Control over Sato theme

Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

I'd like to be able to control the Sato theme on my system,
with a softer approach than editing the "gtk-sato-engine" package.

I tried putting updated settings in /home/root/.gtkrc-2.0 but
they don't seem to have any affect.  I can see that this file
is being read (and presumably processed) as I bring up the
desktop, but why don't the settings stick?

Any ideas how I can make this work?

Also, when I tried editing the "data/gtkrc-vga" in the gtk-sato-engine
package I was able to change some settings in the theme, but I couldn't
get consistent coverage.  For example, I tried to make the predominant
background color something other than the light gray used by Sato, but
the unselected version of buttons still have the Sato colors and I don't
see how to change that, even in the gtk-sato-engine.

Any pointers would be very useful

Thanks

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

Hi Gary,

On 12 February 2013 23:19, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> I'd like to be able to control the Sato theme on my system,
> with a softer approach than editing the "gtk-sato-engine" package.
>
> I tried putting updated settings in /home/root/.gtkrc-2.0 but
> they don't seem to have any affect.  I can see that this file
> is being read (and presumably processed) as I bring up the
> desktop, but why don't the settings stick?
>
> Any ideas how I can make this work?

What settings in particular?  The xsettings-daemon will be overriding
gtkrc with values from GConf, so if you're trying to tweak some
settings then that will take priority.

Other values are likely hard-coded - the Sato engine wasn't designed
to be massively customisable and as far as I know its not really been
tested like this.

> Also, when I tried editing the "data/gtkrc-vga" in the gtk-sato-engine
> package I was able to change some settings in the theme, but I couldn't
> get consistent coverage.  For example, I tried to make the predominant
> background color something other than the light gray used by Sato, but
> the unselected version of buttons still have the Sato colors and I don't
> see how to change that, even in the gtk-sato-engine.

GTK+ theming has two different background colours for different
contexts (base or bg), so it's possible that you were only changing
one of them.

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-13 09:00, Burton, Ross wrote:
> Hi Gary,
>
> On 12 February 2013 23:19, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> I'd like to be able to control the Sato theme on my system,
>> with a softer approach than editing the "gtk-sato-engine" package.
>>
>> I tried putting updated settings in /home/root/.gtkrc-2.0 but
>> they don't seem to have any affect.  I can see that this file
>> is being read (and presumably processed) as I bring up the
>> desktop, but why don't the settings stick?
>>
>> Any ideas how I can make this work?
>
> What settings in particular?  The xsettings-daemon will be overriding
> gtkrc with values from GConf, so if you're trying to tweak some
> settings then that will take priority.
>
> Other values are likely hard-coded - the Sato engine wasn't designed
> to be massively customisable and as far as I know its not really been
> tested like this.

My system has a single GUI program and I'd like to change the "feel"
(aka theme).  For example, I'd like to change the colors around (black
backgrounds, light foregrounds, etc), as well as things like the size
and color of sliders, etc (it's a very restricted environment and I want
the feel to reflect that).

I think I still need the Sato basics as I need some minimal window manager
services like popup keyboards, etc.

What's the best way to manage this?

>
>> Also, when I tried editing the "data/gtkrc-vga" in the gtk-sato-engine
>> package I was able to change some settings in the theme, but I couldn't
>> get consistent coverage.  For example, I tried to make the predominant
>> background color something other than the light gray used by Sato, but
>> the unselected version of buttons still have the Sato colors and I don't
>> see how to change that, even in the gtk-sato-engine.
>
> GTK+ theming has two different background colours for different
> contexts (base or bg), so it's possible that you were only changing
> one of them.
>
> Ross
>

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 13:24, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> My system has a single GUI program and I'd like to change the "feel"
> (aka theme).  For example, I'd like to change the colors around (black
> backgrounds, light foregrounds, etc), as well as things like the size
> and color of sliders, etc (it's a very restricted environment and I want
> the feel to reflect that).
>
> I think I still need the Sato basics as I need some minimal window manager
> services like popup keyboards, etc.

Messing with the gtk+ theme is the right thing to do, and you can
change the theme whilst still using the rest of the Sato environment.

Either dig into the Sato theme more, or there's a lot of GTK+ 2 themes
at http://art.gnome.org/themes/gtk2 (and other locations) that will
work just fine.

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 08:00, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 13:24, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> My system has a single GUI program and I'd like to change the "feel"
>> (aka theme).  For example, I'd like to change the colors around (black
>> backgrounds, light foregrounds, etc), as well as things like the size
>> and color of sliders, etc (it's a very restricted environment and I want
>> the feel to reflect that).
>>
>> I think I still need the Sato basics as I need some minimal window manager
>> services like popup keyboards, etc.
>
> Messing with the gtk+ theme is the right thing to do, and you can
> change the theme whilst still using the rest of the Sato environment.
>
> Either dig into the Sato theme more, or there's a lot of GTK+ 2 themes
> at http://art.gnome.org/themes/gtk2 (and other locations) that will
> work just fine.

This is a great resource and many of them look perfect for my needs.

