First post, by Kahenraz
- Rank
- l33t
I've been futzing around with themeing Windows XP and was a bit frustrated by Windows's appearance editor which not only doesn't provide feedback for every option, but also does not expose all elements which can be altered. It's also really slow to "apply" a new theme.
To solve this problem, I wrote a small command-line tool which provides an easy way to both import and export the full suite of Windows system colors. The export feature will output in a clear, easy to modify format with clearly-named elements. It's also possible to export in .reg format so that you can import themes later without the use of this tool.
Individual colors can be tested as well in a "preview" mode which alters your current desktop but will revert once the program ends.
Examples:
syscolors.exe --set button=0xFF00FF -p
syscolors.exe --import colors/classic.clr
syscolors.exe --export mytheme.clr -r
There is also a handy help entry which lists a short description of each configurable option.
Export, import, or set individual system colors for Windows. Supports comma-
delimited or hex values for colors. Any changes will be saved for the current
user unless the 'preview' option is specified.
Usage: systheme [[--import] file]|[--set <element=r,g,b|0x>] [options]
Options:
--help Display this information.
-o, --export [file] Export the current color scheme to a file or to the
console if none is specified.
--import <file> Import a color scheme from a file. Each element/color
assignment must be on its own line and in the format
of 'element=color'. The value of the color is in
either an 8-bit, comma-delimited triplet, or a
hexadecimal string with the preceding '0x'.
--set <element=r,g,b|0x> Change the color of individual system elements by
specifying an element and color set. Multiple sets
can be specified on the same line by separating
their assignment with a space.
-p, --preview <duration> Use this option to preview changes without making
them permanent.
-h, --hexadecimal Export element colors in hexadecimal form instead
of the default comma-delimited r,g,b.
-r, --registry Export the system color scheme in a format which can
be imported into the system registry.
--help-elements Display a list of all system elements which can be
colored, along with a description of each.