Visual guide to System.Windows.SystemColors

Question

All throughout the Windows UX Guide it is suggested to use the appropriet SystemColors within an application to ensure that an application's default theme is consistent with teh rest of the system. I totally aggree, the only problem is that there seems to be no guide for how named values within the SystemColors type map to actual common parts of a typical user interface. Instead we are given names like Caption and expected to understand what controls that will apply to.

Is there anywhere that a developer can find a decent set of Visual Guidelines for how the values in SystemColors maps to a common user interface?

As an example of what I'm looking for, in the Windows UX Guide there is a concept of Main Instruction under the section on User Interface Text which typically looks like a dark blue color in the most recent default Windows themes. What SystemColor is this so that I can have my own "Main Instructions" labels use that same color?

Answer 1

Traditionally, these names have mapped to specific settings in the Advanced dialog of the Appearance tab in display properties.

To view these, right-click your desktop, select Properties and then Appearance, then click Advanced. The Item: dropdown contains the named settings. That said, the names don't necessarily map exactly but it usually isn't difficult to work out when themes are disabled.

Answer 2

Tough question, I don't see anything added to the latest Windows SDK that could fit the "Main Instruction" color. The only one that is a decent match (name and color) is Highlight.

Answer 3

This table of SystemColors is the best resource that I've come across so far which shows default color values for each of the named keys in each of the popular Windows themes. The problem though is that it still lacks any kind of association with actual UI elements or roles/patterns described in the Windows UX Guide such as for this list of default windows text patterns.