include-manifest-file-for-visual-styles

Arguments: project

Returns true if the generated application for the specified project will have the newer "Visual Styles" look and feel on the Microsoft Windows platform; otherwise nil is returned. The value may be set by calling (setf include-manifest-file-for-visual-styles) or by using the check-box for this project property on the Build tab of the Project Manager dialog. (The illustration on that page uses a new visual style.) The default value is t. This property is ignored on platforms other than Microsoft Windows.

If the value is true, then the application will use the look and feel of the theme that the end user has selected in Windows Control Panel | Display | Themes. If nil, the "Windows Classic" look and feel will always be used. (The end user can also disable Visual Styles for all applications by selecting "Windows Classic" in the list of themes in Control Panel.)

This option is implemented by distributing a "manifest file" with the application. This file will have a name like "foo.exe.manifest" for an application name foo, and its XML contents tell the operating system that it's OK to enable the newer Windows look and feel.

Visual Styles are enabled by default for the IDE as well. To disable this feature for the IDE, rename the file allegro.exe.manifest in the main Allegro directory to something else and restart the IDE.

A note about button widget background color: When Visual Styles are used, a button widget's background-color property is used in a thin area just around the visible border, especially at the rounded corners. This property generally should be t so that this small area is drawn in the same color as the widget's parent window or tab-control, to make the color match. The default background-color for button is now t, but in the past (when the color was never used) it was nil. The background-color property of a button that was added to a form window before version 8.1 will therefore probably still have a background-color of nil, and the small border area will be drawn in white. To ensure that the color matches the parent background, change the property value to t.

See also a-visual-style-is-active and selected-tab-color.

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This page was not revised from the 9.0 page.
Created 2015.5.21.