• The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
Menu
  • The Four Hundred
  • Subscribe
  • Media Kit
  • Contributors
  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Guru: Going Dark In RDi

    August 19, 2019 Paul Tuohy

    In this article I am going to show you how to configure RDi for dark mode. Dark mode is where the background of an application is changed from white to black. Some say that dark mode makes text (and especially code) easier to read. Others say it’s more difficult to read. Personally, I am a convert, but I know other developers who hate it. Maybe you should give it a try and see which you prefer.

    Recently, there has been a lot of debate about dark mode (mostly prompted by Apple introducing it as an option in its operating systems), but the end result is that it comes down to personal choice.

    It has been my experience that dark mode is more likely to be the default with code editors on other platforms. It is important to note that dark mode does not mean “just like green screen”. Code is still automatically colored.

    Compare the following default theme of RDi with the equivalent dark mode theme. Getting to dark mode requires changing two preferences.

    The first preference to change is the theme for RDi. Open Preferences and navigate to General->Appearance. If it isn’t already ticked, tick the option for Enable theming then, from the drop down for Theme, select Dark and click the Apply button. You may need to restart RDi in order to see the change of theme.

    You have now changed the default theme for RDi but not for the editor itself. The LPEX editor view still has a white background.

    The second preference to change is the pallet for the LPEX editor. Open Preferences and navigate to LPEX Editor->Appearance. From the drop down for Pallette, select Black and click the Apply button. You are now in dark mode.

    Why not give dark mode a try? Like me, you might find it a little easier on the eye — same horrible code but a little easier on the eye <g>.

    Paul Tuohy, IBM Champion and author of Re-engineering RPG Legacy Applications, is a prominent consultant and trainer for application modernization and development technologies on the IBM Midrange. He is currently CEO of ComCon, a consultancy firm in Dublin, Ireland, and partner at System i Developer. He hosts the RPG & DB2 Summit twice per year with partners Susan Gantner and Jon Paris.

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Tags: Tags: 400guru, FHG, Four Hundred Guru, IBM i, LPEX, RDi

    Sponsored by
    New Generation Software

    Free NGS-IQ Webinar: A Better Way to Connect IBM i Data and Microsoft 365 Users.

    Business users rely on Excel, SharePoint, Access, and other Microsoft tools to view, analyze, and share data. But what if your data is too sensitive and complex to simply open up to non-technical users via ODBC and Microsoft 365’s query functions?

    Attend our webinar on June 22, 2022, and see how you can make the people you support smile even as you centrally manage and secure IBM i data access.

    www.ngsi.com– 800-824-1220

    Share this:

    • Reddit
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn
    • Twitter
    • Email

    Four Hundred Monitor, August 19 Boutique Footwear Company Finds A Great Fit With Node.js

    5 thoughts on “Guru: Going Dark In RDi”

    • Dan Devoe says:
      August 19, 2019 at 10:45 am

      For what its worth, I’ve been in the dark for a long time… 🙂

      Thanks Paul

      Reply
    • Steve Anderson says:
      August 19, 2019 at 2:31 pm

      Thanks Paul, great article.I went to the Dark Side on the LPEX Editor quite a while ago. A lot of my co-workers followed me. I do suggest playing with the colors (background and foreground) to make them more readable.For example, I changed the background on the ‘Compare added line text’ to Green, and made both the ‘Compare … line’ to white text. It is much easier to see.

      Reply
    • erick fedorchek says:
      August 19, 2019 at 4:07 pm

      I just applied dark mode and in most of my tabs (ie: Properties, Error List, .etc) there are horizontal white lines along with the veritical white lines. Looking at the screen shot you provided, I do not see any horizontal white lines. Is there a setting to turn that off?

      Reply
    • Kent Hohlen says:
      August 22, 2019 at 11:36 am

      Hi Paul – There are a couple of us giving the dark side a try. We think the dark background is better for our eyes. Our eyes feel less tired at the end of the day. For the most part I like it. There are a couple things I don’t like. For example the set SEP prompt panel is hideous and I can’t figure out what to change to make it better. The mix of light and dark background is bad. I’d prefer all dark. Thanks for letting us know about the dark side of RDi.

      Reply
    • Mike Kohlndorfer says:
      August 23, 2019 at 6:25 pm

      I would like to go dark but found a few issues I couldn’t fix. 1) Scroll bars are almost invisible, especially in the Outline view. 2) Using C-S-O to see nesting puts marks on the left side, but in dark mode these are dark blue on a black background which is unacceptable. I’ve settled for the GRAY theme which reduces the screen brightness a little

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

TFH Volume: 29 Issue: 47

This Issue Sponsored By

  • Profound Logic Software
  • New Generation Software
  • RPG & DB2 Summit
  • Eradani
  • T.L. Ashford

Table of Contents

  • Big Power News On The Horizon, And Some Other Stuff For Now
  • Boutique Footwear Company Finds A Great Fit With Node.js
  • Guru: Going Dark In RDi
  • Four Hundred Monitor, August 19
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Numbers 32 And 33

Content archive

  • The Four Hundred
  • Four Hundred Stuff
  • Four Hundred Guru

Recent Posts

  • IBM i 7.3 TR12: The Non-TR Tech Refresh
  • IBM i Integration Elevates Operational Query and Analytics
  • Simplified IBM i Stack Bundling Ahead Of Subscription Pricing
  • More Price Hikes From IBM, Now For High End Storage
  • Big Blue Readies Power10 And IBM i 7.5 Training for Partners
  • IBM Delivers More Out-of-the-Box Security with IBM i 7.5
  • Groundhog Day For Malware
  • IBM i Community Reacts to IBM i 7.5
  • Four Hundred Monitor, May 11
  • IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 24, Number 19

Subscribe

To get news from IT Jungle sent to your inbox every week, subscribe to our newsletter.

Pages

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Contributors
  • Four Hundred Monitor
  • IBM i PTF Guide
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe

Search

Copyright © 2022 IT Jungle

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.