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Customizing Colors

The SAS System ships to all sites a default set of colors and attribute settings for the elements of all SAS windows. You can customize the colors in your SAS session

• through Resource Helper (reshelper). Resource Helper allows you to customize any color. See Setting X Resources with the Resource Helper and Changing Colors with Resource Helper for more information.

• through the SASCOLOR window, as described in Using the SASCOLOR Window. You can customize any window element for most SAS windows with the SASCOLOR window.

• with the COLOR command as described in Using the COLOR Command. The COLOR command affects only the specified element of the active window. Changes made with the COLOR command override changes entered through any of the other methods described here.

• by entering the color resource specifications yourself. You can enter specific RGB values or color names for any of the X resources that control color. See Defining Color Resources for more information.

Using the SASCOLOR Window

You can use the SASCOLOR window to change the color and highlighting of specific elements of SAS windows. To open the SASCOLOR window, issue the SASCOLOR command or select

Tools

Options

Colors...

SASCOLOR Window

To change a color for a window element, select the element name, and then select color and attribute that you want assigned to the element.

The BLINK attribute is not supported. The HIGHLIGHT attribute causes text to be displayed in bold font.

When you select [Save], your changes are saved to the catalog entry SASUSER.PROFILE.SAS.CPARMS.

For more information on the SASCOLOR window, refer to the online help.

Using the COLOR Command

You can use the COLOR command to set the color for specific elements of the active window:

color field-type <color|NEXT <highlight>>

field-type

specifies an area of the window such as background, banner, command, border, message, and so on.

color

specifies a color such as blue (which can be abbreviated B), red (R), green (G), cyan (C), pink (P), yellow (Y), white (W), black (K), magenta (M), gray (A), brown (B), or orange (O).

NEXT

changes the color to the next available color.

highlight

can be H (which causes text to be displayed in a bold font), U (underlined), or R (reverse video). The BLINK attribute is not supported.

To save your changes, issue the WSAVE command. The changes are saved to SASUSER.PROFILE.window.WSAVE.

Note:   The WSAVE command is not available for all SAS windows. For example, with SAS/FSP or SAS/CALC software, changes are saved either through the EDPARMS or the PARMS window. (To determine whether WSAVE is available for a SAS window, refer to the product documentation.)  

Refer to the online help for more information on the COLOR and WSAVE commands.

Defining Color Resources

Color resources fall into two categories:

foreground and background definitions

These resources allow you to customize the RGB values that are used to define the 12 DMS colors. Since each color could be used as either a background or a foreground color, you can specify different RGB values or color names for each color for each usage. For example, you can specify that when blue is used as a foreground color, color #0046ED is used, and when blue is used as a background color, CornflowerBlue is used.

window element definitions

These resources, which are referred to as CPARMS resources, allow you to specify which of the 12 DMS colors you want to use for each window element. For example, you can specify that message text is displayed in magenta.

SAS.blueBackgroundColor: CornflowerBlue
SAS.cparmBackground: DmBlue

Specifying RGB Values or Color Names for Foreground and Background Resources

The SAS System uses SAS.systemBackground, SAS.systemForeground, and the resources listed in Foreground and Background Color Resources to determine the colors to be used in its windows.

SAS.systemForeground: color

specifies the color for the foreground system color in the SASCOLOR window.

SAS.systemBackground: color

specifies the color for the background system color in the SASCOLOR window.

SAS.systemSecondaryBackground: color

sets the system secondary background color and specifies the color for the secondary background system color in the SASCOLOR window.

The following table lists all of the foreground and background color resources and their class names. All of these resources are of the type String.

Foreground and Background Color Resources

Resource Name	Class Name
SAS.systemForeground	SystemForeground
SAS.systemBackground	SystemBackground
SAS.systemSecondaryBackground	Background
SAS.blackForegroundColor	BlackForegroundColor
SAS.blueForegroundColor	BlueForegroundColor
SAS.brownForegroundColor	BrownForegroundColor
SAS.cyanForegroundColor	CyanForegroundColor
SAS.grayForegroundColor	GrayForegroundColor
SAS.greenForegroundColor	GreenForegroundColor
SAS.magentaForegroundColor	MagentaForegroundColor
SAS.orangeForegroundColor	OrangeForegroundColor
SAS.pinkForegroundColor	PinkForegroundColor
SAS.redForegroundColor	RedForegroundColor
SAS.whiteForegroundColor	WhiteForegroundColor
SAS.yellowForegroundColor	YellowForegroundColor
SAS.blackBackgroundColor	BlackBackgroundColor
SAS.blueBackgroundColor	BlueBackgroundColor
SAS.brownBackgroundColor	BrownBackgroundColor
SAS.cyanBackgroundColor	CyanBackgroundColor
SAS.grayBackgroundColor	GrayBackgroundColor
SAS.greenBackgroundColor	GreenBackgroundColor
SAS.magentaBackgroundColor	MagentaBackgroundColor
SAS.orangeBackgroundColor	OrangeBackgroundColor
SAS.pinkBackgroundColor	PinkBackgroundColor
SAS.redBackgroundColor	RedBackgroundColor
SAS.whiteBackgroundColor	WhiteBackgroundColor
SAS.yellowBackgroundColor	YellowBackgroundColor

Defining Colors and Attributes for Window Elements (CPARMS)

You can define the colors and attributes for specific window elements by assigning values to SAS resources known as CPARMS. Each CPARMS resource defines the color and attribute of a specific window element, such as the background in a secondary window or the border of a primary window.

