SUMMARY:
There is a problem with SystemORHidden together vs. ReadOnly. Works as expected but is not that useful. (1)
There is obviously no automatic rule coloring updating after attributes changes, a fresh install proves that. (2)
The "color ball" command works fine, i.e. updates it all. (3)
But I don't like the color ball, so I wrote the necessary (?) 1-line scriptlet in order to trigger that command from a shortcut. (4)
1)
I just installed MC on a second pc (also XP, don't have any newer os).
MS mode vs. Norton mode: chose MS mode (as with my main pc).
Then ^b = hide button window. I know this was the big idea behind MC, originally, but my screens are just too tiny for that.
Then Configuration...Display
There: Show hidden YES, show system YES (both from default NO)
And Configuration...Colors
There: "Different color for files/folders with System/Hidden attributes YES (Auto coloring (default))
(BIG problem: there is no visual differentiation between system and hidden possible, this way; that's why I had switched to "Rule based coloring" on first pc. You have a second setting, for readonly, but that's not realistic since you then cannot change those files/folders anymore, whilst if you differentiate "system" and "hidden", you can have two different colors, AND work on those files as you otherwise would)
New start
Then, I "hide" some file, by "Properties".
And I "un-hide" it again, same way:
This works fine: "Hidden", the file is grey instead of black, and un-hidden, it's black again.
But as said, this way I only can distinguish one special file "format", not 2.
The same would apply if I switched from "Automatic" to manual color assignment ("Fixed Color"): For System/Hidden in ONE, and the second one for Readonly=unusable=cannot work on these files then.
2)
Now, "I try Rule based coloring":
I un-check "Different color...with system/hidden attributes" again, i.e. it's default setting again.
And I check ("YES") "Rule based coloring of files and folders" instead.
I "apply" and "save".
Now, "everything" gets very "colored", according to the file extensions; of course, I don't want this.
Therefore: "File Coloring Rules Editor".
There, I simply uncheck Compressed, New, Empty, Exe, Text, Pics, Music, Video, Archives, Office.
I leave "System files" checked, and I leave it even as it is (on my first pc I had changed to bold, but with white background.
I "save". Now, "System files" are red on yellow background (default); all other coloring has vanished.
Now, in c:\, I set the system attribute of some file to "on", and the color/background of the entry do NOT change = exactly the same behavior as in my first pc 1 hour ago; just the "original" system files in c:\ are red on yellow background, i.e. here in c:, not even the positive attribute change is displayed by the format.
Now, I close MC and reopen it, and NOW that file is red on yellow background (as are the other, "original" system files on c:), but now only!
Now, I "un-system" that file, and it REMAINS red on yellow background.
I close MC, reopen MC, and that file is correctly displayed in regular (black on white).
For "hidden", on my first pc, I took one of the other formats (Compressed, New, Empty, Exe, Text, Pics, Music, Video, Archives, Office) which I un-checked = disabled here, and changed its "internals", i.e attribute "H", and then display Bold, etc., but let's leave this "Hidden" format out here, for clarity.
Here, we have your ORIGINAL "system" format (as said, with its siblings all disabled), and it works as badly as on my first pc (where I may have made settings that may have done harm).
Now let's see any other, not c:\ folder, i.e. something in c:\Programs.
In some of the subfolders in there, I change some "normal" file to "system".
As explained by me for my first pc, display changes immediately: The entry is now red on yellow background.
Now, I change back from "system" to not-system, and yes: This "negative" attribute change is NOT replicated: The entry stays red on yellow background, up to the next closing down MC and reopening it: Then, it's back to regular (black on white) again.
Now, I have replicated both phenomena from my first xp pc:
- positive attribute change is displayed, but not negative attribute change
- in c: parent/source/main folder, not even the positive attribute change is displayed
"not" meaning, in both cases, "not before you close down MC and reopen it again"
As said, I freshly installed MC on my second pc (there, MC had NOT been installed before), and I did not do anything else than I listed above.
I therefore think this should be possible to replicate on any other xp pc.
3)
I also found the color ball now, in a toolbar I normally hide, and with the command "Refresh file coloring for all files and folders", and using this command WILL refresh the wrong formatting and set it right (after hours of trying it all out, I got mixed up for a brief moment, for what was "system", and what was not, sorry!).
4)
Now the original command is, MC.Explorer.RefreshColoringRules, but if I type this command into the MC command line and then press Enter, this refresh is NOT done, obviously because I don't understand how this MC command line works (since the respective ball command works fine).... or is it one of those command lines in which you cannot do much? ;-)
Thus: Configuration-User Defined Commands
There: Click on the folder symbol, for "Create new command"
Then: Command type: Multi-Script (I hope this is the right one, was not evident from looking into those; perhaps this can be done in a simpler way I didn't find)
Name: Refresh, Hotkey, Shift-Control-R, and in the field for the script lines, just the above command Mc.Explorer.RefreshColoringRules and nothing else; similar commands similarly.
After that, +^r will refresh your color codings.
EDIT:
a) You also can assign an "alias" to that "script" (but not to a single command it seems? It has to be put into such a "script" for that?), instead of assigning a shortkey to it, or additionally, and then, entering (in this example) RefreshENTERKEY will trigger the script and by that the command.
b) Those commands are case-sensitive, so if you put an Mc.Whatever into the scriptlet, instead of MC.Whatever, it will NOT work.
c) Deselecting the FileCommands toolbar (which includes the color ball here) and the Drives toolbar did not just deselect them, but made them vanish from the menu, so I had to reinstall MC to see the ball again. In other words, don't deselect these toolbars before being sure you don't need the icons there anymore.
Anyway, Thomas, thank you very, very much for your patient help!