New Linux user. Menu colors problem

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trevix
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New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by trevix » Mon Mar 23, 2015 1:25 pm

I know very little of Linux but I manage to install Ubuntu 14.04 LTS on VmWare 6.0.5 on Mavericks. And LC 7.0.4 too.
Stacks created on OSX, when opened on Linux move a few things around...but I could fix this.
My main concern is that regular menus, when you do a mouseDown, appear with white text on very light background.

- Problem 1: I tried to modify the various colors properties of the menu button, but to no avail.

This has for sure to do with the Linux theme (if a change it to "high contrast", the hilite of the menu become white text on black background).

- Problem 2: As I understand there are several incarnation of the Linux interface: how can I make my LC stack sufficiently readable for all the Linux users ?

Thanks for any help
Trevix
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Mon Mar 23, 2015 3:50 pm

What Desktop Environment are you using? Unity is the default for Ubuntu 14.04.

For me, using Ubuntu 14.04 with the default Unity theme, when using LC Community 7.0.4 I did not have this problem:

Image


but older versions of Livecode behaved like you described. Here is a screenshot using LC 4.5 in the same desktop:

Image


I have not tested on any other desktop environments. I imagine if you are using VMWare you might be using Gnome Fallback as your desktop.

trevix
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by trevix » Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:01 pm

Hi.
I did not modify or install special things on ubuntu.
For what i can tell (!) should be Unity
[img]
Schermata 2015-03-23 alle 16.56.03.png
[/img]
[img]
Schermata 2015-03-23 alle 16.51.24.png
[/img]

The fact is that my LC menu (and stacks menu) look like this
[img]
Schermata 2015-03-23 alle 16.50.34.png
[/img]

It is not something that cannot be used...but it does not look good. What is the correct approach to each customer Linux install ?
Trevix
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:15 pm

Interesting...we are getting different results/


Well, one quick fix: in livecode, go to View>Look and Feel and select WIndows 95.

ugly, but it changes the hover-color to blue so you can at least see what you are hovering over.

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by FourthWorld » Mon Mar 23, 2015 9:43 pm

You have a recent Core i7 with just 1 GB RAM? I had thought the standard Ubuntu requirements were for a minimum of 2 GB, no?

Normally LC will use the standard OS hightlight color, but in your case that seems to not be happening. But given the unusual RAM configuration for that CPU, I have to ask if you're also seeing any other anomalies with rendering?
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Mon Mar 23, 2015 10:58 pm

He is running it on VMWare

trevix
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by trevix » Tue Mar 24, 2015 3:43 pm

I assigned 5 gb to Ubuntu on vmware but to no avail.

I discovered that it has to do with the monitor setting:
Since the install of ubuntu I've got an error msg on startup (it is a new install and did not modify anything, but I guess this is how Linux goes...) saying that it was "impossibile to apply the monitor configuration...".
While this error window is open, my LC menus are OK:
screen_A.jpg
When I close the error window I get the white menu background:
Screen_B.jpg
I did a vmware tool reinstall (nightmare...) and searched a lot for this on the web but I haven't been able to fix the problem.

I understand this is a problem of mine (sigh) but I wonder: how do I find or change the background color of menus in LC ?
Thanks for any help
Trevix
OSX 14.3.1 xCode 15 LC 10 DP7 iOS 15> Android 7>

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:04 pm

Not sure if you read my previous post, but one quick fix:

in livecode, go to View>Look and Feel and select WIndows 95.


Also, you might try using a different desktop in Ubuntu. I have had issues before with Unity on a virtual machine. I have had better luck with xubuntu, lubuntu, and even just gnome-flashback (sudo apt-get install gnome-panel) when running a vm.

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Mar 24, 2015 4:31 pm

It may be helpful to see if VirtualBox provides more consistent video emulation than VMWare. It's free so it only costs a few minutes to try:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

As for altering elements of RevMenubar, here's a script I use in a plugin here set to run when LC launches (yes, I'm an Ubuntu fanboy <g>):

Code: Select all

on UbuntifyRevMenubar
   put the defaultStack into tSaveDS
   set the defaultStack to "revMenubar"
   lock screen
   -- Menu text, and adjusting for new size:
   set the textFont of stack "revMenubar" to "Ubuntu"
   set the textSize of grp "revMenubar" to 13
   put 6 into tX
   put 0 into i
   repeat for each line tMenu in (the controlnames of grp "revMenubar")
      add 1 to i
      if there is not a btn tMenu of stack "revMenubar" then next repeat
      get the formattedWidth of btn tMenu of grp "revMenubar"
      set the width of btn tMenu of grp "revMenubar" to it
      set the left of btn tMenu of grp "revMenubar" to tX
      add it+4 to tX
   end repeat
   -- Colors:
   set the backcolor of this cd to the backcolor of stack "4wDevo" --gray35
   set the forecolor of this cd to gray90
   set the topcolor of this cd to gray55
   set the bottomColor of this cd to gray25
   -- Script Quit shortcut:
   put the script of grp "revMenubar" into tScript
   if line 199 of tScript is "      put "&quote&"&Quit"&quote&" & return after tFile" then
      put "put "&quote&"&Quit/Q"&quote&" & return after tFile" into line 199 of tScript
      set the script of grp "revMenubar" to tScript
   end if
   --
   set the defaultStack to tSaveDS
end UbuntifyRevMenubar
That last bit there may no longer be necessary; I'd have to double-check the status of my bug report, but I'd filed one a while back to have the Linux engine use Gnome's quit shortcut (Q). No harm in leaving it though, as it only alters the IDE script if that line is exactly as it was when I wrote that script.
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Tue Mar 24, 2015 6:48 pm

Thanks for that Richard. Now I no longer feel like I am running a Windows application in Wine.

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:03 pm

Thanks. Nice to find someone else who likes it. When I get some time I'll go back to the script and make some horizontal adjustments to the menu buttons to give them a bit more HIG-savvy breathing room. But for now it helps me feel more immersed in the Ubuntu experience at leas a little more that before.

And IMO the Ubuntu font is gorgeous, well worth using everywhere. I installed it on my Mac and Windows boxes so I can enjoy it as often as possible. Even Ubuntu Mono is good - I use it for my script editor settings.

All in all, I'm finding Ubuntu not only as productive as any other OS I've used but every bit as attractive as well, sometimes even more so (I really like Ubuntu's workspaces spread over OS X's Dashboard).
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by richmond62 » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:09 pm

At the risk of being accused of being a "complete pig" I should like to point out
that with XFCE as one's desktop manager none of these problems arise.

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by FourthWorld » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:12 pm

richmond62 wrote:At the risk of being accused of being a "complete pig" I should like to point out
that with XFCE as one's desktop manager none of these problems arise.
Under VMWare or on metal?

I've never had an issue on metal, but I have had some unusual appearance issues on other VMs before I switched to VirtualBox.
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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by richmond62 » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:19 pm

At the risk of being called a "complete pig" I should like to point out
that with XFCE as Window manager these problems don't arise.

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Re: New Linux user. Menu colors problem

Post by ghettocottage » Tue Mar 24, 2015 7:22 pm

I have been using Ubuntu as my work-station since 10.10 with (mostly) great success.

I would be interested to see more breathing room in the Livecode Menu Buttons (might even increase the text-size another notch). Do you have this plugin on GitHub for the other Ubuntu users?

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