The layout mode Style menu includes the Fill color and Pen color items. These enable you to set both the default and specific fill (background) and pen (foreground) colors for an object (or objects). When either of these items is selected, a three-column list of different color options is presented. The first column contains the options Inherited and Define. The second column contains color swatches for the 16 basic colors. The third column contains a list of the Windows screen elements, the colors which can be set through the Windows Control Panel. Depending on which color option you select, an object's color can be permanent, or change as the color of its environment changes. Color selection applies to all currently selected objects, except those for which color is not an applicable attribute (e.g. a form object).
You can set the default fill and pen colors for all new objects as follows. Ensure that no objects in the layout are selected by clicking on the right mouse button (or left, if you have revered them). Select Fill color from the Style menu and click on the item which you want to be the default fill color for all new objects (note that Inherited is the most common selection for the default color). A diamond shape appears against the selected default color. Select Fill color from the Style menu and repeat this procedure.
The Inherited color option means that either the fill or pen color of the object is inherited from its parent object. For example, a radio button which is owned by a frame inherits its fill and/or pen color from the frame. If the color of the frame is changed, then the radio button inherits the new color. Color inheritance is supported both in layout mode and in the Zim language. Note that in both FORM DEFINE and DISPLAY DEFINE, form fields that are not directly owned by another form field object are considered to be owned by the window object for purposes of color inheritance. Hence if the window's color is changed, the color of these form fields changes accordingly.
Selecting the Define option displays the Windows common dialog for custom color selection. This enables you to define and select any custom color for either the fill or pen colors.
One of the 16 basic colors can be selected by clicking on the desired color from the list of displayed color swatches.
Through the Color option in the Windows Control Panel, you can select one of the predefined desktop color suites, or create your own customized color suite by associating a specific color with each of the different Windows screen elements. The names of all the Windows screen elements are listed in the third column of the Fill color and Pen color flyout. Click on the desired name to select that color. If you change your desktop colors, all objects whose colors have been assigned Windows screen element colors change color accordingly.