Configuration of the Look&Feel

Table of contents

General

In Java, a Look&Feel defines the way the interface is displayed. This includes

From a technical point of view, EFA basically supports all standard look and feels defined in Java. The most common Java looks are “Metal”, “Nimbus” and “Motif”, although the “Windows” and “WindowsClassic” looks are also available under Windows. The “GTK” look is only available under Linux.

The Metal Look&Feel works best because it supports all of EFA's features well. This particularly includes the colored buttons on the efaBootsHaus homepage. The Metal Look&Feel font is easy to read on the screen. The Metal Look&Feel font is easy to read on the screen.

The Nimbus Look&Feelworks less well because it has some problems when displaying the logbook in efaBootshaus. The Windows Look&Feel, on the other hand, does not support colored buttons, and the tabs are not well highlighted either.

Windows/WindowsClassic and GTK Look&Feel used their own fonts, which changed the display of EFA again.

EFA FlatLaf

All the Look&Feel of standard Java are now getting old and no longer seem modern. In addition, every look and feel other than metal has technical or display-specific difficulties.

Therefore, a new look and feel was developed for EFA 2.4, which is based on the open source library FlatLaf based.

Essential Features

During development, care was taken to ensure that as many of the coloring properties as possible could also be used in the other standard Java looks.

Whether this works depends heavily on the respective standard Java looks. The Windows LookAndFeel lacks the ability to set the color of the current tab in a user-specific manner.

Configuration

How efaBootshaus is displayed can be configured in two different areas in EFA:

In order to produce an optimal result for efaBootshaus, adjustments are required in both areas.

Common -> Appearance

In this tab the LookAndFeel is set for the following EFA programs:

Look&Feel

This property sets the basic representation of efa. The list of available looks depends on the operating system you choose. The GTK Look&Feel, for example, is only available under Linux, while the Windows Looks are only available under Windows operating systems. The “standard” is determined from the Java specifications for the respective operating system on which EFA runs. On Windows the default is Windows LookAndFeel, on Linux it is “GTK”.

The Metal Look and the newly developed efaFlatLight Look work best for efaBase and efaBths .

Colors for efaFlatLaf

The standard color scheme for efaFlatLaf is intended to enable optimal visibility of the screen contents.

The individual colors can be adjusted by pressing the “Select color” button. Pressing the red “X” behind it resets the color to the efaFlatLaf standard.

Headers

Table colors

These properties work in all look and feel.

Table representation

These settings apply to all Look&Feels.

Tooltips

These properties work in every look and feel.
The background color of the tooltip cannot be set in Nimbus Look&Feel.

Font for efaBase

These properties can be used for all look and feel.

The properties only work in efaBase, not in other efa programs. A font size of 14 points is recommended.

How to change the colors of FlatLaf

Pressing the “Select Color” button opens the standard Java color selection dialog.

Themes for FlatLaf

Flatlaf brighter, darker

Flatlaf brighter

Property Hex-Color code for use in RGB tab
Background F4F3EF
Lighten background for edit fields 8%

Flatlaf darker

Property Hex-Color code for use in RGB tab
Background E5E3D9
Lighten background for edit fields 14%

Nimbus

A Nimbus-like coloring can be achieved using the following color codes:

Property Hex-Color code for use in RGB tabe
Background D6D9DF
Lighten background for edit fields 20%
Accent Color 5388BA
Headings background 7E9CB8
Table Header Background 6190BB
Alternating row color D8E3ED
Table selection color 5E86AA
Tooltip Background E0EAF4
Tooltip Header Background EFF4F9
Tooltip text color 15416A

Metal

a Metal-like coloring can be achieved using the following color codes:

Property Hex-Color code for use in RGB tab
Background EEEEEE
Lighten background for edit fields 10%
Accent Color 4878A5
Headings background 4878A5
Table Header Background B1C7DC
Alternating row color DBEAF9
Table selection color 4878A5
Tooltip Background E0EDF9
Tooltip Header Background FAFCFE
Tooltip text color 15416A