GetSysColor

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.

See Also

SetSysColors