Transparent Menu Bar

Jacques · 07-05-2002, 11:19 AM

Every once in a while, my main top menu bar becomes translucent. It's some kind of glitch, usually corrects itself after switching to another program - others of you have seen this as well, yes?

When this happens, the menu text is still black and readable - yet instead of the white pin-striped color you can see the rest of the background picture!

VERY NICE!

I'd like to have this permanent, any one have any clues or leads?

Jacques

SSUJoe · 07-09-2002, 07:02 PM

I've never had this happen.
Sometimes the entire thing disappears, but only for a second.
Have you been messing around with themes or the appearance of the system?

-Joe

griffman · 07-09-2002, 07:59 PM

I've only seen this when the "SystemUIServer" process crashes -- it controls the menubar, and auto-restarts if it dies. When it does so, you get a brief transparent menubar...

-rob.

swelshh · 07-09-2002, 10:05 PM

I've seen this happen before and I think it would be awesome if there was a way to make it permanent. Maybe someone could make a theme with transparency?

Jacques · 07-10-2002, 11:16 AM

I've never used 'themes' with Mac OS X - I'm still content with the way it looks and feels. Next time I see it happen, I'll try to make it repeatable - I'd love to see a hack for the Finder (or the SystemUIServer as the griffman mentioned) to make it permanently transparent if that were possible!

mervTormel · 07-10-2002, 07:12 PM

i was able to 'get' the translucent menu bar and keep it up for to study.

force quit an app (preferably a benign one that doesn't have it's fingers in a lot of files) and after the app is quit, the force quit dialog is still up and the menu is the background picture, which, if it is dark (the background, not outside), you can't read the menus, or see the gee-gaws.

try it, anyhow.

[edit: this is mentioned only for your evaluation of the situation. as for making it a permanent condition, you'd have to mess around with some menubar resource nib somewhere in the bowels. before you do that, evaluate that your desktop is always going to be light enough to resolve the menubar text and doo-dads]

jeffo · 07-12-2002, 07:37 PM

i noticed this too when i force quit a program and i thought it was so cool that i would sit there and just look at it for a second before i went on. i thought it would be cool to have permenant, but i would not even know where to begin on that project.

jeffo

SSUJoe · 07-15-2002, 10:01 PM

how hard could it be?

I mean, there are themes that change the color. Can't you just make the "color" transparent?

I bet anyone who's made a theme knows how to do this.

JayBee · 07-16-2002, 04:44 PM

erm, unless I'm mistaken (likely), the menu bar isn't "transparent" it just isn't there.

It looks to me like the menu bar is part of the app process, and when you quit an app, it takes the bar with it. You don't usually see the "disappearance" as the bar is replaced by the bar of the next app. Force-quitting is different, as it doesn't seem to cause the next app to "top" until you kill the window.

does that make sense?

swelshh · 07-16-2002, 07:19 PM

I'm pretty sure I've seen the menu bar go transparent while keeping its outline and menu's?

mervTormel · 07-16-2002, 08:07 PM

evidence (scroll image right) that you don't always get menubar items, but sysui items get drawn, in this case.

it's not really practical to persue this 'feature' since the items don't XOR the color with the background color, right? you'd have to always have a light desktop, right? no dark desktops, right?

swelshh · 07-16-2002, 08:14 PM

Right! Light desktops and transparent menu bars! Throw in the top bar of all windows as transparent as a theme... it would be awesome!

Jacques · 07-16-2002, 10:48 PM

Even somewhat transparent would be nice.. but this is something that is beyond my ability. It was good to see the various thoughts that came from this..

Jacques

SSUJoe · 07-17-2002, 12:46 AM

It looks to me like the menu bar is part of the app process, and when you quit an app, it takes the bar with it

I think you're right.
The clock, volume, etc menu items that remain are programs in themselves, programmed to stay up on the top of the screen.

Check out the Windows XP OSX theme . It changes the top bar to blue. It comes with menu extras to change the color of the clock, battery, airport, volume, etc, to white. My point here is that you wouldn't always need a light background.

When it happens to you and me, it's because there is no top bar to display. By clicking on the desktop you bring the Finder to the front, and display it's top bar.

Making a theme to reproduce the effect shouldn't be that hard. I'm just not a themer.

Jacques · 12-22-2006, 09:47 PM

A friend pointed out to me today, from the current top article from 43 Folders, a freeware utility that handles this a bit.

MenuShade now gives us the transparency, but not the ability to stay transparent while showing the menu items.

Four years later! . . . = )

Jacques

MBHockey · 12-22-2006, 10:14 PM

It's always nice to come across an old mervTormel post

07-05-2002, 11:19 AM	#1
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 972	Transparent Menu Bar Every once in a while, my main top menu bar becomes translucent. It's some kind of glitch, usually corrects itself after switching to another program - others of you have seen this as well, yes? When this happens, the menu text is still black and readable - yet instead of the white pin-striped color you can see the rest of the background picture! VERY NICE! I'd like to have this permanent, any one have any clues or leads? Jacques

07-09-2002, 07:02 PM	#2
SSUJoe Triple-A Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: P-Town Ohio Posts: 108	I've never had this happen. Sometimes the entire thing disappears, but only for a second. Have you been messing around with themes or the appearance of the system? -Joe __________________ I dare you to say that again! Only this time say it like, "Joe, you're the greatest!!"

