focus rectangle (inactive pane)

[suslo]

my aim is to completely get rid of the focus rectangle. it is visible in 3 places (in this image):

suslo-focus.png (282.87 KiB) Viewed 2636 times

place 1:    pane 1 - row 2 - file in the centre - Amsterdoom.dxw
place 2:    pane 2 - row 1 - 5th file from the top - dxwnd_cdplayer.png
place 3:    configuration > colors and styles > around the "highlights & dark mode" line

this is what i prefer for panes in xyplorer:
- selected folders/files should always be blue-colored (7A8BDE): despite anything at all
- background color should always stay white (FFFFFF)
- any kinds of focus rectangles should always be completely absent/invisible
- selection box should always be completely invisible (already done long time ago)


here is some additional explanation:
- this year i got an idea (about the blue color) which really changes the way the selected folders/files are displayed
(the whole impression about file management becomes much more positive and convenient to my eyes)

- i already have such visual approach (blue selected lines, black non-selected lines, white background) in foobar
which i use every day (and recent 13 months were spent with this new pleasant appearance)
- during this week i changed many 'color' settings of the 'ET search' program. so that it has similar view (like foobar)
and it looks really good. so now i'm trying to do the same in xyplorer


my main version of xy is 19.0.0.207 (i'm also testing the new 20.60.0401 version). they behave differently:
20.60.0401 has this problem: colors are ok but focus rectangle in the inactive pane is visible despite anything
i tried to do many things in:
- server2003 - display properties - appearance - advanced
- registry - HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors
- xyplorer - configuration/main menu/ini-file/forum. there is a very much related topic here (where i found no solution)


the 19.0.0.207 version theoretically has more problems. variant 1:
if: configuration > more colors > selections in focused controls > enabled >
"selection text" is blue (7A8BDE), "selection background" is white (FFFFFF)
if: configuration > more colors > selections in non-focused controls > disabled

then: selections in inactive pane are displayed not the way i need: foreground is black (000000),
background is grey (D4D0C8) for some reason (focus rectangle is not visible but maybe it's there, just hiding behind the grey color)

variant 2 for 19.0.0.207:
if: configuration > more colors > selections in focused controls > enabled >
"selection text" is blue (7A8BDE), "selection background" is white (FFFFFF)
if: configuration > more colors > selections in non-focused controls > enabled >
"selection text" is blue (7A8BDE), "selection background" is white (FFFFFF)

then: 1) focus rectangle appears, 2) foreground color should be blue but it's black (000000), background color stays white (which is ok), meaning that selections are not visible if the pane is inactive (ironically, but awful focus rectangle is visible)


i will be happy to have any of 2 real solutions (focus-related or color-related)
but i would have preferred to do something with my current 19.0.0.207 version
maybe this way it will be easier to find the solution. visually: no "focus rectangle" problem is present in 1 of 2 variants
technically: i'm not sure that the problem is color-related only (maybe it's rectangle-related too)

this is truly a very big problem for me; i had been trying to solve it myself for several days (dedicating huge amount of hours to
this), with no substantial success

[admin]

1)
Configuration | Colors and Styles | Highlights & Dark Mode | Focus rectangle -> None
Is that what you mean?

2)
Please make a separate thread for your wish posted here: viewtopic.php?p=175747&sid=5af0f7e463b0 ... cd#p175747

[suslo]

2) i'll do it in the next few hours, ok?
update: done

1) here:
Configuration | Colors and Styles | Highlights & Dark Mode | Focus rectangle -> None
i always have 'none

and nevertheless for some reason i see those 3 focus rectangles (see the screenshot in my 1st message):
2 in inactive panes, 1 in configuration

[admin]

I don't know where this focus line comes from. I simulated your setup and I see no focus line here:

[suslo]

if we speak about the 'config' window, then i begin to see this focus rectangle after clicking somewhere in the right part of this window
for instance, right before creating that screenshot, i just clicked twice at the 'focus rectangle - none' line

but i'm much more interested in those 2 focus rectangles that appear in both panes
i cannot understand what is going on. is it intended behavior of xy?

(according to your knowledge) should those focus rectangles be visible? (in inactive panes) (with the settings like in my screenshot)

[admin]

In all those case I never see a focus rect. Please try it with a fresh version, maybe there is some obscure tweak at work.

[suslo]

i just checked the v20.60.0406
everything is exactly the same as in my screenshot (those 3 focus rectangles are visible)

[admin]

Weird. Which Windows version?

