Sublime Text 2 : colour of edited file tab?

Question

I see that the Sublime Text theme (.config/sublime-text-2/Packages/Theme - Default/Default.sublime-theme) can be edited to make the open tab more obvious.

For that I use

{
    "class": "tab_control", "attributes": ["selected", "file_medium_dark"],
    "tint_modifier": [0, 255, 0, 32]
    /* ... */
},

which makes the tab greener.

Is there a similar method for colouring the tab of an edited (unsaved) file/buffer?

Thanks.

I think this feature was introduced in the latest Sublime Text 2 release (first non-beta). At least for me its coloring edited tab text orange in the default theme. — Mikko Ohtamaa, Jul 02 '12 at 13:26
@Mikko Thanks. Do you know where that colouring is expressed? — Rhubbarb, Jul 02 '12 at 13:35
Nope, only know that it exists there. Check ST2 change log - it might reveal details. — Mikko Ohtamaa, Jul 02 '12 at 14:05

Rhubbarb · Accepted Answer · 2015-06-01T15:37:48.947

After a little hunting around together with Mikko's suggestion of looking at the change log:

In Settings-User opened from Preferences | Settings add in the line

"highlight_modified_tabs": true,

This will make the tab text orange whenever there are unsaved changes to a file.

To change the color from orange, a bit of further digging around and experimentation was needed and revealed that editing the theme was one way to change the color from orange.

Theme files can be located in in the Color Scheme - Default folder accessed from the menu Preferences | Browse Packages... - you will have to make these changes for every theme that you'd like to change the text color for:

{
    "class": "tab_control", "attributes": ["selected", "file_medium_dark"],
    "tint_modifier": [0, 255, 0, 40],
    "layer2.texture": "Theme - Default/medium_dark_selected_tab_bg.png",
    "layer2.opacity": 0.7
},
{
    "class": "tab_control", "attributes": ["dirty", "file_medium_dark"],
    "tint_modifier": [255, 0, 0, 40],
    "layer2.texture": "Theme - Default/medium_dark_selected_tab_bg.png",
    "layer2.opacity": 0.7
},
{
    "class": "tab_control", "attributes": ["selected", "dirty", "file_medium_dark"],
    "tint_modifier": [255, 255, 0, 40],
    "layer2.texture": "Theme - Default/medium_dark_selected_tab_bg.png",
    "layer2.opacity": 0.7
},

It would be nice to be control the behavior of "selected" and "dirty" (=modified) separately. That might be possible with the layers, but I don't understand those well enough yet.

Addenda

(1) The above is for dark themes. For a light theme, omit the "file_medium_dark" from the attributes.

(2) The same changes apear to work in Sublime Text 3 (~/.config/sublime-text-3/Packages/Default.sublime-theme).

Excuses me, what does `(in the theme file)` mean please? Where should i put those above 3 set of liness at? — 夏期劇場, Feb 05 '13 at 02:22

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Oct 15 '14 at 07:36

7

This is the best solution I have found: https://coderwall.com/p/jg4kog

Inside of Sublime Text go to Preferences > Browse packages
Navigate to the User folder.
There you create a file called Default.sublime-theme
Open that file in Sublime Text and copy and paste the following JSON object:

[{
    "class": "tab_control",
    "attributes": ["selected", "file_medium_dark"],
    "tint_modifier": [255, 255, 255, 80]
}]

edited Oct 15 '14 at 07:36

brixenDK

341
2
7

answered Nov 14 '13 at 14:21

Ravi Ram

24,078
21
82
113

Excellent. Thanks. It seems that's all that's needed in Sublime Text version 3. Take my fragment enclosed in [square brackets] and without the final comma, and paste that into the Default.sublime-theme file as you suggest. – Rhubbarb Jul 10 '14 at 10:06

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 14 '12 at 13:18

I had the same problem, and found what for me is a great solution. I replaced the graphics icons used on the tabs to make dirty tabs much more visible.

Replacing the dirty_circle, dirty_circle_light, and dirty_indicator graphics does the trick.

The details, along with some nice graphics, can be found here:

http://www.sublimetext.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5630

Sublime Text 2 : colour of edited file tab?

3 Answers3

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