Frames, dialog boxes, and rectangles use only DCOLOR. For all other widgets, ABL considers the widget's category and its state to determine when to use the display colors (DCOLOR) and when to use the prompt-for colors (PFCOLOR). The categories are text input widgets (fill-ins and editors) and selectable widgets (all other widgets). The widget states are insensitive, sensitive, and focus.

The following table shows how ABL assigns colors based on the state and category of widget.

Note that for repaint, look, and usability reasons, text input widgets have the same colors for the sensitive and focus states but different colors for the insensitive state. This is in contrast to selectable widgets, which must change colors when they receive focus.