Dark themes and C::B

[ivucica]

Greetings,

Code::Blocks doesn't really like dark themes, does it?



C/pp files are printed out alright, but the headers are completely unreadable.

Runtime  change of theme updates other applications, but many UI elements in C::B stay colored the same. (Under GNU/Linux, at least.) This may be a wx issue, but I'm not sure -- you guys decide.

There are some more problems, but these are most important ones. The UI designer(s) should try using dark themes for a while and see how it looks.

[thomas]

The only thing that really looks bad (apart from this horrible window manager theme) are the editor tabs. Those are no native containers, and they indeed do not query any system settings. However, they can be configured freely for any absurd colour scheme, including black on black, if that's wanted (look under "Notebook appearance").

You can either give them other gradient colours, or disable gradients alltogether, or you could use a more suitable colour for your window/dialog titles.

[ivucica]

The only thing that really looks bad (apart from this horrible window manager theme)

De gustibus non est disputandum
Yes, it needs some fixes, but sometimes I prefer darker themes, especially in dark environments. Less impact on the eyes.

are the editor tabs.

Look on the left.

C/pp files are in blue, which is ok for the theme. The dimming "algorithm", however, messed up the header files. They're black on black as you say. Also, now that I look closer, the build log is also black on black.

Those are no native containers,

I concluded that, but I wonder why, since the tabs under Project Options look quite good. You guys must have your reasons, but it still makes me wonder -- couldn't it be better to do an ugly hack just to display native containers? Or make it an option? No need to hurry, just punch it somewhere on the bottom of the todo list (ok, perhaps not on the bottom)

and they indeed do not query any system settings. However, they can be configured freely for any absurd colour scheme, including black on black, if that's wanted (look under "Notebook appearance").

You can either give them other gradient colours, or disable gradients alltogether, or you could use a more suitable colour for your window/dialog titles.

Thing is, it does not integrate with either Windows or GNU/Linux theme management (just like the syntax colorizer, but that's ok). I see the "read from system theme" button, but some more automatism would be appreciated!


In addition to that, there's no proper detection of theme change. If I launch with a "normal", greyish theme, after switching to the dark theme (which could be red, green, or whatever other color you can think of), half of the UI elements remains improperly colorized. Here's an image of switch from dark to grey theme:


The autodetection is not very important (boot time detection is ok) but some other things might pose a problem.

Thanks for reading this, thanks for work on C::B, thanks for not making C::B into another bloated Visual Studio, and thanks for giving me an IDE I can actually use quickly with only minor bugs