vim
Review: color consistency
Make sure that any given GUI color is always translated to the same 256c and 16c.
For example, LightMagenta, which doesn't exist in rgb.txt:
co/evening.colortemplate|17 col 8| Color: lightmagenta #ffa0a0 217 magenta
co/shine.colortemplate|38 col 8| Color: LightMagenta#ff83fa 213 13
@lifepillar What do you mean?
The issue, here, is that a given gui color can have different 256c and/or 16c translations across colorschemes. This is an inconsistency issue that should be dealt with.
Isn't that two different colors (#ffa0a0 and #ff83fa) which have been assigned the same symbolic name (LightMagenta)? So, one possibility would be to rename one color.
No.
One symbolic name, LightMagenta, is used in two original colorschemes but it was erroneously translated to two different values in two different remakes. That's the issue to address… and there are other similar cases.
Don't worry if you don't get it, this issue is just a memo for later.
Below are the tables of conflicting Color: statements found in colortemplate/, grouped by name for readability.
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| blue | #0000ff |
21 | blue | ||
| blue | #0000ff |
21 | darkblue | ||
| blue | #0000ff |
21 | blue | ||
| blue | #0000ff |
21 | darkblue | ||
| blue | #0000ff |
63 | blue | ||
| blue | #0030ff |
27 | blue | ||
| blue | #005faf |
25 | blue | ||
| blue | #0087ff |
33 | blue | ||
| blue | #5fafff |
75 | blue |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cyan | #00ffff |
51 | cyan | ||
| cyan | #5fffff |
87 | cyan | ||
| cyan | #90fff0 |
123 | cyan |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkblue | #000087 |
18 | darkblue | ||
| darkblue | #00008b |
18 | darkblue | ||
| darkblue | #00008b |
20 | darkblue | ||
| darkblue | #006faf |
25 | darkblue | ||
| darkblue | #0087af |
31 | darkblue |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkcyan | #008787 |
30 | darkcyan | ||
| darkcyan | #008b8b |
30 | darkcyan | ||
| darkcyan | #008b8b |
30 | darkcyan | ||
| darkcyan | #008b8b |
44 | darkcyan |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkgray | #878787 |
102 | darkgray | ||
| darkgrey | #767676 |
243 | darkgrey | ||
| darkgrey | #a9a9a9 |
145 | darkgrey | ||
| darkgrey | #a9a9a9 |
145 | grey | ||
| darkgrey | #a9a9a9 |
248 | grey |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkmag | #8b008b |
90 | darkmagenta | ||
| darkmagenta | #870087 |
90 | darkmagenta | ||
| darkmagenta | #8b008b |
164 | darkmagenta | ||
| darkmagenta | #8b008b |
90 | darkmagenta |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| darkred | #870000 |
88 | darkred | ||
| darkred | #8b0000 |
88 | darkred | ||
| darkred | #d14a14 |
166 | darkred |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| green | #00ff00 |
46 | green | ||
| green | #90f020 |
118 | green |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| gray | #bcbcbc |
250 | gray | ||
| grey | #808080 |
102 | darkgrey | ||
| grey | #bebebe |
248 | grey | ||
| grey | #bebebe |
250 | grey | ||
| grey | #bebebe |
250 | gray | ||
| grey | #bebebe |
250 | grey |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| grey40 | #666666 |
241 | darkgray | ||
| grey40 | #666666 |
241 | darkgrey | ||
| grey40 | #666666 |
242 | grey | ||
| grey40 | #666666 |
59 | darkgrey | ||
| grey40 | #666666 |
59 | darkgrey |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lightblue | #287eff |
33 | blue | ||
| lightblue | #add8e6 |
152 | darkcyan | ||
| lightblue | #add8e6 |
153 | blue | ||
| lightblue | #add8e6 |
153 | lightblue |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lightgrey | #c0c0c0 |
252 | grey | ||
| lightgrey | #d3d3d3 |
252 | gray | ||
| lightgrey | #dadada |
253 | grey |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lightmag | #ff80ff |
213 | magenta | ||
| lightmagenta | #ffbbff |
219 | magenta |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| lightred | #ffa0a0 |
217 | red | ||
| lightred | #ffafaf |
217 | red |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| magenta | #d787d7 |
176 | magenta | ||
| magenta | #ff00ff |
201 | darkmagenta | ||
| magenta | #ff00ff |
201 | magenta | ||
| magenta | #ff80ff |
201 | darkmagenta |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| red | #d70000 |
160 | red | ||
| red | #ff0000 |
196 | darkred | ||
| red | #ff0000 |
196 | red | ||
| red | #ff5f5f |
203 | red |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| seagreen | #2e8b57 |
121 | darkgreen | ||
| seagreen | #2e8b57 |
29 | darkgreen | ||
| seagreen | #2e8b57 |
29 | darkgreen |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| slateblue | #6a5acd |
62 | blue | ||
| slateblue | #6a5acd |
62 | darkmagenta |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| steelblue | #4682b4 |
67 | blue |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| violet | #8080ff |
105 | blue |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| white | #ffffff |
15 | white | ||
| white | #ffffff |
231 | white |
| Name | Hex | 256c | 16c | 256c (fixed) | 16c (fixed) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| yellow | #ffdf00 |
220 | yellow | ||
| yellow | #ffff00 |
226 | darkyellow | ||
| yellow | #ffff00 |
226 | yellow | ||
| yellow | #ffff60 |
227 | yellow |
The issue, here, is that a given gui color can have different 256c and/or 16c translations across colorschemes
In Colortemplate's documentation I wrote:
the "most similar" terminal color [to a hex color] may not necessarily be the "best looking" color, because the overall look&feel of a color scheme ultimately depends on the interactions among all the colors.
If you take blue as an example, #0000ff is approximated with (21,blue), (21,darkblue), and (63,blue) in different color schemes. That is perfectly fine, because what looks best in an approximated color scheme very much depends on how all the colors interact. Requiring that #0000ff be always approximated with the same 256/16c color would produce suboptimal results.
The problem with this line of thinking is that the author of the original colorscheme deliberately chose a specific color with a fixed, standardized value. People use those colorschemes in the real world and I think that the pros and cons of changes like the ones you allude to must be weighted carefully. The originals are messy and we can't seriously claim that our remakes are an improvement if they are even more messy than the originals.
Also, I think that we have more leeway in 16c land because of the inherent limitations of that color space. The constraints we deal with are much much difficult. In 256c, on the other hand, the technical limits/constraints are less stringent so we should strive to approximate the original as much as possible.
Moreover, this project is a chance to replace an awful mess with a working "system", we shouldn't let it slip.