GetSysColor

  • Article

This function retrieves the current color of the specified display element. Display elements are the parts of a window and the Windows display that appear on the system display screen.

DWORD GetSysColor(
  int nIndex
);

Parameters

  • nIndex
    Specifies the display element whose color is to be retrieved. This parameter must be one of the following values.
    Value Description
    COLOR_3DDKSHADOW Dark shadow for three-dimensional display elements.
    COLOR_3DFACE, COLOR_BTNFACE Face color for three-dimensional display elements.
    COLOR_3DHILIGHT, COLOR_3DHIGHLIGHT, COLOR_BTNHILIGHT, COLOR_BTNHIGHLIGHT Highlight color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing the light source).
    COLOR_3DLIGHT Light color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing the light source).
    COLOR_3DSHADOW, COLOR_BTNSHADOW Shadow color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing away from the light source).
    COLOR_ACTIVEBORDER Active window border.
    COLOR_ACTIVECAPTION Active window title bar.
    COLOR_APPWORKSPACE Background color of multiple document interface (MDI) applications.
    COLOR_BACKGROUND, COLOR_DESKTOP Desktop.
    COLOR_BTNTEXT Text on push buttons.
    COLOR_CAPTIONTEXT Text in caption, size box, and scroll bar arrow box.
    COLOR_GRAYTEXT Grayed (disabled) text. This color is set to 0 if the current display driver does not support a solid gray color.
    COLOR_HIGHLIGHT Item(s) selected in a control.
    COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT Text of item(s) selected in a control.
    COLOR_INACTIVEBORDER Inactive window border.
    COLOR_INACTIVECAPTION Inactive window caption.
    COLOR_INACTIVECAPTIONTEXT Color of text in an inactive caption.
    COLOR_INFOBK Background color for ToolTip controls.
    COLOR_INFOTEXT Text color for ToolTip controls.
    COLOR_MENU Menu background.
    COLOR_MENUTEXT Text in menus.
    COLOR_SCROLLBAR Scroll bar gray area.
    COLOR_STATIC Background color for static controls and dialogs. Supported in Windows CE 2.0 and later.
    COLOR_STATICTEXT Text color for static controls. Supported in Windows CE 2.0 and later.
    COLOR_WINDOW Window background.
    COLOR_WINDOWFRAME Window frame.
    COLOR_WINDOWTEXT Text in windows.

Return Values

The red, green, blue (RGB) color value that determines the color of the specified element indicates success. Zero indicates failure. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

Windows CE 1.0 and 1.01 only support a 2-bit gray scale palette, so GetSysColor returns a palette index rather than an RGB value. Microsoft® Windows® CE .NET graphic display interface (GDI) functions that accept a COLORREF structure can use either a palette index or an RGB value. However, if the application attempts to interpret the color value, be aware of this difference.

Windows CE 2.0 supports 2 bits per pixel (2-bpp), 4 bits per pixel (4-bpp), and 8 bits per pixel (8-bpp) color devices, and can logically support 32 bits per pixel device independent bitmaps (DIBs). In Windows CE 2.0, GetSysColor returns an RGB value.

System colors for monochrome displays are usually interpreted as shades of gray.

Requirements

OS Versions: Windows CE 1.0 and later.
Header: Winuser.h.
Link Library: Wmgr_c.lib.

See Also

COLORREF | System Information Functions

Last updated on Wednesday, April 13, 2005

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