Customizing the SAS Windowing Environment

Customizing Colors in UNIX Environments

Methods for Customizing the Color Settings in Your SAS Session

SAS provides a default set of colors and attribute settings for the elements of all SAS windows. You can customize the colors in your SAS session in the following ways:

Through Resource Helper (reshelper).

Resource Helper enables you to customize any color. See Setting X Resources with the Resource Helper and Modifying the Color of a SAS Window Using the Resource Helper for more information.
Through the SASCOLOR window, as described in Customizing Colors by 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 Syntax of 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.

Customizing Colors by 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

[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 click Save, your changes are saved to the catalog entry SASUSER.PROFILE.SAS.CPARMS.

Note: Close and reopen any active windows for new color settings to take effect. [cautionend]

For more information about the SASCOLOR window, see the online SAS Help and Documentation.

Syntax of 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, 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 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.) [cautionend]

For more information about the COLOR and WSAVE commands, see the online SAS Help and Documentation.

Defining Color Resources

Types of 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. Because 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, enable 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.

These two types of resources work together. The CPARMS color values use the current foreground and background definitions. For example, the following resources specify that the background of your primary windows will be CornflowerBlue:

SAS.blueBackgroundColor: CornflowerBlue
SAS.cparmBackground: DmBlue

Specifying RGB Values or Color Names for Foreground and Background Resources

SAS uses SAS.systemBackground, SAS.systemForeground, and the resources listed in the following table 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.

You can specify color names such as MediumVioletRed or RGB values such as #0000FF for all of the foreground and background resources. See your X Window System documentation for information about RGB color values.

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 the following table. 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 CPARMS Resources
Resource Name	Color and attribute settings	Class Name	Default Color
SAS.cparmBackground	for backgrounds within all primary windows displayed in a SAS session.	CparmBackground	DmWhite
SAS.cparmBanner	for a banner within a window.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmBorder	for the border of a primary window.	CparmBackground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmByline	for BY lines written to the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmColumn	for text labels for column information. You can use this resource within the SAS editor to identify editing lines and in spreadsheet windows to label spreadsheets.	CparmForeground	DmBlue/ Underline
SAS.cparmCommand	for the command data entry field when menus are disabled.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmData	for general lines written to the Log window or the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmError	for ERROR lines that are written to the Log window or Output window.	CparmForeground	DmRed
SAS.cparmFootnote	for FOOTNOTE lines written to the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmForeground	for all text fields within a SAS windowing environment window that can be edited.	CparmBackground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmHeader	for HEADER lines written to the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmHelpLink	for links to additional levels of information in the Help system.	CparmForeground	DmGreen/ Underline
SAS.cparmHelpMainTopic	for topic words or phrases in the Help system.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmHelpSubTopic	for topic words or phrases in the Help system.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmInfo	for text that is displayed in a window as an aid to the user. For example: Press Enter to continue	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmLabel	for text that precedes a widget. For example, the text Name: in the following example is a label: Name: _______________	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmMark	for areas that have been selected for operations such as FIND, CUT, and COPY.	CparmForeground	DmBlack/ DmReverse
SAS.cparmMessage	for the message field.	CparmForeground	DmRed
SAS.cparmNote	for NOTE lines that are written to the Log window or the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmSecondaryBackground	for backgrounds in secondary windows.	CparmForeground	DmGray
SAS.cparmSecondaryBorder	for the border of a secondary window.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmSource	for SAS source lines that are written to the Log window.	CparmForeground	DmBlack
SAS.cparmText	for text labels for row information. You can use this resource within the SAS editor to identify editing lines and in spreadsheet windows to label spreadsheet rows.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmTitle	for TITLE lines written to the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmBlue
SAS.cparmWarning	for WARNING lines written to the Log window or the Output window.	CparmForeground	DmGreen

DmColorName can be any one of the following colors:

DmBLUE
DmRED
DmPINK
DmGREEN
DmCYAN
DmYELLOW
DmWHITE
DmORANGE
DmBLACK
DmMAGENTA
DmGRAY
DmBROWN

DmAttrName can be any one of the following attributes:

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 on-site SAS support personnel entered color and attribute settings in the SASHELP.BASE.SAS.CPARMS catalog entry, then these settings become the default for your site.
If you saved settings in SASUSER.PROFILE.SAS.CPARMS, then these settings override the settings specified for your site.

Controlling Contrast

During interactive move or stretch operations, such as rubber banding and dragging rectangles in SAS/INSIGHT software, you might 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, buttons, check boxes, and other foreground categories might not be visible. The SAS.dmsContrastCheck resource makes these categories legible.

SAS.dmsContrastCheck: True | False: controls whether contrast mapping is applied to non-graphic 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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