164 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
164 lines
5.5 KiB
Markdown
# Developing Stylesheets
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Stylesheets are written with [LESS](http://lesscss.org/), which is a dynamic preprocessor stylesheet language that can be compiled into Qt stylesheets.
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ℹ️ [LESS Functions](http://lesscss.org/functions/)
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## Recommended Setup
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### Windows
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Although any LESS compiler will work fine, here is a recommended setup.
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- Install [Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/) by Microsoft.
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- Add the [Easy LESS](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=mrcrowl.easy-less) extension from the marketplace which will be used as the compiler.
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- In VSCode, navigate to your Tahoma2D stuff folder and open `config/qss/Default/less`.
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A `settings.json` file is already included to ensure developers work to the same standards located in `.vscode`. If the file must be created manually then the following should apply.
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``` json
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"editor.tabSize": 2,
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"less.compile": {
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"compress": true,
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"sourceMap": false,
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"out": false
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}
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```
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ℹ️ [How to Change Settings in Visual Studio Code](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/getstarted/settings).
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### Linux
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On Linux you will need a command-line compiler `lessc`.
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Ubuntu:
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$ apt install node-less
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Fedora:
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$ dnf install nodejs-less
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## How To Compile
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### Windows
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Easy LESS uses a compile on save feature, so the theme files must be saved to generate an output.
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```
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Default.less
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themes/Blue.less
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themes/Dark.less
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themes/Light.less
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```
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### Linux
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From Tahoma2D source directory root execute the following commands:
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```
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$ lessc -x stuff/config/qss/Default/less/Default.less stuff/config/qss/Default/Default.qss
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$ lessc -x stuff/config/qss/Default/less/themes/Blue.less stuff/config/qss/Blue/Blue.qss
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$ lessc -x stuff/config/qss/Default/less/themes/Dark.less stuff/config/qss/Dark/Dark.qss
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$ lessc -x stuff/config/qss/Default/less/themes/Light.less stuff/config/qss/Light/Light.qss
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```
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## How They Work
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The stylesheets are designed into a component, wire-frame and palette structure similar to web design that exploits the cascade of the LESS language to generate multiple theme colors from a single layout. This method was used to prevent duplication.
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### Cascade Hierarchy
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The include pathway is important as `components` need to be included before `layouts`. The cascade order is defined in the `main.less` file.
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``` LESS
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// Base
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@import 'base/colors';
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@import 'base/mixins';
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// Components
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@import 'components/all';
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// Layouts
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@import 'layouts/all';
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```
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Then import the `main.less` file into the theme file which will add values to every variable in `Default.less`.
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## Variable List
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There are many variables, for a full list look at `Default.less`, below is a list of the core variables.
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`@bg` is the main background color for the interface, almost all other color variables use it as their base color and instead use color functions to either lighten or darken the value.
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`@text-color` is the main text color for the interface.
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`@accent` is used for accenting, such as borders, separators, boxes, wrappers, think of it as secondary.
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`@hl-bg-color` changes the color for highlighted items and focused text fields, think of it as tertiary.
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# Adding New Features
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This is an example of how to add new features into the layout files.
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``` LESS
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#NewWindow {
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background-color: @bg;
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border: 1 solid @accent;
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& QPushButton#OK {
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background-color: @button-bg-color;
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border-color: @button-border-color;
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color: @button-text-color;
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padding: 3;
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&:hover {
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border-color: @hl-bg-color;
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}
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}
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}
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```
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To call components, use the LESS extend function.
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``` LESS
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#NewWindow {
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&:extend(#ComponentName all);
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}
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```
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ℹ️ [LESS Extend Docs](http://lesscss.org/features/#extend-feature)
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# Creating New Themes
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It's possible to create custom themes.
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## How To
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- Navigate to your Tahoma2D stuff directory, and create a new folder in `config/qss`.
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- Create a new text file in the new folder, give it the same name as the folder and save it with the `.less` extension.
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- Open the LESS file and add the following line at the top.
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- `// out: filename.qss`
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- Which will control where Easy LESS outputs the compiled file on save.
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- Next, choose which theme you want to base from, in this example the base will be Default.
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- Add this line under the Easy LESS line but above everything else.
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- `@import '../Default/less/Default.less'`
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- Now the theme file is a clone of Default, so variables can be overridden.
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``` LESS
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//out: filename.qss
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@import '../Default/less/Default.less';
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@bg: red;
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@text-color: white;
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@hl-bg-color: yellow;
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// etc
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```
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# Notes
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⚠️ When developing, always develop with the Default theme, then decide later if any changes need porting to alternate themes, in most cases it won't be necessary.
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⚠️ Layout files must never have hard-coded color values, color values **must always** be variable. Each function area of Tahoma2D is split into a separate file.
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### Directory Information
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**Base:** Contains generic color palettes, legacy code, mixins and functions. It's fine to place junk code here.
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**Components:** Anything re-usable is here, such as multiple tab structures, button styles, icon layouts, frames, wrappers and folder trees.
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**Layouts:** The core wire-frame, every window, widget and control is designed here.
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**Themes:** Alternate theme colors that inherit the Default theme, it is only necessary to override variable values unique to the theme.
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