System colors assignment; Option removed that was in WF?

[tbraxton]

In Wildfire there was an option to set system colors to the initial "scheme", this option does not appear in the dropdown menu in Creo 2 interface. Did they remove this functionality? Menu mapper is of no help here. If a user has a custom syscolor setup is it not glaringly obvious that one would often revert back to it after temporarily altering the scheme? With the Creo UI as I see it I have to manually browse to a syscolor file to revert to the initial scheme.  Very frustrating, the latest in a string of lost functionality requiring more user actions to do something than previously!

The only thing even remotely near the lost functionality is that if you have a syscolor path loaded in the dialogue box and select custom you can acknowledge this with "OK" and it will read it in.

Does anyone know how to set this up without me having to make a mapkey for it? Is it possible to set a custom "default" scheme by reading a syscolor file with config option? If this functionality was removed how many would lean on PTC to bring it back?

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[mganzer]

You have to point the config.pro option "system_colors_file" to a save syscol.scl file. I'll attached one with Pre-WF scheme to try.

[tbraxton]

Thanks for reading and responding.

I do use a custom syscol.scl file and it is read and loaded from the launchpoint config.pro file using the config option you specify. The issue is switching back to the "initial" scheme which was a direct pick in the syscolor selection UI in prior to Creo. This is a UI usability issue and not a lack understanding how to load a custom syscolor scheme. The issue is that I have to manually specify the path to a syscol.scl file because the UI no longer offers "initial" as an option in the dropdown menu which was very handy. The "initial" scheme pre Creo was the custom file loaded in the launchpoint config.pro I no longer see this as an option in the UI and was looking for a non manual workaround. I can create a mapkey but should not have to do that because they removed functionality.

[MartinHanak]

Thomas,

see Re: Using variables inside Config.pro paths

Answer published by Brian Martin tells us that you cannot use system variable in system_colors_file option. Use absolute path (eg. c:\full\path\to\syscol.scl).

Martin Hanak

[StephenW]

It took me a while to figure out exactly what you were asking for. You have a system colors file you load upon startup. During your workday, you load a different system colors file to change the originally loaded file (say maybe a white background for screen shots). Then, after taking your screenshot (in my example), you want to change back to your originally loaded (or initial) system colors file but you can't easily do that because the custom one is now showing your newly loaded .scl file instead of your initial and you have to browse back to your initial .scl file.

I get it, I agree, it does seem to be lost functionality. I remember the INITIAL option and used to use it after screenshots. A mapkey should be possible as a workaround by typing in the path and name of the default .scl file (instead of browsing to it). But I would vote for a product idea to get back the lost functionality.

[tbraxton]

Stephen has captured a use case that probably better explains what I was trying to convey verbally. I should have used this image from the start. Where is this lost menu pick now? This would enable one to immediately revert to the first loaded syscolor settings which in my example would be my custom setting from the loadpoint config.pro file which is loaded on startup. I now have to explicitly specify the path to that syscolor file to reload it. Not a step forward IMO.

[tbraxton · Accepted solution]

PTC support states that the software UI was changed and it no longer has this function. There is no formal process to log a request to restore functionality. I am pretty irritated that front line support does not have any process other than SPR to submit to development. There should be some process other than going through the TC to get things like this fixed.

PTC has a document to address this: https://support.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS139594

Which is essentially a declaration that they changed it and you are stuck with it for now. Without explanation of how it is an improved UI or more productive for the user.

I will be submitting a product improvement idea, which is really a put back the function you deleted idea!

Link to product idea: Restore system color scheme selection from pre Cre... - PTC Community

[TomD.inPDX]

There is a wide range of things that quietly disappears.  Once we had a pretty nice palette of materials in the appearance manager.  All gone and difficult to recover from old install disks.  I think the code is written and when something is missing, PTC just has the developer justify the oversight.  PTC massages this into a justification so they don't have to pay the contractor more money to actually do what they were asked to do.