Trying to change tab color

[kengreen]

I want to change the color of the active tab in both light and dark modes. Not the title bar. The tabs above the title bar.

So many threads about coloring the tab background (including changing the gradient). I have read through many of them. Unfortunately, the answer I am looking for appears to be changing the value of ActiveTabColor in the INI file. But I don't see that in my INI file (wincmd.ini). I see where the left/right title bar colors can be changed, but not any value for the tabs themselves.

What am I doing wrong? Apologies if this has been answered before. I could not find a solution that did not specify 'ActiveTabColor'

[algol]

... changing the value of ActiveTabColor in the INI file. But I don't see that in my INI file (wincmd.ini). I see where the left/right title bar colors can be changed, but not any value for the tabs themselves.

Well, if it isn't there in your "wincmd.ini" that's exactly the reason why it doesn't work

"ActiveTabColor=" (according to Help) can be set to "-1", meaning "disabled", or it can be omitted altogether. It is a general governing principle in "wincmd.ini" that only parameters need to be there that are expected/needed to control features which the user explicitly wants to be set in a certain way.

You want colered active tabs? Well, in order to get them you need to declare that parameter yourself within the [Colors]-section of "wincmd.ini" and either set it to a decimal or (better, b/c more meaningful) Hex-color-RGB-value in the form $BBGGRR (meaning BlueGreenRed).
So for example
"ActiveTabColor=$0000FF"
would mean bright Red or =$00FFFF bright Yellow.

For users unfamiliar or feeling uncomfortable with RGB/Hex-color-values or manually editing the ini-file this can also be achieved via the GUI-options defining a custom-view-mode:
Configuration>Options>Display>ViewMode
HTH

[Stefan2]

Hi and welcome kengreen.

... changing the value of ActiveTabColor in the INI file. But I don't see that in my INI file (wincmd.ini). ..

The secret is, that the default settings are not written to the INI.
Only the modified settings can be found there.
So if you find no setting, you have to write it yourself to the INI. (be sure it is there only once)

The location of the ini files can be seen in menu "Help - About Total Commander".

Open the Help "TOTALCMD.CHM" (F1) > "Configuration and Switches" > "Ini file Settings" > Part x > and search for the wanted setting.
Take care under which [section] the setting is listed in the help, as under that section you must write it to the INI too.
For example, "ActiveTabColor" is located in the [Colors] section of the help and must therefore be written to the INI in the [Colors] section too.




 

[kengreen]

Thank you so much for this simplified explanation! Yes, I know exactly where you are talking about. There is a [Colors] section for both default and dark theme, correct? That is where I expected to find "ActiveTabColor." It never occurred to me that I simply could add the value.

[algol]

It never occurred to me that I simply could add the value.

If you press <F1> in TC to invoke its "Help"-file you will find all the possible ini-File settings listed in section 4b, split into (currently) 3 parts due to the plethora of possible options. And theoretically you could include them all manually into "wincmd.ini" although I might caution you that it is never a good idea to tweak - or should I better say "mess" - around with advanced settings the exact impact of which you do not fully understand.

And so the good news is that for the average-user this not even necessary or intended as the default-settings will suffice to enable most of the impressive functionality of TC. And once you gain more and more experience and might develop specific needs and/or require dedicated solutions for particular problems you can still carefully study those advanced options (together with associated forums-discussions) to try and tweak TC to even better suit your requirements thereby gradually migrating to power-user-status.

As for the[Colors ]-section(s?) (containing "ActiveTabColor=") I'm currently aware of only one such section. The other one you are possibly referring to is called "[ColorsDark]" but doesn't necessarily enable an alternative color-setting for each and every entry in the main [Colors ]-section. As for "ActiveTabColor=" you would have to try it out yourself if there are 2 different settings currently supported for normal- and dark-mode. According to TC-help this might not be the case - but who knows - perhaps only the help-file isn't exactly up-to-date in that respect.

[petermad]

As for "ActiveTabColor=" you would have to try it out yourself if there are 2 different settings currently supported for normal- and dark-mode

There are 2 different settings for ActiveTabColor (in [Colors] and [ColorsDark].

[algol]

There are 2 different settings for ActiveTabColor (in [Colors] and [ColorsDark].

Thanks for the clarification as TC-help doesn't say so. Just to be sure what you're saying: is it literally "ActiveTabColor=" for both sections thereby actually double-using this particular entry - or wouldn't it rather be "ActiveTabColorDark=" for the [ColorsDark]-section for the sake of unambiguity?

[petermad]

2algol
It is ActiveTabColor in both sections.

It IS mentioned in the Help

[ColorsDark]
.
.
All other parameters from the section [Colors] can be used for the dark mode too - except for:
ColorFilterN, ColorFilterNColor, ColorFilterNColorDark

[algol]

2algol

[ColorsDark]
..
All other parameters from the section [Colors] can be used for the dark mode too - except for:
ColorFilterN, ColorFilterNColor, ColorFilterNColorDark

My bad. Thanks again for pointing this out.