From: pd-list-bounces@iem.at [mailto:pd-list-bounces@iem.at] On Behalf Of Jonathan Wilkes
Sent: Friday, June 07, 2013 5:03 PM
To: 'pd-list'
Subject: [PD] GUI preferences frame

Hello list,
     I've now got the audio dialog and midi dialog of the new Pd Preferences menu working.

Now it's time for the GUI dialog.  Some questions:

1.  Are there hooks for saving gui preferences to the Pd settings file?  I don't see anything

in Vanilla.  Has pd-l2ork implemented those hooks?

Pd-l2ork’s hooks are currently only accessible via sys_vgui since they reside in tk-land. Making this canvas-side should not be too difficult but will require some additional work.

2.  What options should be available in the GUI dialog?

3.  How should it update?  Immediately after the user makes a choice?

4.  How should these settings interact with settings from within the patch?  The only workable solution I see is that things should just "work as they work", probably meaning that patchlevel options (which are presumably loadbanged into being) would supersede the GUI dialog settings.  And I can put a "Refresh" or "Apply" button in the dialog so the user can manually override.

Here's a start for the options:

1) canvas bg color

2) font color/size/face

This will require a lot more than this since pd has two ways of dealing with fonts—one for iemguis and other for everything else. This needs to be streamlined before anything can be done with this option.

3) text selection color

4) wire color

5) box outline color

6) box fill color

4-6 should by object- rather than canvas-specific

7) xlet color

8) active xlet color

9) link color (for pddplink/helplink)

IMO this should be pddplink-specific rather than canvas-specific

And also

0) Dropdown list of presets for whatever people might want quick access to like: Ubuntu x.x, Linux Mint, high contrast, inverted from default (black bg with white text).  (At least I don't know a way to get tk to inherit GNU/Linux themes so this would be a workaround for that.)

This is currently impossible to handle due to Tk’s limited ability to interface with the rest of the desktop in terms of themes. As such I would leave it out for the time being.