What's the best way to install/use one of these? (while I may have been
using X since version 10.2, I seldom mess with such things and don't
really know the best starting point)

For example, I downloaded 'ClearLooks Dark Orange' which gave me a single
file "Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc".  How do I install this and
make it stick on my target?

Thanks

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 15:08, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> What's the best way to install/use one of these? (while I may have been
> using X since version 10.2, I seldom mess with such things and don't
> really know the best starting point)
>
> For example, I downloaded 'ClearLooks Dark Orange' which gave me a single
> file "Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc".  How do I install this and
> make it stick on my target?

Good choice, I used that for many years.  :)

Package it up so it installs into
/usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc.

Then you'll want to override matchbox-desktop-sato which sets the
default theme name, change Sato to Clearlooks-DarkOrange.

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 08:13, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 15:08, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> What's the best way to install/use one of these? (while I may have been
>> using X since version 10.2, I seldom mess with such things and don't
>> really know the best starting point)
>>
>> For example, I downloaded 'ClearLooks Dark Orange' which gave me a single
>> file "Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc".  How do I install this and
>> make it stick on my target?
>
> Good choice, I used that for many years.  :)
>
> Package it up so it installs into
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc.
>
> Then you'll want to override matchbox-desktop-sato which sets the
> default theme name, change Sato to Clearlooks-DarkOrange.

Sorry to be dense, but I'm unclear what you mean here.

I didn't find any mention of Sato in the matchbox-desktop-sato package,
but I did in matchbox-session-sato.  It was mentioned in /etc/matchbox/session:
   exec matchbox-window-manager -theme Sato -use_desktop_mode decorated -use_cursor $SHOWCURSOR $@

I tried changing that line to be
   exec matchbox-window-manager -theme Clearlooks-DarkOrange -use_desktop_mode decorated -use_cursor $SHOWCURSOR $@
but I got this error:
   unable to open theme: /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml

None of the themes that I've downloaded include a theme.xml file.
Where do they come from?  generated by some process?

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 15:30, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> I didn't find any mention of Sato in the matchbox-desktop-sato package,
> but I did in matchbox-session-sato.  It was mentioned in
> /etc/matchbox/session:
>   exec matchbox-window-manager -theme Sato -use_desktop_mode decorated
> -use_cursor $SHOWCURSOR $@

Right, that's the window manager theme, not the widget theme.

I typo'd, sorry, I meant matchbox-session-sato.  In master, there's a
matchbox-session-sato/matchbox-session-sato.schemas which sets the
default theme.  If you're using 1.3 or earlier, there's explicit
gconftool calls you'll need to change.

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 08:38, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 15:30, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> I didn't find any mention of Sato in the matchbox-desktop-sato package,
>> but I did in matchbox-session-sato.  It was mentioned in
>> /etc/matchbox/session:
>>    exec matchbox-window-manager -theme Sato -use_desktop_mode decorated
>> -use_cursor $SHOWCURSOR $@
>
> Right, that's the window manager theme, not the widget theme.
>
> I typo'd, sorry, I meant matchbox-session-sato.  In master, there's a
> matchbox-session-sato/matchbox-session-sato.schemas which sets the
> default theme.  If you're using 1.3 or earlier, there's explicit
> gconftool calls you'll need to change.

I'm using 1.3+ (master from about a month ago) and there is such a file
   meta/recipes-sato/matchbox-sato/matchbox-session-sato/matchbox-session-sato.schemas

How do I change this file to use the new theme?
Can I just change the file that becomes (/etc/gconf/schemas/matchbox-session-sato.schemas)
in order to test the changes?

Are these processes documented somewhere (even out of band, e.g. on some
GNOME site, etc)?

Thanks for your time with this.

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 15:48, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> I'm using 1.3+ (master from about a month ago) and there is such a file
>
> meta/recipes-sato/matchbox-sato/matchbox-session-sato/matchbox-session-sato.schemas
>
> How do I change this file to use the new theme?
> Can I just change the file that becomes
> (/etc/gconf/schemas/matchbox-session-sato.schemas)
> in order to test the changes?

Not without re-registering the schemas and rebooting - it's probably
quicker to change that file in your overlay and re-build an image.

If you've installed the theme already you can use gconftool on the
device to make a one-off change:

$ gconftool-2 --set --type string /desktop/poky/interface/theme
Clearlooks-DarkOrange

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 08:53, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 15:48, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> I'm using 1.3+ (master from about a month ago) and there is such a file
>>
>> meta/recipes-sato/matchbox-sato/matchbox-session-sato/matchbox-session-sato.schemas
>>
>> How do I change this file to use the new theme?
>> Can I just change the file that becomes
>> (/etc/gconf/schemas/matchbox-session-sato.schemas)
>> in order to test the changes?
>
> Not without re-registering the schemas and rebooting - it's probably
> quicker to change that file in your overlay and re-build an image.
>
> If you've installed the theme already you can use gconftool on the
> device to make a one-off change:
>
> $ gconftool-2 --set --type string /desktop/poky/interface/theme
> Clearlooks-DarkOrange

OK, I've installed the theme into /usr/share/themes and changed the
one line in /etc/gconf/schemas/matchbox-session-sato.schemas from Sato
to Clearlooks-DarkOrange

Much closer.  Now the theme is being used (and it does suit me!)
but I'm also getting a lot of warnings:

   matchbox-wm: unable to open theme: /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml
   (matchbox-panel:29173): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "clearlooks",
   (matchbox-desktop:29172): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "clearlooks",
   ./client_gui.py:219: GtkWarning: Unable to locate theme engine in module_path: "clearlooks",

Can I get rid of these?  Should I bother?

