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NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Thank you very much for editing this nasty part of the car file.
But... unfortunately, the dark blue color didn't change; even after rebooting. Weird!!!
Could that be caused by the different sizes (see attachments).
 

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allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Thank you very much for editing this nasty part of the car file.
But... unfortunately, the dark blue color didn't change; even after rebooting. Weird!!!
Could that be caused by the different sizes (see attachments).

Yeah, that is weird. I don't think those are the ones then. I haven't ever tried looking for that particular place in theme files so it's quite new territory for me. Using my colorpicker program I will hopefully try and investigate(edited because I shouldn't make promises I can't keep)
I don't think it's an actual graphical file but rather one of the many images of either the Effects panel or the Colors panel.

Lastly, I don't think that the graphics and their length has an impact on this.
The reason for the length, I found, is that if I make the graphics any narrower say just like the original CoreAnimationArchive asset (which I don't know what exactly is) I could end up with only a fraction of the length when applied. A little square for instance would only be visible because macOS doesn't accept the input it now has and doesn't stretch it like it would with its own asset.
I then just make the file the length of the largest monitor resolution on '@1x' sizes, which I've learned is the way to make the newly imported asset do its thing. As I've mentioned before, not one thing is particular to any part of the system. One asset changed might trickle its way down through the OS in mysterious ways.

For instance, I made the mistake of exporting a caar file with some 1024x196 dimensions or thereabouts and found that in Xcode the highlight for projects in the Welcome window was only a little over half applied. It looked cool, but not what I hoped for :D
 
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NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Thanks anyway for trying. It is kinda weird indeed, but I will try to live with it. ;)
Perhaps we will find the culprit in the (near) future. I will keep on searching, of course.
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Yeah, that is weird. I don't think those are the ones then. I haven't ever tried looking for that particular place in theme files so it's quite new territory for me. Using my colorpicker program I will hopefully try and investigate(edited because I shouldn't make promises I can't keep)
I don't think it's an actual graphical file but rather one of the many images of either the Effects panel or the Colors panel.

Lastly, I don't think that the graphics and their length has an impact on this.
The reason for the length, I found, is that if I make the graphics any narrower say just like the original CoreAnimationArchive asset (which I don't know what exactly is) I could end up with only a fraction of the length when applied. A little square for instance would only be visible because macOS doesn't accept the input it now has and doesn't stretch it like it would with its own asset.
I then just make the file the length of the largest monitor resolution on '@1x' sizes, which I've learned is the way to make the newly imported asset do its thing. As I've mentioned before, not one thing is particular to any part of the system. One asset changed might trickle its way down through the OS in mysterious ways.

For instance, I made the mistake of exporting a caar file with some 1024x196 dimensions or thereabouts and found that in Xcode the highlight for projects in the Welcome window was only a little over half applied. It looked cool, but not what I hoped for :D
Maybe, I discovered something.
I saw that the "Mica"-items within GraphiteAppearance are still blueish, while the ones within GraphiteDarkAppearance are greyish.
So perhaps the "Mica"-items within DarkAppearance should be modified. What do you think?
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Maybe, I discovered something.
I saw that the "Mica"-items within GraphiteAppearance are still blueish, while the ones within GraphiteDarkAppearance are greyish.
So perhaps the "Mica"-items within DarkAppearance should be modified. What do you think?

I think that's a way to go. Can I use the colors from your previous comment and edit the most recent Leopard-esque theme?
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Absolutely!
Thanks again in advance.

Sorry about the delay - reinstalled Catalina a few days ago, not because of a destruction of the OS but because I was curious about why I couldn't download macOS Catalina from MacAppStore to make a more recent USB-stick. A complete reinstallation didn't do a damn thing to help. So that sucks. I was forced to use the USB-stick I already had made. There was a more recent Catalina update that changed the version number to 19A603 instead of my 19A602 version. I felt left out and wanted that. I couldn't have it.
Screen Shot 2019-10-23 at 20.20.52.png



Anyways - - I'm back and have opened up ThemeEngine and did as you suggested.

However, did you want a color for the "Normal" state? There's some in DarkAppearance and in GraphiteDarkAppearance beyond the colors you asked for; Rollover and Pressed states.

Also, I've learned(got help, actually) a new trick that I have implemented in the CAAR files - because they are animations, I should be able to make the files expand and subtract on their own like I imagine macOS is already doing. Not sure if anything works..

File with changed Mica-assets

Edit: In my recent "research" I found that I might have made things worse with my experimenting
 
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NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Sorry about the delay - reinstalled Catalina a few days ago, not because of a destruction of the OS but because I was curious about why I couldn't download macOS Catalina from MacAppStore to make a more recent USB-stick. A complete reinstallation didn't do a damn thing to help. So that sucks. I was forced to use the USB-stick I already had made. There was a more recent Catalina update that changed the version number to 19A603 instead of my 19A602 version. I felt left out and wanted that. I couldn't have it.
View attachment 872718



Anyways - - I'm back and have opened up ThemeEngine and did as you suggested.

However, did you want a color for the "Normal" state? There's some in DarkAppearance and in GraphiteDarkAppearance beyond the colors you asked for; Rollover and Pressed states.

Also, I've learned(got help, actually) a new trick that I have implemented in the CAAR files - because they are animations, I should be able to make the files expand and subtract on their own like I imagine macOS is already doing. Not sure if anything works..

File with changed Mica-assets

Edit: In my recent "research" I found that I might have made things worse with my experimenting
Oh boy... I hope you didn't encounter too much trouble!

