Most of the stuff here is obsolete.

This directory contains various style sheets which are read

and used when the view style is changed (via View>>defaultStyle:).

An initial style default is set up by the display.rc and corresponding

d_xxx.rc files (found in the projects/smalltalk directory).

However, at any later time, the preferred style can be changed either

by evaluating (View defaultStyle:#styleName) or via the launchers

settings menu.

If the settings are saved, the style will be reinstalled whenever

ST/X is restarted later.

Look into generic.style, to see which parameters can be changed

and how they are named.

There are still some places in the system, where style information is

programmed into (instead of controlled via the StyleSheet) - but these

will be removed over time (these are historical leftovers).

So be prepared, that some things are not fully working.

Do not modify the original style files - but instead create your own.

Styles are read using the same path mechanism as all other file accesses,

so you can put your private style-files into your private directories,

even in case a public file exists with the same name.

You can inherit other styles via a #include - see 'motifXXX.style' as

an example.

To get your new style, perform the following steps:

	1. create a styleSheet, say 'foo.style'

	   (take any existing to start with and see 'generic.style'

	    for more comments)

	2. make sure its accessible under any 'resources' directory

	   of your systemPath.

	   (for the development environment, there is a rule 'make styles'

	    in the 'projects/smalltalk/Makefile', which symlinks all styles

	    to the local directory).

	3. check it by evaluating: 'View defaultStyle:#foo' in

	   a workspace (or change the style setting in the Launcher)

	 . Try some NEW views

	   (the new style will affect only new views).

	   Notice, that the styleSheet is only re-read if the style

	   has changed (the contents is cached to avoid reading the style

	   files over and over again). Thus, to get an updated styleSheet to be

	   used, either switch temporary to another style and back, or

	   use 'View updateAllStyleCaches' to force rereading of the current

	   style.

	4. if your style is ok and you want it to become your default at startup,

	   add the above line (View defaultStyle:#foo) to your 'private.rc' file.

	   It will then be automatically installed at startup time.

A note on the existing styles:

    Most are included as demo and to give you a starting point.

    Many are not really usable for ergonomic reasons.

    You may want to try your own, by combining features from different styles.

    For example, if you think the #st80-style may look good combined with green-background

    text-selection hilighting; go ahead and create your own.

Disclaimer:

    It is neither intended, nor do I claim, that these styleSheets mimic the

    originals exactly, they are included for fun and to make your ST/X views

    integrate better into whatever your environment may look like.

    You may improve them and send me back your updated files ....

    ... that way, the next release will have more and/ore better styleSheets.

    No, I do not intent to extent this mechanism the Xt way, where every

    individual component can be specified ... (actually, I do not like it).

    It could be easily done, by reading the Xresource files (a naming hierarchy

    is already present in the views). But it either tends to make

    your display look very ugly and colorful, or it is not used by serious

    users. So what ?

    Most users prefer simple (unspectacular) styles; the most attractive being

    the iris, motif, os2 and normal (for monochrome displays) styles.

TODO:

    The new ViewStyle supports entries of the form:

	className.styleVariable ...

    which makes the whole style definition easier to understand,

    and allows the style-code to be simplified.

    The style sheets will be changed till the next version to reflect

    this. Be prepared for this.