How to have multiple colors in a Windows batch file?

Question

I was wondering if its possible to have different colored text on the same line in a Windows batch file, for example if it says

echo hi world

Answer 1

Without external tools.This is a self-compiled bat/.net hybrid (should be saved as .BAT) that can be used on any system that have installed .net framework (it's a rare thing to see an windows without .NET framework even for the oldest XP/2003 installations) . It uses jscript.net compiler to create an exe capable to print strings with different background/foreground color only for the current line.

@if (@X)==(@Y) @end /* JScript comment
@echo off
setlocal

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %%v in ('dir /b /s /a:-d  /o:-n "%SystemRoot%\Microsoft.NET\Framework\*jsc.exe"') do (
   set "jsc=%%v"
)

if not exist "%~n0.exe" (
    "%jsc%" /nologo /out:"%~n0.exe" "%~dpsfnx0"
)

%~n0.exe %*

endlocal & exit /b %errorlevel%

*/

import System;

var arguments:String[] = Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();

var newLine = false;
var output = "";
var foregroundColor = Console.ForegroundColor;
var backgroundColor = Console.BackgroundColor;
var evaluate = false;
var currentBackground=Console.BackgroundColor;
var currentForeground=Console.ForegroundColor;


//http://stackoverflow.com/a/24294348/388389
var jsEscapes = {
  'n': '\n',
  'r': '\r',
  't': '\t',
  'f': '\f',
  'v': '\v',
  'b': '\b'
};

function decodeJsEscape(_, hex0, hex1, octal, other) {
  var hex = hex0 || hex1;
  if (hex) { return String.fromCharCode(parseInt(hex, 16)); }
  if (octal) { return String.fromCharCode(parseInt(octal, 8)); }
  return jsEscapes[other] || other;
}

function decodeJsString(s) {
  return s.replace(
      // Matches an escape sequence with UTF-16 in group 1, single byte hex in group 2,
      // octal in group 3, and arbitrary other single-character escapes in group 4.
      /\\(?:u([0-9A-Fa-f]{4})|x([0-9A-Fa-f]{2})|([0-3][0-7]{0,2}|[4-7][0-7]?)|(.))/g,
      decodeJsEscape);
}


function printHelp( ) {
   print( arguments[0] + "  -s string [-f foreground] [-b background] [-n] [-e]" );
   print( " " );
   print( " string          String to be printed" );
   print( " foreground      Foreground color - a " );
   print( "                 number between 0 and 15." );
   print( " background      Background color - a " );
   print( "                 number between 0 and 15." );
   print( " -n              Indicates if a new line should" );
   print( "                 be written at the end of the ");
   print( "                 string(by default - no)." );
   print( " -e              Evaluates special character " );
   print( "                 sequences like \\n\\b\\r and etc ");
   print( "" );
   print( "Colors :" );
   for ( var c = 0 ; c < 16 ; c++ ) {

        Console.BackgroundColor = c;
        Console.Write( " " );
        Console.BackgroundColor=currentBackground;
        Console.Write( "-"+c );
        Console.WriteLine( "" );
   }
   Console.BackgroundColor=currentBackground;



}

function errorChecker( e:Error ) {
        if ( e.message == "Input string was not in a correct format." ) {
            print( "the color parameters should be numbers between 0 and 15" );
            Environment.Exit( 1 );
        } else if (e.message == "Index was outside the bounds of the array.") {
            print( "invalid arguments" );
            Environment.Exit( 2 );
        } else {
            print ( "Error Message: " + e.message );
            print ( "Error Code: " + ( e.number & 0xFFFF ) );
            print ( "Error Name: " + e.name );
            Environment.Exit( 666 );
        }
}

function numberChecker( i:Int32 ){
    if( i > 15 || i < 0 ) {
        print("the color parameters should be numbers between 0 and 15");
        Environment.Exit(1);
    }
}


if ( arguments.length == 1 || arguments[1].toLowerCase() == "-help" || arguments[1].toLowerCase() == "-help"   ) {
    printHelp();
    Environment.Exit(0);
}

for (var arg = 1; arg <= arguments.length-1; arg++ ) {
    if ( arguments[arg].toLowerCase() == "-n" ) {
        newLine=true;
    }

    if ( arguments[arg].toLowerCase() == "-e" ) {
        evaluate=true;
    }

    if ( arguments[arg].toLowerCase() == "-s" ) {
        output=arguments[arg+1];
    }


    if ( arguments[arg].toLowerCase() == "-b" ) {

        try {
            backgroundColor=Int32.Parse( arguments[arg+1] );
        } catch(e) {
            errorChecker(e);
        }
    }

    if ( arguments[arg].toLowerCase() == "-f" ) {
        try {
            foregroundColor=Int32.Parse(arguments[arg+1]);
        } catch(e) {
            errorChecker(e);
        }
    }
}

Console.BackgroundColor = backgroundColor ;
Console.ForegroundColor = foregroundColor ;

if ( evaluate ) {
    output=decodeJsString(output);
}

if ( newLine ) {
    Console.WriteLine(output);  
} else {
    Console.Write(output);

}

Console.BackgroundColor = currentBackground;
Console.ForegroundColor = currentForeground;

Example coloroutput.bat -s "aa\nbb\n\u0025cc" -b 10 -f 3 -n -e

You can also check carlos' color function -> http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=4453