COLOR statement

Indicates the video attribute or color for normal display or for data entry.

Note: Does not apply to SpeedScript programming.

Syntax

COLOR [ DISPLAY ] color-phrase [ PROMPT color-phrase ]
       { field ... } { [ frame-phrase ] }

COLOR PROMPT color-phrase
       { field ... } { [ frame-phrase ] }

DISPLAY

Indicates that you want to use a specific color when the system displays a field.

PROMPT

Indicates that you want to use a specific color when the system prompts a user for input by an INSERT, PROMPT-FOR, SET, or UPDATE statement.

color-phrase

Specifies a video attribute or color. Following is the syntax for color-phrase:

{     NORMAL
   |  INPUT
   |  MESSAGES
   |  protermcap-attribute
   |  dos-hex-attribute
   | { [ BLINK- ] [ BRIGHT- ]
           [ fgnd-color ] [ bgnd-color ]
      }
   | { [ BLINK- ] [ RVV- ] [ UNDERLINE- ] [ BRIGHT- ] 
           [ fgnd-color ]
     }
   |  VALUE ( expression ) 
}

For more information on color-phrase, see the COLOR phrase reference entry. ABL ignores the color-phrase entry for overlay frames on spacetaking terminals.

field

The name of the field or fields for which you want to override the default colors.

frame-phrase

Specifies the overall layout and processing properties of a frame. For more information see the Frame phrase reference entry.

Example

This procedure highlights the item number and on-hand fields for items with an on-hand value less than 50. The variable hilite holds the video attribute (color) for highlighting. In this case, the system uses whatever attribute is used for the message area (such as reverse video, bright, or a color).

r-color.p

DEFINE VARIABLE hilite AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO INITIAL "messages".

/* Use standard messages attribute to highlight OnHand less than 50 */
FOR EACH Item NO-LOCK:
  DISPLAY Item.ItemNum Item.ItemName Item.OnHand WITH ATTR-SPACE.
  IF Item.OnHand < 50 THEN
    COLOR DISPLAY VALUE(hilite) Item.ItemNum Item.OnHand.
END.

Notes

When the output destination is not the terminal, ABL disregards the COLOR statement.
The COLOR statement does not automatically display a frame whose field's color attribute is changing.

Use one of these statements to reset a field to the ABL default colors:

COLOR DISPLAY NORMAL PROMPT INPUT field

Or:

COLOR DISPLAY NORMAL PROMPT INPUT field WITH FRAME frame

If you run precompiled procedures on a spacetaking terminal, you must specify the frame field where a color or other video attribute is applied as, or is by default, ATTR-SPACE.
If you write a procedure (for a non-spacetaking terminal) that uses color and you run it on a spacetaking terminal, the AVM does not display the colors. To display the colors, you must use the ATTR-SPACE option.
Certain terminals, such as the WYSE 75, are non-spacetaking for some attributes and spacetaking for others.
On UNIX, if you specify a color or video attribute that is not defined for the terminal, the AVM uses normal display instead.

COLOR statement

Syntax

Example

Notes

See also