Re: lynx-dev cleaning up color options

[Jan Hlavacek]

On Mon, May 11, 1998 at 06:28:52PM -0400, Laura Eaves wrote:
> I looked at lynx.hlp and the comment for show_color
> in .lynxrc for the description you mentioned and found
> only a few sentences.  Is there another help file I don't
> know about?

From the lynx online help:

   Show color.
          This option will be present if color support is available. If
          set to ON or ALWAYS, color mode will be forced on if possible.
          If (n)curses color support is available but cannot be used for
          the current terminal type, selecting ON is rejected with a
          message. If set to OFF or NEVER, color mode will be turned off.
          ALWAYS and NEVER are not offered in anonymous accounts. If
          saved to a .lynxrc file in non-anonymous accounts, ALWAYS will
          cause Lynx to set color mode on at startup if supported. If
          Lynx is built with the slang library, this is equivalent to
          having included the -color command line switch or having the
          COLORTERM environment variable set. If color support is
          provided by curses or ncurses, this is equivalent to the
          default behavior of using color when the terminal type supports
          it. If (n)curses color support is available but cannot be used
          for the current terminal type, the preference can still be
          saved but will have no effect.
          A saved value of NEVER will cause Lynx to assume a monochrome
          terminal at startup. It is similar to the -nocolor switch, but
          (when the slang library is used) can be overridden with the
          -color switch.
          If the setting is OFF or ON when the current options are saved
          to a .lynxrc file, the default startup behavior is retained,
          such that color mode will be turned on at startup only if the
          terminal info indicates that you have a color-capable terminal,
          or (when the slang library is used) if forced on via the -color
          switch or COLORTERM variable. This default behavior always is
          used in anonymous accounts, or if the option_save restriction
          is set explicitly. If for any reason the startup color mode is
          incorrect for your terminal, set it appropriately on or off via
          this option.

> But all I wanted to do was merge -color and -nocolor
> command line options to a single toggle option, since
> they are only used to set color on/off anyway.
> Is there a reason not to do this?

Suppose I use two different terminals,  both of them can do colors,  but
only one of them have the necessary color entries in the terinfo
database.  Assume also that I don't have a way to alter the terminfo
entries (e.g. I can't install them locally on my account for lack of
space).  

I can make an alias or shell function with "lynx -color",  and this will
always turn the color on.  If you make it a toggle,  it would turn the
color on for the second terminal,  and off for the first terminal.

Similarly for turning color off.  The defaul color setting varies from
terminal to terminal.  

-- 
Jan Hlav\'{a}\v{c}ek
address@hidden  (Blind Carbon Copies will bounce)
www: http://www.math.ohio-state.edu/~lahvak/