Monday, November 17, 2008

Midnight Commander transparent color scheme

Midnight Commander (or "mc") can have transparent panels instead of the ugly, dull default blue. So can "mcedit", its text editor.

Here's how to do it. Edit the file ~/.mc/ini and add at the end the following:


[Colors]
base_color=normal=,default:selected=,:marked=,default:\
markselect=,:menu=,:menuhot=,:menusel=,:\
menuhotsel=,:dnormal=,:dfocus=,:dhotnormal=,:dhotfocus=,:\
input=,:reverse=,:executable=,default:directory=,default:\
link=,default:device=,default:special=,:core=,:helpnormal=,:\
helplink=,:helpslink=,:editnormal=,default:

Note #1: In the above 'code' block, there is only one line below [Colors]. I truncated the line with the backslash because of blogspot rendering issues. You just write all that on one single line, without the "\" (backslash-es).

Note #2: At the end of this line, the "editnormal,=default:" option means that mcedit will have transparent background in your console, as well.

UPDATE: If you want to see a more in-depth look upon color customization in Midnight Commander, check out this post.

8 comments:

  1. Very good tip!
    But directory lines still are in blue color. Is there a way to make directory lines also transparent?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello Mateus,

    There was a huge delay in replying, I know.

    However, I decided to look into this and I think I now have a (rather comprehensive) answer to your question: yes, it is possible to alter the other colors, too, while keeping the neat transparency.

    Take a look at this post:

    http://plug-and-pray.blogspot.com/2009/09/editing-midnight-commanders-color.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dear Alex,

    Wonderful tip. I thank you a lot for you have gone deep in this subject. Please, don't worry about the delay.

    Congratulations for your blog.

    I have added it as one of my favorites websites.

    Best regards,

    Mateus

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello Mateus,

    I'm glad the follow-up post was helpful.

    Thank you for your interest and support in this blog. It's nice to know that my "online tech notebook" is useful for people other than myself.

    Live long and prosper! :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for this great tip!

    ReplyDelete
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  7. install the background remover app and remove background of pictures.

    ReplyDelete