a new set of random, similar (soft) colors. ZCO Saves your current colors to one of your 9 color maps. PCO Lists 64 choices for each of 4 colors, and lets you pick the ones you like. XCO An interactive/visual user chooser. CO The most versatile (and complex) command. Runs when you login, and can be used afterward. The acronyms (sort of) stand for: OLD Colors, NEW Colors, COMPLEMENTARY Colors, Soft Colors, Zave Colors, PICK Colors, (X)CHANGE Colors, and Colors. OCO (Old Colors) This command will reset the terminal parameters to clean up "garbage" and restore your default colors. In addition to its use in restoring your colors, it is useful (even with a VT-220) when something causes your terminal to have "funny" scrolling, line-drawing character set, etc. Typing OCO 1 (up to OCO 9) also recalls the saved color combination with the given number. Typing OCO 0 (or any other parameter) selects randomly from your 9 saved color maps. NCO (New Colors) This command will set up a random color setting. The colors picked are usually reasonable. The colors that are chosen will become the new default so you should save the old setting before executing this command if you want the previous setting saved. The current colors are always in SYS$LOGIN:CURRENT_COLORS_CMD.SCR. CCO (Complementary Colors) This command will set up a random complementary color setting. It is identical to NCO, except that the colors chosen are more "artsy". SCO (Soft Colors) This command will set up a random complementary color setting. It is identical to NCO, except that the colors chosen are more "soft". ZCO (Zave Colors) This command will save your current colors to one of your 9 color maps. Using ZCO without a parameter saves the colors to the next map in rotation. ZCO 1 saves to color map 1, thru ZCO 9 to color map 9. XCO (X_Change Colors) This command lets you interactively set up your default color setting. The screen shows all combinations of normal, bold, and reverse lines. You use the arrow keys, select/next keys, and find/remove keys to select your 4 new colors. The colors that are chosen will become the new default so you should save the old setting before executing this command if you want the previous setting saved. The current colors are always in SYS$LOGIN:CURRENT_COLORS_CMD.SCR. You can also use XCO to recall, edit, and save colors using your color maps 1-9. Saved colors are kept in SYS$LOGIN:COLORS_0n.SCR. Note that, when using a VT340, you are limited to changing the appropriate 3 colors. PCO (Pick Colors) A list of 64 pre-defined colors is given. You may use the arrow keys and/or type the color number for each of the 4 color choices. PCO does not have provisions for working with saved colors, and does not allow independent control of color attributes. However, it is simpler to use than XCO. CO (Colors) This command is done by the system when you log in. You may also use it at any time you wish. When run interactively, CO will pass up to 8 parameters to your SYS$LOGIN:SET_COLORS.COM. This allows you to have many different ways of doing your color settings. For example, CO 4 would pass the parameter 4 to your SET_COLORS.COM which could then type color file 4. Before trying to do anything "fancy" with CO, it is helpful to understand how the Color Management programs work. Suggestions Try XCO (or PCO). Try NCO, CCO, or SCO. Create your own SET_COLORS.COM in your SYS$LOGIN directory. A simple one would be one line: $ NCO which will give you a new set of random colors each day. $ OCO 0 is another good possibility. Get as fancy as you like. If you think it's easy to pick "nice" colors randomly, ask the system manager for a copy of NEWCOLORS.FOR or COMPCOLORS.FOR - we would really like to see these improved. They only pick reasonable colors about 90% of the time. Operating Philosophy of Programs oo If the terminal is not ReGIS, do nothing (except OCO); otherwise, oo If the user does nothing, always set the system default colors at login. oo Provide user flexibility as follows: Users may run programs to select their own colors (explicitly or randomly). If they do, the selected colors will stay with the user "forever" (are not changed to system default at any login). This is accomplished by writing a file Current_Colors_Cmd.Scr in the user's SYS$LOGIN directory. Two other files are written there: Current_Colors.Scr (for subsequent use by programs) and Did_Colors.Before (see below). Users may "do their own thing" by putting a Set_Colors.Com in their SYS$LOGIN directory. This will be executed at first login. Some users (like the author) like to use this to get a fresh set of "random" colors each day [my Set_Colors.Com contains "$ NCO"]. Users may save color maps to files named COLORS_0n in their SYS$LOGIN directory. Tools are provided for editing, saving, and restoring these files. oo For users who do multiple logins (SET HOST 0, Clusters, Terminal Servers), the user's selected colors are not switched at each login - until the user logs out once. The selection programs write a file Did_Colors.Before, which is destroyed at logout. Operating Sequence at Login When CO is executed, it does the following: 1. If the user has a DID_COLORS.BEFORE, Go To Step 3. ELSE 2. Execute the user's SET_COLORS.COM if it exists. ELSE 3. Type SYS$LOGIN:CURRENT_COLORS_CMD.SCR if it exists. This file is created by the NCO, CCO, PCO or XCO commands. This sets up the default color scheme for a user. ELSE 4. Type SYS$UTILS:[COLORS.MANAGER]SYSTEM_DEFAULT_COLORS.SCR. This is the system default color setting. Attributions: (All at Los Alamos National Laboratory) Dale Coy - Rationalization. Jim Whitfill, System Manager - the .COMs, etc. Tom Beery - Initial implementation of Color_Changer (XCO). Dennis Hall - Initial implementation of PikColors (PCO). Robert A. Williams - Suggestion for including saved colors.