Colorizing text in the console with C++

Question

How can I write colored text to the console with C++? That is, how can I write different text with different colors?

Answer 1

You don't need to use any library. Just only write system("color 4f");

Answer 2

ANSI escape color codes :

Name            FG  BG
Black           30  40
Red             31  41
Green           32  42
Yellow          33  43
Blue            34  44
Magenta         35  45
Cyan            36  46
White           37  47
Bright Black    90  100
Bright Red      91  101
Bright Green    92  102
Bright Yellow   93  103
Bright Blue     94  104
Bright Magenta  95  105
Bright Cyan     96  106
Bright White    97  107

Sample code for C/C++ :

#include <iostream>
#include <string>

int main(int argc, char ** argv){
    
    printf("\n");
    printf("\x1B[31mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[32mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[33mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[34mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[35mTexting\033[0m\n");
    
    printf("\x1B[36mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[36mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[36mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[37mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\x1B[93mTexting\033[0m\n");
    
    printf("\033[3;42;30mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[3;43;30mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[3;44;30mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[3;104;30mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[3;100;30mTexting\033[0m\n");

    printf("\033[3;47;35mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[2;47;35mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\033[1;47;35mTexting\033[0m\t\t");
    printf("\t\t");
    printf("\n");

    return 0;
}

GCC :

g++ cpp_interactive_terminal.cpp -o cpp_interactive_terminal.cgi
chmod +x cpp_interactive_terminal.cgi
./cpp_interactive_terminal.cgi

Answer 3

Here cplusplus example is an example how to use colors in console.

Answer 4

Do not use "system("Color …")" if you don't want the entire screen to be filled up with color. This is the script needed to make colored text:

#include <iostream>
#include <windows.h>

int main()
{
const WORD colors[] =
{
0x1A, 0x2B, 0x3C, 0x4D, 0x5E, 0x6F,
0xA1, 0xB2, 0xC3, 0xD4, 0xE5, 0xF6
};

HANDLE hstdin = GetStdHandle(STD_INPUT_HANDLE);
HANDLE hstdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
WORD   index = 0;


    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hstdout, colors[index]);
    std::cout << "Hello world" << std::endl;
FlushConsoleInputBuffer(hstdin);
return 0;
}

Answer 5

In Windows, you can use any combination of red green and blue on the foreground (text) and the background.

/* you can use these constants
FOREGROUND_BLUE
FOREGROUND_GREEN
FOREGROUND_RED
FOREGROUND_INTENSITY
BACKGROUND_BLUE
BACKGROUND_GREEN
BACKGROUND_RED
BACKGROUND_INTENSITY
*/

HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, FOREGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY);
std::cout << "I'm cyan! Who are you?" << std::endl;

Source: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/ms682088(v=vs.85).aspx#_win32_character_attributes

Answer 6

You can write methods and call like this

---

HANDLE  hConsole;
hConsole = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
int col=12;

// color your text in Windows console mode
// colors are 0=black 1=blue 2=green and so on to 15=white  
// colorattribute = foreground + background * 16
// to get red text on yellow use 4 + 14*16 = 228
// light red on yellow would be 12 + 14*16 = 236

FlushConsoleInputBuffer(hConsole);
SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, col);

cout << "Color Text";

SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, 15); //set back to black background and white text