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How to change the button's colors 

The simplest way to change the colors applied to the button's surface is to use, inside 3D Button Visual Editor, the Colors tab. At run-time each of these properties can be referenced by name.   

This section focuses on the shading of the button, not the button's text. To review that topic, go to How to put text over the button. 

Note: The images below have hot links to take you to explanations of the various button settings. 

 

 

	Item name	Description	Corresponding property
	Normal state (Up)	Background color settings of the button surface in Normal state.	ColorSurfaceNormal
	Normal state with special effects	Background color settings of the internal part of the button surface when a special effect has been applied (see SpecialEffect property for details about special effects).  If this color is left undefined, the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings apply.	ColorSurfaceInternal
	Mouse over state	Background color settings of the button surface when the mouse pointer is over the button area.  If this color is left undefined, the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings apply.	ColorSurfaceMO
	Pressed state (Down)	Background color settings of the button surface in Pressed state.  If this color is left undefined, the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings apply.	ColorSurfacePressed
	Disabled state	Background color settings of the button surface in Disabled state.  If this color is left undefined, the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings apply.	ColorSurfaceDisabled
	Focus state	Background color settings of the button surface when the button has the input focus.  If this color is left undefined, the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings apply.	ColorSurfaceFocus
	Background highlight	The color used to highlight the raising and sunken effect on a button.  If this color is left undefined, its value is automatically calculated using the current surface color of the button.	HighlightColor
	Background shadow	The shadow color of the button which applies when the button has a raised or sunken special effect.  This color is also used to render the shadow set through the ShadowMode property.  If this color is left undefined, it would be automatically calculated using the current surface color of the button.	ShadowColor
	Swap special effect colors	When a special effect has been selected through the SpecialEffect property, swaps the colors set for the external and internal portions of the button's surface.	SwapEffectsColor

 

The properties ColorSurfaceNormal, ColorSurfaceMO, ColorSurfaceInternal, ColorSurfaceFocus, ColorSurfaceDisabled and ColorSurfacePressed are internally implemented as a COM object called SurfaceColor. In a manner consistent with object-oriented programming, each of these properties has a set of sub-properties that allow for better control of the following aspects of the Gradient 3D color rendering: 

	Item name	Description	Corresponding property
	Selected item primary color	Color associated to the selected item	SurfaceColor.Color
	Selected item secondary color	Secondary color used when the SurfaceColor.Render3DType property is set to COLOR_RENDER_2_COLORS	SurfaceColor.Color2
	"Change..." button	This button will open the color choice dialog box
	"Undefine" button	This button will set the color associated to the selected item to an undefined state: when the primary color is set to undefined, the selected item will use the ColorSurfaceNormal property settings.  The undefined state is represented with the symbol in place of the color.
	Best color match	Causes the button to adopt a gradient algorithm that will maintain the chosen color characteristics	SurfaceColor.Render3DType set to COLOR_RENDER_BEST_MATCH
	Best 3D rendering	Causes the button to adopt a gradient algorithm that will enhance the 3D look of the button surface	SurfaceColor.Render3DType set to COLOR_RENDER_BEST_3D
	Linear color match	Causes the button to adopt a linear gradient algorithm that will maintain the chosen color characteristics	SurfaceColor.Render3DType set to COLOR_RENDER_LINEAR_MATCH
	Hyper 3D rendering	Causes the button to adopt an extended 3D gradient algorithm that will further enhance the 3D look of the button surface	SurfaceColor.Render3DType set to COLOR_RENDER_HYPER_3D
	Bicolor	Causes the button to adopt a 3D gradient algorithm that makes use of two colors	SurfaceColor.Render3DType set to COLOR_RENDER_2_COLORS
	Gradient type	Chooses the type of gradient 3D rendering	SurfaceColor.GradientType
	Gradient factor	Chooses the factor applied to the gradient 3D rendering algorithm	SurfaceColor.GradientFactor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 1998-2006 MultiMedia Soft 

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