You can specify multiple color and attribute names in the same resource definition, but only the final color and attribute will be used:

SAS.cparmResource: DmColorName|DmAttrName\
<+DmColorName|DmAttrName>

Resource can be any of the CPARMS resources listed in SAS CPARM Resources. All of these resources are of type DmColor, and their default values are dynamic--that is, the default values are determined at run time.

SAS CPARM Resources

Resource Name	Class Name	Specifies the color and attribute settings for...
SAS.cparmBackground	CparmBackground	backgrounds within all primary windows displayed in a SAS session
SAS.cparmForeground	CparmBackground	all editable text fields within a SAS window
SAS.cparmSecondaryBackground	CparmForeground	backgrounds in dialog boxes that prompt the user (secondary windows)
SAS.cparmBorder	CparmBackground	the border of a primary window
SAS.cparmSecondaryBorder	CparmForeground	the border of a secondary window
SAS.cparmBanner	CparmForeground	banners within window such as the command line prompt
SAS.cparmCommand	CparmForeground	the command data entry field when PMENUs are disabled
SAS.cparmMessage	CparmForeground	the message field
SAS.cparmNumber	CparmForeground	line numbers
SAS.cparmText	CparmForeground	text labels for row information. You can use this resource within the SAS editor to identify editing lines and in spreadsheets windows to label spreadsheets rows.
SAS.cparmInfo	CparmForeground	text that is displayed in a window as an aid to the user, for example: Press Enter to continue
SAS.cparmLabel	CparmForeground	text that precedes a widget, such as the text Name: in the following line is a label: Name: ___________________
SAS.cparmColumn	CparmForeground	text labels for column information. You can use this resource within the SAS editor to identify editing lines and in spreadsheet windows to label spreadsheet rows.
SAS.cparmHelpMainTopic	CparmForeground	topic words or phrases in the help system
SAS.cparmHelpSubTopic	CparmForeground	topic words or phrases in the help system
SAS.cparmHelpLink	CparmForeground	links to additional levels of HELP information
SAS.cparmError	CparmForeground	ERROR lines that are written to the Log or Output windows
SAS.cparmMark	CparmForeground	areas that have been selected for operations such as FIND, CUT, and COPY
SAS.cparmNote	CparmForeground	NOTE lines that are written to the Log or Output windows
SAS.cparmSource	CparmForeground	SAS source lines that are written to the Log window
SAS.cparmData	CparmForeground	general lines written to the Log or Output windows
SAS.cparmFootnote	CparmForeground	FOOTNOTE lines written to the Output window
SAS.cparmTitle	CparmForeground	TITLE lines written to the Output window
SAS.cparmHeader	CparmForeground	HEADER lines written to the Output window
SAS.cparmByline	CparmForeground	BY lines written to the Output window
SAS.cparmWarning	CparmForeground	WARNING lines written to the Log or Output windows

DmColorName can be any one of the following colors:

• DmBLUE

• DmRED

• DmPINK

• DmGREEN

• DmCYAN

• DmYELLOW

• DmWHITE

• DmORANGE

• DmBLACK

• DmMAGENTA

• DmGRAY

• DmBROWN

• DmHIGHLIGHT

• DmUNDERLINE

• DmREVERSE

For example, the following resources specify that all background colors are gray and all foreground colors are black:

SAS.cparmBackground: DmGRAY
SAS.cparmForeground: DmBLACK

These resources specify that errors should be displayed in red with reverse video, and warnings should be displayed in yellow with reverse video and a bold font:

SAS.cparmError: DmRED + DmREVERSE
SAS.cparmWarning: DmHIGHLIGHT + DmYELLOW + DmREVERSE

SAS looks for default CPARMS resources in two places:

• If your SAS Site Representative has entered color and attribute settings in the SASHELP.BASE.SAS.CPARMS catalog entry, then these settings become the default for your site.

• If you have saved settings in SASUSER.PROFILE.SAS.CPARMS, then these settings override the settings specified for your site.

Controlling Contrast

During interactive move/stretch operations, such as rubberbanding and dragging rectangles in SAS/INSIGHT software, you may find it hard to see the outline of the graphics primitive because of the lack of contrast between the primitive and the background. The XCONTRAST command makes the primitive visible against the background. The rendering performance and the aesthetic appearance of the primitive is compromised for the sake of visibility. You can enter XCONTRAST to act as a toggle, or you can specify XCONTRAST ON or XCONTRAST OFF.

In some color combinations, text fields, push buttons, check boxes, and other foreground categories may not be visible. The SAS.dmsContrastCheck resource makes these categories legible.

SAS.dmsContrastCheck: True|False

controls whether contrast mapping is applied to nongraphic foreground colors in a SAS window. The default value is False. A value of True specifies that DMS foreground colors will be remapped if necessary to produce a contrast. Some color usage based on graphic operations are not affected by this resource.

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