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 16:48, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> Much closer.  Now the theme is being used (and it does suit me!)
> but I'm also getting a lot of warnings:
>
>   matchbox-wm: unable to open theme:
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml
>   (matchbox-panel:29173): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in
> module_path: "clearlooks",
>   (matchbox-desktop:29172): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in
> module_path: "clearlooks",
>   ./client_gui.py:219: GtkWarning: Unable to locate theme engine in
> module_path: "clearlooks",
>
> Can I get rid of these?  Should I bother?

Yes and yes, it can look a *lot* better. Add a runtime dependency on
your theme package to gtk-engine-clearlooks (part of the gtk-engines
recipe).

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 09:50, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 16:48, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> Much closer.  Now the theme is being used (and it does suit me!)
>> but I'm also getting a lot of warnings:
>>
>>    matchbox-wm: unable to open theme:
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml
>>    (matchbox-panel:29173): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in
>> module_path: "clearlooks",
>>    (matchbox-desktop:29172): Gtk-WARNING **: Unable to locate theme engine in
>> module_path: "clearlooks",
>>    ./client_gui.py:219: GtkWarning: Unable to locate theme engine in
>> module_path: "clearlooks",
>>
>> Can I get rid of these?  Should I bother?
>
> Yes and yes, it can look a *lot* better. Add a runtime dependency on
> your theme package to gtk-engine-clearlooks (part of the gtk-engines
> recipe).

Thanks, that does look [mostly] better, but I'm still getting some warnings/errors:

matchbox-wm: unable to open theme: /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml

/usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:58: Clearlooks configuration option "sunkenmenu" is not supported and will be ignored.
/usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:59: Clearlooks configuration option "menuitemstyle" is not supported and will be ignored.
/usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:60: Clearlooks configuration option "listviewitemstyle" is not supported and will be ignored.
/usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:61: Clearlooks configuration option "progressbarstyle" is not supported and will be ignored.

Maybe these are GTK-3 elements?

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Burton, Ross]

On 14 February 2013 17:07, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
> Thanks, that does look [mostly] better, but I'm still getting some
> warnings/errors:
>
> matchbox-wm: unable to open theme:
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml

Did you revert the other change you made that modified the matchbox theme?

> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:58: Clearlooks
> configuration option "sunkenmenu" is not supported and will be ignored.
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:59: Clearlooks
> configuration option "menuitemstyle" is not supported and will be ignored.
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:60: Clearlooks
> configuration option "listviewitemstyle" is not supported and will be
> ignored.
> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:61: Clearlooks
> configuration option "progressbarstyle" is not supported and will be
> ignored.
>
> Maybe these are GTK-3 elements?

That's a gtk+2 theme, but it's possible that it targets an older or
newer version of the clearlooks engine.  And people said that GTK+2
theming was great...  If it looks acceptable you could ignore it, as
chasing this could be less than trivial and quite dull - theme engines
are not versioned so unless the theme has some documentation, you'll
be searching through the clearlooks commit log.

Ross

Re: Control over Sato theme

[Gary Thomas]

On 2013-02-14 10:16, Burton, Ross wrote:
> On 14 February 2013 17:07, Gary Thomas <gary@mlbassoc.com> wrote:
>> Thanks, that does look [mostly] better, but I'm still getting some
>> warnings/errors:
>>
>> matchbox-wm: unable to open theme:
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/matchbox/theme.xml
>
> Did you revert the other change you made that modified the matchbox theme?
>
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:58: Clearlooks
>> configuration option "sunkenmenu" is not supported and will be ignored.
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:59: Clearlooks
>> configuration option "menuitemstyle" is not supported and will be ignored.
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:60: Clearlooks
>> configuration option "listviewitemstyle" is not supported and will be
>> ignored.
>> /usr/share/themes/Clearlooks-DarkOrange/gtk-2.0/gtkrc:61: Clearlooks
>> configuration option "progressbarstyle" is not supported and will be
>> ignored.
>>
>> Maybe these are GTK-3 elements?
>
> That's a gtk+2 theme, but it's possible that it targets an older or
> newer version of the clearlooks engine.  And people said that GTK+2
> theming was great...  If it looks acceptable you could ignore it, as
> chasing this could be less than trivial and quite dull - theme engines
> are not versioned so unless the theme has some documentation, you'll
> be searching through the clearlooks commit log.

For the moment, I'll just ignore these.  I'm pretty happy with how it
looks and I now understand a bit more about how to experiment with these.

Thanks again

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------
Gary Thomas                 |  Consulting for the
MLB Associates              |    Embedded world
------------------------------------------------------------