At 06:22 PM 6/16/00 -0400, Chris Grossmann wrote:
>For information purposes, I've included a diff describing
>the changes I had to make to get blackbox to compile. I had
>to make similar changes to the bbtools..
>
>Also, I'm having a problem with colormaps. The first I
>think I have to live with: the machine I'm on at work only
>has 8 bit color, and with some programs (example: xcolor) I
>the colormap "flashing" problem which is famous with, I
>think, netscape.
>
>Unfortunately, one of the programs I use all the time has
>this problem.
>
>The real problem is the way that blackbox handles this. As
>I move the mouse into and out of the offending window, the
>colormap switches - this is expected. However, moving the
>mouse from the titlebar to the main window does the same
>thing! My border color is flat black, and I've even tried a
>border width of zero. This happens with any of the focus
>models.
>
>What this means is that I end up with a focused window, but
>with a colormap of a different window! (meaning all of the
>colors in the current window are wrong)
>
>The offending piece of software is a big part of my job, but
>I get identical behavior with xcolor (xcolors?), or
>"netscape -install".
>
>The only solution I have now is to use clicktofocus (which
>I'm not a fan of, but can live with) and click on the window
>everytime.. Even as it's generating pop up windows, etc.
>
>Let me know if anyone has any ideas. It's aggravating
>enough that I'm considering going back to CDE, which is more
>or less a living nightmare for me.
>
>Thanks all!
The real problem, Chris, is two things:
1.) 8bit color. It's expensive to get a 24framebuffer for a Sparc,
but it's really worth it. The amount of colormap entries that it will
be expanded by.... it's just an amazing difference. I have a 20 at
work with a CG6 and a 20 at home with a 4M 24bit VSIMM and
it's just night and day.
2.) Colormaps and private colormaps. The symptoms that you are
speaking of which are indicitive of the application using it's own
private colormap. The odd color shift will occur whenever you switch
in and out of the "application". Since private colormaps are maintained
by the app, not the WM, they decide what is within the bounds of
the app.... and I can pretty much theorize with accuracy that they don't
include the titlebar etc. which the WM controls.
Netscape's behavior can be controlled. I believe the option I have it
set for is -ncols 140, which uses the main colormap but limits the
amount of colors it can grab. I would recommend trying this and looking
at the other application to see if its behavior can also be controlled.
--Nathan
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