[RalphM]

i just checked the v20.60.0406
everything is exactly the same as in my screenshot (those 3 focus rectangles are visible)

Did you also check in a fresh instance (i.e. typing ::fresh; in the AB and hit enter)?

[suslo]

Which Windows version?

win server2003

Did you also check in a fresh instance (i.e. typing ::fresh; in the AB and hit enter)?

i did it several minutes ago (result is the same)


focus rectangle always appears if i enable the 'selections in non-focused controls' option in configuration
no matter which version of xy i'm testing

this is the screenshot from my main version 19.00.0207

suslo-focus-2.png (242.35 KiB) Viewed 2482 times

alternative thoughts:
1) is there a way to tell xy that it should never display that grey color? (D4D0C8) (it can be seen here as background for 2 selected items) (and always display white instead)
(without enabling the 'selections in non-focused controls' option in configuration)

2) is there a way to tell xy that it should always paint the foreground for selected items with blue color (7A8BDE)? (not with black)
(without enabling the 'selections in non-focused controls' option in configuration)

[suslo]

that grey color (D4D0C8) = 212 208 200. these numbers are present here: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors]
in these lines: ActiveBorder, ButtonFace, ButtonLight, InactiveBorder, InactiveTitleText, Menu, Scrollbar, MenuBar
i may post the whole list from this part of the registry (it's not very big) but i cannot find how to post it here in a spoiler

anyway, if i change my system display-theme to the 'windows classic' (the default variant), then i still see the same focus rectangles

i checked a 5-year old version of xy (it also shows these 3 focus rectangles)
- are there any kinds of work-around? (so that xy stopped displaying these thin grey focus rectangles)
- could the info about this change be a key to finding a solution somehow?

[suslo]

if for some reason it's impossible to hide the focus rectangle (inactive pane), then what about this dirty work-around?:
to teach xy to move the focus rectangle immediately after a pane (panes) loses the focus

for example, the focus may be moved to:
- address bar (always hidden in my xy)
- tree (always hidden in my xy)
- live filter box (now it's always hidden in my xy too) (but among these 4 variants, this is the worst choice probably)
- catalog (always hidden in my xy) (seemingly, this is the best choice)


i don't think it's a brilliant idea. absolutely everything depends on this aspect: will this auto-movement be visible or not?
the thing is that i no longer know where to go and what to try so that i could forget about that focus rectangle (inactive pane)

which by the way sounds quite not normal: in 1 short sentence we simultaneously have these words: 'focus', 'inactive'
not logical at all. i mean, the focus should not even exist in such a situation

and sorry for the 3rd post in a row
the reason for them is the big wish to remove this problem and move on with a new great look of xy


update:
in fact, the idea was terrible. a desired behavior of the focus should be opposite:

as if both panes are always in foreground (have focus). this way the focus rectangle should not appear
(not only panes but also all sub-windows of xy, for example the 'configuration' sub-window, and all parts of that sub-windows)

but i suspect that technically it's not possible to implement (as an ini-option)

[suslo]

it seems that i just found a complete and beautiful solution. but only for the newest 20.70.0006 version

in my main 19.00.0207 version (which i really want to keep and use):
that solution does not lead to absolutely satisfying result. at the moment i'm trying to do something myself

[RalphM]

I'm sorry to break it to you but the chances that anything will ever change in this regard in an outdated version (no matter how much you love to keep it) are close to zero.
So I would suggest you adapt to the current version that seems to work and forget about the old one.

[suslo]

RalphM, before switching to 20.60.0404, i'll try to ask for admin's help. the hope is not dead yet

admin, here is the description of the problem (absent in new xy) (present in 19.00.0207) (also present in fresh 19.00.0207):

if: configuration > more colors > selections in focused controls > enabled >
"selection text" is blue (7A8BDE), "selection background" is white (FFFFFF)
if: configuration > more colors > selections in non-focused controls > enabled >
"selection text" is blue (7A8BDE), "selection background" is white (FFFFFF)
then:

1) focus rectangle does not appear anymore (after today's tiny change in the ini-file)
FlatLook=0 was changed by guess to FlatLook=1

2) when a pane becomes inactive:
foreground color should stay blue (7A8BDE) but it turns to black (000000); background color stays white (which is ok)
it means that selections become invisible right in the moment when a pane becomes inactive


the 'more colors' section is in fact the same in these both versions of xy
so is it a bug in the older version? i'm asking because this 1 setting simply does not work (in xy-19) (but works in xy-20):
selections in non-focused controls > selection text
but it must work in xy-19 too