TIP 645: ttk color palette support

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Author:		Patrick May <[email protected]>
State:		Final
Type:		Project
Vote:		Done
Created:	11-Oct-2022
Tcl-Version:	8.7
Tk-branch:	tip-645
    Vote-Summary:	Accepted 3/0/0
    Votes-For:	JN, KBK, KW, SL
    Votes-Against:	none
    Votes-Present:	none

Abstract

When the 'default' ttk theme is in use, allow the ttk widgets to follow the user's chosen color scheme (set via X resources) and the script writer's choice of color scheme (set via the command 'tk_setPalette')

Background & Rationale

Tk currently gives users some limited customisation of the color palette by setting X resources. Script writers can also specify a palette via the command 'tk_setPalette'.

This user/scripter specified palette is only applied to the original Tk widgets; the ttk widgets use separate colors defined by the current ttk theme. In the case of the 'default' ttk theme, it's a bright white and grey palette.

Users who want to use custom color palettes find this jarring and aesthetically displeasing.

It's also a cause of usability issues; currently, attempting to set a 'night mode' style color scheme (bright foreground, dark background) renders some parts of Tk unusable where bright text is put on a bright background -- tk::IconList (a component of the file chooser) uses the user's choice of foreground but the background color is hardcoded 'white'.

Specification

The 'default' ttk theme is initialised with the user's chosen color options. If the user hasn't specified any color options, the 'default' theme's original colors are used.

tk::IconList is adjusted so that it uses appropriate foreground and background colors that match the current ttk theme.

A procedure ttk::theme::default::reconfigureDefaultTheme is added which is called to initialise the 'default' theme, and is called by tk_setPalette to update the colors of the ttk widgets as necessary, ensuring that the color palette is always consistent when the 'default' ttk theme is in use.

Implementation

Implementation is available in the tip-645 branch of the Tk repository.

Copyright

This document has been placed in the public domain.