DOCUMENT:Q22242  11-MAY-2001  [win16sdk]
TITLE   :PRB: Area Around Text and Remainder of Window Different Colors
PRODUCT :Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
PROD/VER:WINDOWS:3.1,95; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
OPER/SYS:
KEYWORDS:kbOSWinNT350 kbOSWinNT351 kbOSWinNT400 kbOSWin95 kbSDKWin16

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The information in this article applies to:

 - Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
 - Microsoft Win32 Application Programming Interface (API), used with:
    - Microsoft Windows NT Server versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 
    - Microsoft Windows NT Workstation versions 3.5, 3.51, 4.0 
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SYMPTOMS
========

When text is painted into a window, an area around the text is a different color
than the remainder of the window.

CAUSE
=====

The area around the text is painted with a solid color while the remainder of
the window is painted using a dithered color.

RESOLUTION
==========

To make the area around the text and the remainder of the window have the same
color, perform one of the following two steps:

 - Use a solid color for the window background, and use the same color for the
   text background. To ensure that a color is a solid color, use the
   GetNearestColor function. This function returns the nearest solid color
   available to represent the specified color.

   -or-

 - Call the SetBkMode function to specify TRANSPARENT mode for the text. Doing
   so prevents Windows from painting the area behind the text. The window
   background color shows through instead.

STATUS
======

This behavior is by design.

MORE INFORMATION
================

By default, when an application paints text into its window, Windows fills the
area around the character with the current background color. Windows always uses
a solid color for this purpose.

When an application registers a window class, it specifies a handle to a brush
that Windows uses to paint the window background. On some output devices,
brushes can create dithered colors. On one of these devices, the area behind
painted text might have a different color than the remainder of the window.

The following code specifies the window background color:

      #define ELANGREEN  0x003FFF00
      pTemplateClass->hbrBackground = CreateSolidBrush((DWORD)ELANGREEN);

The following code specifies the color used to paint around text and draws some
text into a device context:

      #define SZ -1
      SetBkColor(hDC, (DWORD)ELANGREEN);
      DrawText(hDC, (LPSTR)"text", SZ, (LPRECT)&Rect, DT_BOTTOM);

The color used to paint the area around the text has a yellow cast, which gives
it a slightly different appearance than the window background color.

A brush may be able to represent a wider color range than the solid colors
because a brush covers an area while a solid color may be used to paint
nominal-width lines (for example, lines that are one device unit wide) that must
be the same color at all locations and angles. Therefore, the device-driver
writer has the option of providing dithered colors for brushes, but has no such
freedom when it comes to the solid colors for drawing lines.

Additional query words: 3.00 3.10 3.50 4.00 win16sdk

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Keywords          : kbOSWinNT350 kbOSWinNT351 kbOSWinNT400 kbOSWin95 kbSDKWin16 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbSDKSearch kbWin32sSearch kbWin32API kbWinSDKSearch
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1,95; winnt:3.5,3.51,4.0
Issue type        : kbprb

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