GetSysColor

Overview

Group

Quick Info

Windows NT
Yes
Win95
Yes
Win32s
Yes
Import Library
user32.lib
Header File
winuser.h
Unicode
No
Platform Notes
None

The GetSysColor function retrieves the current color of the specified display element. Display elements are the parts of a window and the Windows display that appear on the system display screen.

DWORD GetSysColor(

int nIndex	// display element
);

Parameters
nIndex

Specifies the display element whose color is to be retrieved. This parameter must be one of the following values:

Value	Meaning
COLOR_3DDKSHADOW	Dark shadow for three-dimensional display elements.
COLOR_3DFACE, COLOR_BTNFACE	Face color for three-dimensional display elements.
COLOR_3DHILIGHT, COLOR_3DHIGHLIGHT, COLOR_BTNHILIGHT, COLOR_BTNHIGHLIGHT	Highlight color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing the light source.)
COLOR_3DLIGHT	Light color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing the light source.)
COLOR_3DSHADOW, COLOR_BTNSHADOW	Shadow color for three-dimensional display elements (for edges facing away from the light source).
COLOR_ACTIVEBORDER	Active window border.
COLOR_ACTIVECAPTION	Active window caption.
COLOR_APPWORKSPACE	Background color of multiple document interface (MDI) applications.
COLOR_BACKGROUND, COLOR_DESKTOP	Desktop.
COLOR_BTNTEXT	Text on push buttons.
COLOR_CAPTIONTEXT	Text in caption, size box, and scroll bar arrow box.
COLOR_GRAYTEXT	Grayed (disabled) text. This color is set to 0 if the current display driver does not support a solid gray color.
COLOR_HIGHLIGHT	Item(s) selected in a control.
COLOR_HIGHLIGHTTEXT	Text of item(s) selected in a control.
COLOR_INACTIVEBORDER	Inactive window border.
COLOR_INACTIVECAPTION	Inactive window caption.
COLOR_INACTIVECAPTIONTEXT	Color of text in an inactive caption.
COLOR_INFOBK	Background color for tooltip controls.
COLOR_INFOTEXT	Text color for tooltip controls.
COLOR_MENU	Menu background.
COLOR_MENUTEXT	Text in menus.
COLOR_SCROLLBAR	Scroll bar gray area.
COLOR_WINDOW	Window background.
COLOR_WINDOWFRAME	Window frame.
COLOR_WINDOWTEXT	Text in windows.

Return Values
If the function succeeds, the return value is the red, green, blue (RGB) color value that specifies the color of the given element.

Remarks
System colors for monochrome displays are usually interpreted as shades of gray.