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

If your console supports ANSI colour codes (e.g. ConEmu, Clink or ANSICON) you can do this:

SET    GRAY=%ESC%[0m
SET     RED=%ESC%[1;31m
SET   GREEN=%ESC%[1;32m
SET  ORANGE=%ESC%[0;33m
SET    BLUE=%ESC%[0;34m
SET MAGENTA=%ESC%[0;35m
SET    CYAN=%ESC%[1;36m
SET   WHITE=%ESC%[1;37m

where ESC variable contains ASCII character 27.

I found a way to populate the ESC variable here: http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6827#p6827 and using tasklist it's possible to test what DLLs are loaded into a process.

The following script gets the process ID of the cmd.exe that the script is running in. Checks if it has a dll that will add ANSI support injected, and then sets colour variables to contain escape sequences or be empty depending on whether colour is supported or not.

@echo off

call :INIT_COLORS

echo %RED%RED %GREEN%GREEN %ORANGE%ORANGE %BLUE%BLUE %MAGENTA%MAGENTA %CYAN%CYAN %WHITE%WHITE %GRAY%GRAY

:: pause if double clicked on instead of run from command line.
SET interactive=0
ECHO %CMDCMDLINE% | FINDSTR /L %COMSPEC% >NUL 2>&1
IF %ERRORLEVEL% == 0 SET interactive=1
@rem ECHO %CMDCMDLINE% %COMSPEC% %interactive%
IF "%interactive%"=="1" PAUSE
EXIT /B 0
Goto :EOF

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: SUBROUTINES                                                          :
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:INIT_COLORS
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

call :supportsANSI
if ERRORLEVEL 1 (
  SET GREEN=
  SET RED=
  SET GRAY=
  SET WHITE=
  SET ORANGE=
  SET CYAN=
) ELSE (

  :: If you can, insert ASCII CHAR 27 after equals and remove BL.String.CreateDEL_ESC routine
  set "ESC="
  :: use this if can't type ESC CHAR, it's more verbose, but you can copy and paste it
  call :BL.String.CreateDEL_ESC

  SET    GRAY=%ESC%[0m
  SET     RED=%ESC%[1;31m
  SET   GREEN=%ESC%[1;32m
  SET  ORANGE=%ESC%[0;33m
  SET    BLUE=%ESC%[0;34m
  SET MAGENTA=%ESC%[0;35m
  SET    CYAN=%ESC%[1;36m
  SET   WHITE=%ESC%[1;37m
)

exit /b

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:BL.String.CreateDEL_ESC
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: http://www.dostips.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1733
::
:: Creates two variables with one character DEL=Ascii-08 and ESC=Ascii-27
:: DEL and ESC can be used  with and without DelayedExpansion
setlocal
for /F "tokens=1,2 delims=#" %%a in ('"prompt #$H#$E# & echo on & for %%b in (1) do rem"') do (
  ENDLOCAL
  set "DEL=%%a"
  set "ESC=%%b"
  goto :EOF
)

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:supportsANSI
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: returns ERRORLEVEL 0 - YES, 1 - NO
::
:: - Tests for ConEmu, ANSICON and Clink
:: - Returns 1 - NO support, when called via "CMD /D" (i.e. no autoruns / DLL injection)
::   on a system that would otherwise support ANSI.

if "%ConEmuANSI%" == "ON" exit /b 0

call :getPID PID

setlocal

for /f usebackq^ delims^=^"^ tokens^=^* %%a in (`tasklist /fi "PID eq %PID%" /m /fo CSV`) do set "MODULES=%%a"

set MODULES=%MODULES:"=%
set NON_ANSI_MODULES=%MODULES%

:: strip out ANSI dlls from module list:
:: ANSICON adds ANSI64.dll or ANSI32.dll
set "NON_ANSI_MODULES=%NON_ANSI_MODULES:ANSI=%"
:: ConEmu attaches ConEmuHk but ConEmu also sets ConEmuANSI Environment VAR
:: so we've already checked for that above and returned early.
@rem set "NON_ANSI_MODULES=%NON_ANSI_MODULES:ConEmuHk=%"
:: Clink supports ANSI https://github.com/mridgers/clink/issues/54
set "NON_ANSI_MODULES=%NON_ANSI_MODULES:clink_dll=%"

if "%MODULES%" == "%NON_ANSI_MODULES%" endlocal & exit /b 1
endlocal

exit /b 0

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:getPID  [RtnVar]
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
:: REQUIREMENTS:
::
:: Determine the Process ID of the currently executing script,
:: but in a way that is multiple execution safe especially when the script can be executing multiple times
::   - at the exact same time in the same millisecond,
::   - by multiple users,
::   - in multiple window sessions (RDP),
::   - by privileged and non-privileged (e.g. Administrator) accounts,
::   - interactively or in the background.
::   - work when the cmd.exe window cannot appear
::     e.g. running from TaskScheduler as LOCAL SERVICE or using the "Run whether user is logged on or not" setting
::
:: https://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/vstudio/en-US/270f0842-963d-4ed9-b27d-27957628004c/what-is-the-pid-of-the-current-cmdexe?forum=msbuild
::
:: http://serverfault.com/a/654029/306
::
:: Store the Process ID (PID) of the currently running script in environment variable RtnVar.
:: If called without any argument, then simply write the PID to stdout.
::
::
setlocal disableDelayedExpansion
:getLock
set "lock=%temp%\%~nx0.%time::=.%.lock"
set "uid=%lock:\=:b%"
set "uid=%uid:,=:c%"
set "uid=%uid:'=:q%"
set "uid=%uid:_=:u%"
setlocal enableDelayedExpansion
set "uid=!uid:%%=:p!"
endlocal & set "uid=%uid%"
2>nul ( 9>"%lock%" (
  for /f "skip=1" %%A in (
    'wmic process where "name='cmd.exe' and CommandLine like '%%<%uid%>%%'" get ParentProcessID'
  ) do for %%B in (%%A) do set "PID=%%B"
  (call )
))||goto :getLock
del "%lock%" 2>nul
endlocal & if "%~1" equ "" (echo(%PID%) else set "%~1=%PID%"
exit /b