Enhancement: Centralized Accent Color and Polybar Transparency Control via RiceEditor

[sluisr]

Problem Description

Currently, Polybar’s accent color, individual module colors (such as bspwm, launcher, bluetooth, etc.), and bar transparency cannot be configured directly through RiceEditor.
This results in visual inconsistencies when switching theme colors and limits the user’s ability to customize Polybar from a single, centralized interface.

---

Implemented Solution (Prototype for the yael Theme)

A working prototype was implemented in the yael theme, demonstrating the feasibility of centralized control through RiceEditor.

---

1. Centralization of the Accent Color (blue)

In theme-config.bash:

blue_default="#33b1ff"   # Original default theme color
blue="#33b1ff"           # Value modified by RiceEditor

export blue

In Polybar (config.ini / modules.ini):

[color]
blue = ${env:blue:#33b1ff}

All relevant Polybar modules now rely on ${env:blue} or ${color.blue}, including:

• bspwm
• launcher
• bluetooth
• pulseaudio
• network
• cpu_bar
• memory_bar
• mpd_control
• mplayer
• usercard
• power
• updates
• xkeyboard
• tray

In Bar.bash:

export blue

---

2. Restored Workspace Distinction in bspwm

In modules.ini ([module/bspwm]):

label-focused-background = ${color.blue}      ; Focused workspace
label-occupied-foreground = ${color.indigo}   ; Occupied workspace
label-empty-foreground   = ${color.grey}      ; Empty workspace
label-urgent-foreground  = ${color.blue}      ; Urgent workspace

This maintains clear workspace differentiation while staying consistent with the theme's accent color.

---

3. Integration into RiceEditor

• A color picker was added (in the “Bspwm” tab) to modify the blue variable in theme-config.bash.
• A Reset button was added, restoring the accent color using blue_default.

---

4. Polybar Transparency Control

In theme-config.bash:

bar_alpha="DD"   # Hex value from 00 (transparent) to FF (opaque)

In Bar.bash:

bg_color_no_hash="${bg:1}"              # Removes leading '#'
export bar_final_bg="#${bar_alpha}${bg_color_no_hash}"

In Polybar (config.ini):

background = ${env:bar_final_bg}

In RiceEditor:

• A slider was added to adjust bar_alpha in real time.

---

Benefits

• Full centralized control of Polybar’s accent color.
• Adjustable transparency directly from RiceEditor.
• Consistent color usage across all Polybar modules.
• Clear visual distinction in bspwm workspaces.
• Cleaner, theme-wide aesthetic cohesion.

---

Suggestion for Generalization

To maximize consistency across all themes, it is recommended to:

• Standardize key variables (blue, blue_default, bar_alpha, etc.).
• Ensure Theme.sh exports these variables universally.
• Update Polybar configuration for every theme to rely on the same environment-driven color structure.

This would enable global, uniform customization through RiceEditor across the entire theme repository.

[sluisr]

Code Additions for RiceEditor: Accent Color and Polybar Transparency

To complement the previous report, here are the specific code snippets added to the script
/home/sluisr/.config/bspwm/bin/RiceEditor to implement the new functionality.

---

1. Helper Functions Added

These functions were added to the RiceEditorApp class to handle reading/writing the new values in theme-config.bash.

def get_theme_color_value(self, color_var):
    current_theme = self.get_current_theme()
    config_file = os.path.expanduser(f'~/.config/bspwm/rices/{current_theme}/theme-config.bash')
    try:
        with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
            for line in f:
                if not line.strip().startswith('#') and line.strip().startswith(f'{color_var}='):
                    match = re.search(r'{color_var}="([^"]+)"'.format(color_var=color_var), line)
                    if match:
                        return match.group(1)
    except (FileNotFoundError, Exception):
        return "#000000"
    return "#000000"

def on_apply_theme_color_value(self, button, color_var, entry_widget):
    new_color = entry_widget.get_text()
    if re.match(r'^#[0-9A-Fa-f]{6}$', new_color, re.IGNORECASE):
        current_theme = self.get_current_theme()
        config_file = os.path.expanduser(f'~/.config/bspwm/rices/{current_theme}/theme-config.bash')
        try:
            with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
                lines = f.readlines()
            for i, line in enumerate(lines):
                if not line.strip().startswith('#') and line.strip().startswith(f'{color_var}='):
                    lines[i] = f'{color_var}="{new_color.lower()}"\n'
                    break
            with open(config_file, 'w') as f:
                f.writelines(lines)
            subprocess.run([os.path.expanduser('~/.config/bspwm/bin/Theme.sh')], check=True)
        except Exception as e:
            print(f"Error updating configuration: {e}")
    else:
        print(f"Invalid color format: {new_color}")

