Customizing Color Schemes by Editing Resource Files

In addition to customizing color schemes from the Color Schemes panel, color schemes can be customized by editing resource files. The list of available color schemes is stored in the file scheme.res in the Maestro resources directory:

Each color scheme definitions is stored in a separate file in the schemes subdirectory (folder) of the Maestro resources directory.

The scheme.res file contains a three-line description of each scheme. The three lines contain:

1. The short name of the color scheme, used in the colorscheme command
2. The display name of the color scheme, used in Maestro menus and lists
3. The name of the file in the schemes subdirectory that contains the scheme definition

Note: comments can be included in this file by putting a "#" at the beginning of each line that contains a comment (the "#" must be in the first column).

You can add color schemes for general use by editing the files that define Maestro's standard schemes. However, if you wish to define color schemes for personal use, you can create a scheme.res file and a schemes directory in your user resources directory:

The actual color scheme files must be placed in the schemes subdirectory. By convention, color scheme files end with .sch. The color scheme files contain a number of rules, one rule per line, which are applied in the order they appear in the file. Each rule consists of the name of a color as it appears in the colors.res file in the Maestro resources directory or the 6-digit hexadecimal RGB code for the color; an ASL specification that describes which atoms are to have that color, and an optional description. Color names must be a single token (there must be no spaces). If the color names do have an embedded space, they must be quoted (for example: "spring green"). At the end of the file, you can add a description of the color scheme by adding a line with the word DESCRIPTION and following it with any number of lines that contain the description.

Here is an example of a possible color scheme:

white atom.ele *
blue	atom.ele N
red	atom.ele O

This scheme first sets all atoms to white, then colors all the nitrogen atoms blue and the oxygen atoms red. Any number of such rules can be included in color scheme files.

Related Topics

• Atom and Bond Coloring Panel
• Color Schemes Panel
• Edit Color Scheme Dialog Box
• Atom Specification Language (ASL)