07-10-2002, 07:12 PM	#6
mervTormel League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 5,536	i was able to 'get' the translucent menu bar and keep it up for to study. force quit an app (preferably a benign one that doesn't have it's fingers in a lot of files) and after the app is quit, the force quit dialog is still up and the menu is the background picture, which, if it is dark (the background, not outside), you can't read the menus, or see the gee-gaws. try it, anyhow. [edit: this is mentioned only for your evaluation of the situation. as for making it a permanent condition, you'd have to mess around with some menubar resource nib somewhere in the bowels. before you do that, evaluate that your desktop is always going to be light enough to resolve the menubar text and doo-dads] Last edited by mervTormel; 07-10-2002 at 07:18 PM.

07-15-2002, 10:01 PM	#8
SSUJoe Triple-A Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: P-Town Ohio Posts: 108	how hard could it be? I mean, there are themes that change the color. Can't you just make the "color" transparent? I bet anyone who's made a theme knows how to do this. __________________ I dare you to say that again! Only this time say it like, "Joe, you're the greatest!!"

07-16-2002, 04:44 PM	#9
JayBee Major Leaguer Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Edinburgh, Scotland Posts: 437	erm, unless I'm mistaken (likely), the menu bar isn't "transparent" it just isn't there. It looks to me like the menu bar is part of the app process, and when you quit an app, it takes the bar with it. You don't usually see the "disappearance" as the bar is replaced by the bar of the next app. Force-quitting is different, as it doesn't seem to cause the next app to "top" until you kill the window. does that make sense? __________________ JayBee -- It's all relative, you know

07-09-2002, 07:59 PM	#3
griffman MVP Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 1,472	I've only seen this when the "SystemUIServer" process crashes -- it controls the menubar, and auto-restarts if it dies. When it does so, you get a brief transparent menubar... -rob.

07-09-2002, 10:05 PM	#4
swelshh Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 9	I've seen this happen before and I think it would be awesome if there was a way to make it permanent. Maybe someone could make a theme with transparency?

07-10-2002, 11:16 AM	#5
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 972	I've never used 'themes' with Mac OS X - I'm still content with the way it looks and feels. Next time I see it happen, I'll try to make it repeatable - I'd love to see a hack for the Finder (or the SystemUIServer as the griffman mentioned) to make it permanently transparent if that were possible!

07-12-2002, 07:37 PM	#7
jeffo All Star Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 713	i noticed this too when i force quit a program and i thought it was so cool that i would sit there and just look at it for a second before i went on. i thought it would be cool to have permenant, but i would not even know where to begin on that project. jeffo

07-16-2002, 07:19 PM	#10
swelshh Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 9	I'm pretty sure I've seen the menu bar go transparent while keeping its outline and menu's?

07-16-2002, 08:07 PM	#11
mervTormel League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 5,536	evidence (scroll image right) that you don't always get menubar items, but sysui items get drawn, in this case. it's not really practical to persue this 'feature' since the items don't XOR the color with the background color, right? you'd have to always have a light desktop, right? no dark desktops, right?

07-16-2002, 08:14 PM	#12
swelshh Prospect Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 9	Right! Light desktops and transparent menu bars! Throw in the top bar of all windows as transparent as a theme... it would be awesome!

07-16-2002, 10:48 PM	#13
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 972	Even somewhat transparent would be nice.. but this is something that is beyond my ability. It was good to see the various thoughts that came from this.. Jacques

07-17-2002, 12:46 AM	#14
SSUJoe Triple-A Player Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: P-Town Ohio Posts: 108	It looks to me like the menu bar is part of the app process, and when you quit an app, it takes the bar with it I think you're right. The clock, volume, etc menu items that remain are programs in themselves, programmed to stay up on the top of the screen. Check out the Windows XP OSX theme . It changes the top bar to blue. It comes with menu extras to change the color of the clock, battery, airport, volume, etc, to white. My point here is that you wouldn't always need a light background. When it happens to you and me, it's because there is no top bar to display. By clicking on the desktop you bring the Finder to the front, and display it's top bar. Making a theme to reproduce the effect shouldn't be that hard. I'm just not a themer. __________________ I dare you to say that again! Only this time say it like, "Joe, you're the greatest!!"

12-22-2006, 09:47 PM	#15
Jacques All Star Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: New York, NY Posts: 972	A friend pointed out to me today, from the current top article from 43 Folders, a freeware utility that handles this a bit. MenuShade now gives us the transparency, but not the ability to stay transparent while showing the menu items. Four years later! . . . = ) Jacques __________________ see / hear Joy is not the absence of suffering. It is the presence of God. -Robert Schuller ..believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable.. -1Peter 1:8

12-22-2006, 10:14 PM	#16
MBHockey MVP Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: New York Posts: 2,211	It's always nice to come across an old mervTormel post