Indicates the video attribute or color for normal display or for data entry.

Note: Does not apply to SpeedScript programming.

Syntax

COLOR [ DISPLAY ] color-phrase [ PROMPT color-phrase ]
       { field ... } { [ frame-phrase ] }
 
COLOR PROMPT color-phrase
       { field ... } { [ frame-phrase ] }
DISPLAY
Indicates that you want to use a specific color when the system displays a field.
PROMPT
Indicates that you want to use a specific color when the system prompts a user for input by an INSERT, PROMPT-FOR, SET, or UPDATE statement.
color-phrase
Specifies a video attribute or color. Following is the syntax for color-phrase:
{     NORMAL
   |  INPUT
   |  MESSAGES
   |  protermcap-attribute
   |  dos-hex-attribute
   | { [ BLINK- ] [ BRIGHT- ]
           [ fgnd-color ] [ bgnd-color ]
      }
   | { [ BLINK- ] [ RVV- ] [ UNDERLINE- ] [ BRIGHT- ] 
           [ fgnd-color ]
     }
   |  VALUE ( expression ) 
}

For more information on color-phrase, see the COLOR phrase reference entry. ABL ignores the color-phrase entry for overlay frames on spacetaking terminals.

field
The name of the field or fields for which you want to override the default colors.
frame-phrase
Specifies the overall layout and processing properties of a frame. For more information see the Frame phrase reference entry.

Example

This procedure highlights the item number and on-hand fields for items with an on-hand value less than 50. The variable hilite holds the video attribute (color) for highlighting. In this case, the system uses whatever attribute is used for the message area (such as reverse video, bright, or a color).

r-color.p 

DEFINE VARIABLE hilite AS CHARACTER NO-UNDO INITIAL "messages".

/* Use standard messages attribute to highlight OnHand less than 50 */
FOR EACH Item NO-LOCK:
  DISPLAY Item.ItemNum Item.ItemName Item.OnHand.
  IF Item.OnHand < 50 THEN
    COLOR DISPLAY VALUE(hilite) Item.ItemNum Item.OnHand.
END.

Notes

  • When the output destination is not the terminal, ABL disregards the COLOR statement.
  • The COLOR statement does not automatically display a frame whose field's color attribute is changing.
  • Use one of these statements to reset a field to the ABL default colors:
    COLOR DISPLAY NORMAL PROMPT INPUT field

    Or:

    COLOR DISPLAY NORMAL PROMPT INPUT field WITH FRAME frame
  • Certain terminals, such as the WYSE 75, are non-spacetaking for some attributes and spacetaking for others.
  • On UNIX, if you specify a color or video attribute that is not defined for the terminal, the AVM uses normal display instead.

See also

COLOR phrase, DISPLAY statement, Frame phrase