Glad to see that you are experimenting with the greenish theme. ?
But too bad that you experienced the Catalina-confusion.

I'm fine with the greyish "Normal" states.

But unfortunately the new CAAR files didn't change that nasty dark blue fields. I really don't understand, because it seems to work with the Graphite appearance.

I will think about it again and try to find another clue.

Thanks again!
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Oh boy... I hope you didn't encounter too much trouble!

Glad to see that you are experimenting with the greenish theme. ?
But too bad that you experienced the Catalina-confusion.

I'm fine with the greyish "Normal" states.

But unfortunately the new CAAR files didn't change that nasty dark blue fields. I really don't understand, because it seems to work with the Graphite appearance.

I will think about it again and try to find another clue.

Thanks again!

Yeah.. I'm going to have to take a tiny break from all this messing about. So, I'm not going to do much of any theming on macOS for a while.
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Yeah.. I'm going to have to take a tiny break from all this messing about. So, I'm not going to do much of any theming on macOS for a while.
Oh.. that's a pity. Hopefully you have no serious problems. Thank you very very much for everything you have done. If I can do something for you, I'd like to hear it.
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
I can't find the resources (.car) for the apps with a dark bar (High Sierra), like iMovie, QuickTime Player and Calculator.
Do you have a clue?
 

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allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
I can't find the resources (.car) for the apps with a dark bar (High Sierra), like iMovie, QuickTime Player and Calculator.
Do you have a clue?

Luckily I have the 10.13.6 car files on my drive:) Are you sure they aren't in the DarkAppearance.car?
(just looked, btw - that's why I am asking)
Also, my mind and memory tells me thatsome of these are also controlled by SystemAppearance.car on High Sierra.
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Oh boy. Feel ashamed. :rolleyes:
Of course you are right, Alan... again.
And I'm kind of stupid... again.
The Security Update (24 Mar 2020) ruined all mods. So, I had to redo them again... and I forgot that very DarkAppearance.car.
Thanks again for saving my digital life.
Can I do something in return?
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Oh boy. Feel ashamed. :rolleyes:
Of course you are right, Alan... again.
And I'm kind of stupid... again.
The Security Update (24 Mar 2020) ruined all mods. So, I had to redo them again... and I forgot that very DarkAppearance.car.
Thanks again for saving my digital life.
Can I do something in return?

Don't sweat it :D Good thing you managed to find it all out.
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Still puzzled about the iMovie (version 10.1.12, High Sierra) traffic lights.
Can't find the source .car file. It's not within the app itself and all other .car files have changed... I think.
 

allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Still puzzled about the iMovie (version 10.1.12, High Sierra) traffic lights.
Can't find the source .car file. It's not within the app itself and all other .car files have changed... I think.

Do me a favour and download EasyFind (free from MAS or the author) and search for .car files throughout your High Sierra. I think there's a Assets.car file somewhere that handles that... try and see if you can narrow the results down. Search the surface of your boot drive and then later try taking the Package Contents with too. See what results this yield. My previous searches reveals many .car files scattered

Might be located inside a Framework /Library/Frameworks or the System/Library/Frameworks one - try that. :D Private Frameworks even.. I'm guessing here.. but if we're lucky there's the one controlling that iMovie situation.

383 Assets.car and various other files I still can't locate what could control iMovie - probably there's a huge difference with High Sierra and Catalina.

Corona even - that was quick
[automerge]1587213142[/automerge]
Screen Shot 2020-04-18 at 15.19.05.png
 
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NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
Awesome, Maestro!
I wasn't aware of EasyFind. After installing it and using it in a couple of ways... I finally found the culprit.
There are two .car files within iMovie's Framework: NOX.car and NOXConsumer.car.
And here's and image of the result.
Thanks again!!!
I sincerely hope that I don't have to bother you anymore.
 

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allan.nyholm

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Nov 22, 2007
2,317
2,574
Aalborg, Denmark
Awesome, Maestro!
I wasn't aware of EasyFind. After installing it and using it in a couple of ways... I finally found the culprit.
There are two .car files within iMovie's Framework: NOX.car and NOXConsumer.car.
And here's and image of the result.
Thanks again!!!
I sincerely hope that I don't have to bother you anymore.

That's cool! Great find. Don't worry about asking questions that pop up :)
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
All of a sudden, I see this nasty border around the "back"-button in Safari.
Screen Shot 2020-12-16 at 18.13.10.png

It also appears at different menus and pop-ups.
Any suggestion to solve this one?
Cheers and stay safe!
 

casperes1996

macrumors 604
Jan 26, 2014
7,599
5,771
Horsens, Denmark
All of a sudden, I see this nasty border around the "back"-button in Safari.
View attachment 1695580
It also appears at different menus and pop-ups.
Any suggestion to solve this one?
Cheers and stay safe!

That indicates currently "selected" UI element. If you click tab it moves, yeah? And space "presses" the button "selected" yeah?
If you turn off full keyboard access it should stop selecting all UI elements.
Toggle in keyboard settings in System Preferences
 

NordicBoots

macrumors regular
Apr 9, 2019
165
55
That indicates currently "selected" UI element. If you click tab it moves, yeah? And space "presses" the button "selected" yeah?
If you turn off full keyboard access it should stop selecting all UI elements.
Toggle in keyboard settings in System Preferences
Thanks for your quick reply!
Indeed it did move with the Tab-button.
After following your suggestion, it's gone. Thanks again!
Stupid me!
 
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