Change the background and font color of an output number or string

[alexandrekremer]

I´m trying to change the background and font colors of output strings and numbers but everything I tried failed miserably.
Although I could successfully change the background color of an entire DataMask using this:

virtualTerminalClient->send_change_background_colour(DataMask_1001, 2); // Change the background to green

Any attempt to change the background of an output number or string fails and the background of those objects still remain white as set in the .iop file. The same line above but with an Output Number or String ObjectID instead of a DataMask ID doesn´t change the object´s background color.

As well, for changing the text color of an output string or number, I tried to use this:

virtualTerminalClient->send_change_font_attributes(FontAttributes_23000, 2, isobus::VirtualTerminalClient::FontSize::Size48x64, 0, 0);

And this does not change the text color as well. Curious is that if I change the styleBitField from 0x00 to something else, it does work good for changing the Bold, Italic and so on, which tells me at least something was processed in the VT side.

Any help in pointing the right way to change the color of objects is appreciated.

[ad3154]

Hello there!

I´m trying to change the background and font colors of output strings and numbers

So, the send_change_background_colour function only works on output numbers and strings if the transparent bit is set to 0 in the iop. If you're using our example object pool or something based on that, then they are all probably set to 1, so it will appear that it is not working. I'd maybe check on that first? If you have the object properly configured in the iop, it'd be interesting to look at the responses coming back from the VT to see if it's telling you about an error in your command.

Here are two additional ways to change the background color of something like an output number though:

1. You can change the background color attribute of the output number which is 3, but this will also only work if the transparent bit is set to 0 in the iop file. virtualTerminalClient->send_change_attribute(<your output number object id>, 3, <new colour 0-255>. In the future if you want to look up what attribute IDs mean for a given object, you can look them up in this file.
2. If you don't like the style of the box that the VT draws when doing the first option, or you really want to keep that transparent bit set, then another option is to not change the background of the number at all, and instead place an Output Rectangle behind it which you then change the color of.

As well, for changing the text color of an output string or number, I tried to use this:

virtualTerminalClient->send_change_font_attributes(FontAttributes_23000, 2, isobus::VirtualTerminalClient::FontSize::Size48x64, 0, 0);

Does changing the font attribute's colour attribute work? Its attribute ID is 1

Another option on this would be to add another font attribute to the object pool with the color you want and instead switch which font attribute is being used by the number or string.

[alexandrekremer]

Hello friend

First of all, thank you for all the hard work spent on this project. It´s amazing and a really good solution for ISOBUS development.
Your solution above works perfectly here. I´m aware about the transparent background tip you wrote.
The code below does the trick:

uint8_t att = 3; //Indice da cor de fundo de uma OutputString
uint32_t newColor = 2; //Cor verde claro
virtualTerminalClient->send_change_attribute(Device_1, att, newColor); //Mudar cor de fundo da OutputString Device_1
att = 1; //Indice da cor de uma FontAttributes
newColor = 1; // branco
virtualTerminalClient->send_change_attribute(FONT_DEV_1, att, newColor); //Mudar cor da fonte para branco`

Thank you for your help!