cash@csmil.umich.edu (Howard Cash) (05/18/89)
I have the following code in a program that is trying to draw gray (you may say "dimmed") text in a modeless dialog window. PenPat(ltGray); /* gray pen */ GetItem(myMenuHand, itemNum, &myStr255); /* get menu item */ DrawString(myStr255); /* write item's name */ (I am using LSC). Problem is, the text comes out black as night!! How do I get gray text? Thanks for any help, especially you Apple folks! -howard cash cash@csmil.umich.edu "I think, therefore I earn" -dc
lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) (05/18/89)
The system draws grayed text (e.g., disabled menu items) by drawing the
text normally and then painting a gray rectangle over the text using
patBIC mode. This looks best with larger sizes and/or bolder fonts.
Larry Rosenstein, Apple Computer, Inc.
Object Specialist
Internet: lsr@Apple.com UUCP: {nsc, sun}!apple!lsr
AppleLink: Rosenstein1jmunkki@kampi.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) (05/19/89)
In article <1941@internal.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes: >The system draws grayed text (e.g., disabled menu items) by drawing the >text normally and then painting a gray rectangle over the text using >patBIC mode. This looks best with larger sizes and/or bolder fonts. Shouldn't we check for a color monitor & use color quickdraw to draw the text in gray instead of masking it with a pattern. Small fonts should be much more readable this way. Possible probelms: a) Is it too hard to distinguish between gray and black text? b) What would you do with colored items (in a menu)? c) What happens when a close color match is not available? b) and c) could revert to the normal behavior, but a) really depends on the monitor and user. _._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._ | Juri Munkki jmunkki@hut.fi jmunkki@fingate.bitnet I Want Ne | | Helsinki University of Technology Computing Centre My Own XT | ^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^
tecot@Apple.COM (Ed Tecot) (06/09/89)
In article <22049@santra.UUCP> jmunkki@kampi.hut.fi (Juri Munkki) writes: >In article <1941@internal.Apple.COM> lsr@Apple.COM (Larry Rosenstein) writes: >>The system draws grayed text (e.g., disabled menu items) by drawing the >>text normally and then painting a gray rectangle over the text using >>patBIC mode. This looks best with larger sizes and/or bolder fonts. > >Shouldn't we check for a color monitor & use color quickdraw to draw >the text in gray instead of masking it with a pattern. Small fonts >should be much more readable this way. Actually, early versions of the Mac II did this, but user testing showed that users did not perceive the gray items as disabled. > b) What would you do with colored items (in a menu)? > c) What happens when a close color match is not available? And these aren't bad reasons either. _emt