def on_reset_theme_color_value(self, button, color_var, default_var, entry_widget, color_picker_button):
    default_color = self.get_theme_color_value(default_var)
    if not default_color or default_color == "#000000":
        default_color = "#33b1ff"
    entry_widget.set_text(default_color)
    new_rgba = Gdk.RGBA()
    new_rgba.parse(default_color)
    color_picker_button.set_rgba(new_rgba)
    self.on_apply_theme_color_value(None, color_var, entry_widget)

def get_bar_alpha(self):
    current_theme = self.get_current_theme()
    config_file = os.path.expanduser(f'~/.config/bspwm/rices/{current_theme}/theme-config.bash')
    try:
        with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
            for line in f:
                if line.strip().startswith('bar_alpha='):
                    match = re.search(r'bar_alpha="([0-9A-Fa-f]{2})"', line)
                    if match:
                        return int(match.group(1), 16)
    except (FileNotFoundError, Exception):
        return 221
    return 221

def on_apply_bar_alpha(self, button, slider):
    alpha_int = int(slider.get_value())
    alpha_hex = f"{alpha_int:02X}"
    current_theme = self.get_current_theme()
    config_file = os.path.expanduser(f'~/.config/bspwm/rices/{current_theme}/theme-config.bash')
    try:
        with open(config_file, 'r') as f:
            lines = f.readlines()
        for i, line in enumerate(lines):
            if line.strip().startswith('bar_alpha='):
                lines[i] = f'bar_alpha="{alpha_hex}"\n'
                break
        with open(config_file, 'w') as f:
            f.writelines(lines)
        subprocess.run([os.path.expanduser('~/.config/bspwm/bin/Theme.sh')], check=True)
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error updating bar alpha: {e}")

---

2. UI Code Added

This code was added inside the __init__ method, in the section where the notebook for tab_name == "Bspwm" is built.

# Accent Color (blue) Configuration
accent_color_box = Gtk.Box(orientation=Gtk.Orientation.HORIZONTAL, spacing=7)
accent_color_label = Gtk.Label(label="Accent/Icon color (blue)")
accent_color_label.set_halign(Gtk.Align.START)

accent_color_picker_button = Gtk.ColorButton()
accent_color_picker_button.set_title("Select Accent Color")

self.accent_color_entry = Gtk.Entry()
self.accent_color_entry.set_width_chars(8)
self.accent_color_entry.set_max_length(7)

initial_accent_color = self.get_theme_color_value("blue")
self.accent_color_entry.set_text(initial_accent_color)
accent_initial_color = Gdk.RGBA()
accent_initial_color.parse(initial_accent_color)
accent_color_picker_button.set_rgba(accent_initial_color)

accent_color_picker_button.connect("color-set", self.on_color_picked, self.accent_color_entry)
self.accent_color_entry.connect("insert-text", self.on_color_entry_insert)

accent_color_apply_button = Gtk.Button(label="Apply")
accent_color_apply_button.connect("clicked", self.on_apply_theme_color_value, "blue", self.accent_color_entry)

accent_color_reset_button = Gtk.Button(label="Reset")
accent_color_reset_button.connect(
    "clicked", self.on_reset_theme_color_value, "blue", "blue_default",
    self.accent_color_entry, accent_color_picker_button
)

accent_color_box.pack_start(accent_color_label, True, True, 0)
accent_color_box.pack_end(accent_color_reset_button, False, False, 0)
accent_color_box.pack_end(accent_color_apply_button, False, False, 0)
accent_color_box.pack_end(self.accent_color_entry, False, False, 0)
accent_color_box.pack_end(accent_color_picker_button, False, False, 0)

content.pack_start(accent_color_box, False, False, 7)

# Bar Transparency Slider
bar_alpha_box = Gtk.Box(orientation=Gtk.Orientation.HORIZONTAL, spacing=7)
bar_alpha_label = Gtk.Label(label="Bar Transparency")
bar_alpha_label.set_halign(Gtk.Align.START)

self.bar_alpha_slider = Gtk.Scale.new_with_range(Gtk.Orientation.HORIZONTAL, 0, 255, 1)
self.bar_alpha_slider.set_value(self.get_bar_alpha())
self.bar_alpha_slider.set_hexpand(True)
self.bar_alpha_slider.set_draw_value(True)

bar_alpha_apply_button = Gtk.Button(label="Apply")
bar_alpha_apply_button.connect("clicked", self.on_apply_bar_alpha, self.bar_alpha_slider)

bar_alpha_box.pack_start(bar_alpha_label, True, True, 0)
bar_alpha_box.pack_end(bar_alpha_apply_button, False, False, 0)
bar_alpha_box.pack_end(self.bar_alpha_slider, True, True, 0)

content.pack_start(bar_alpha_box, False, False, 7)

[sluisr]

Final Note:

This is my contribution. Honestly, this is one of my favorite dotfiles, and I truly appreciate all the work gh0stzk has put into it.
Best regards!

[gh0stzk]

Ok thank you. I'll check it out. 👍🏻