Understanding Classic Tab Definitions

You can change the background colors of folder tabs in a component and tabs in a grid. To change the background colors of tabs, you should have a basic understanding of how tab definitions are built and stored in the database.

PeopleSoft applications store tab definitions as images. Each tab, or image definition, has three parts that are stored as rows in the database:

• Row 1 contains code representing the top border.

• Row 2 contains the tab itself.

• Row 3 contains the bottom border.

Because tabs look different, depending on where they are located relative to other tabs and whether they are active, you must define them in sets for a combination of active and inactive tab colors.

Image: Active General tab with inactive tabs

The following is an image of Active General tab with inactive tabs

The tab image names reflect the role of the image in the tab row and the colors that it uses. Colors are encoded using the 6-character, hexadecimal RGB value of the color.

When the system displays tabs on a page, it verifies the existence of all of the images that are required for the pair of colors that is specified by the active and inactive tab styles. If the system finds these images, the tabs are drawn using these colors. If the system cannot find the images, it uses white (FFFFFF) for the active tab and blue (6666FF) for the inactive tab. If the images for these colors are not in the database, then the tabs do not appear at all.

Classic Tab Image Naming Scheme

This topic details how classic tab images are named. However, to change tab colors, change only the RGB values.

All tab images are named in this format:

PT_TABNABBRRGGBB

• PT_TAB: System-defined image definition name prefix.

• N: HTML table row.

  Values are 1, 2, or 3. Create images only for 2 or 3.

• A: Location of the tab parts in a tab.

  Values are:

  • L: Left end.

  • B: Between.

  • R: Right end.

  • M: Middle of a tab.

• BB: Relative position to other tabs.

  Values are:

  • AI: Piece between active and inactive.

  • IA: Piece between inactive and active.

  • II: Piece between two inactive tabs.

  • AX: Piece of an active tab.

  • IX: Piece of an inactive tab.

• RRGGBB is either omitted (when the tab image does not use any color), or is one or two 6-character hexadecimal codes for inactive and active tab colors.