Termcolor

Termcolor is a header-only C++ library for printing colored messages to the terminal. Written just for fun with a help of the Force. Termcolor uses ANSI color formatting, so you can use it on every system that supports such terminals (most *nix systems, including Linux and macOS).

Note

On Windows, the Windows API is used instead of escape codes but some limitations are applied (not everything is supported). That's why it's recommended to enable virtual terminal processing mode and set the TERMCOLOR_USE_ANSI_ESCAPE_SEQUENCES macro to trick termcolor into using ANSI color codes.

It’s licensed under the BSD (3-clause) License. That basically means: do whatever you want as long as the copyright sticks around.

Installation

Run:

$ npm i termcolor.cxx

And then include termcolor.hpp as follows:

// main.cxx
#include <termcolor.hpp>  // or, termcolor/termcolor.hpp

int main() { /* ... */ }

Finally, compile while adding the path node_modules/termcolor.cxx to your compiler's include paths.

$ clang++ -I./node_modules/termcolor.cxx main.cxx  # or, use g++
$ g++     -I./node_modules/termcolor.cxx main.cxx

You may also use a simpler approach with the cpoach tool, which automatically adds the necessary include paths of all the installed dependencies for your project.

$ cpoach clang++ main.cxx  # or, use g++
$ cpoach g++     main.cxx

• You can also use vcpkg to install the library:

  $ vcpkg install termcolor

• Or if you are on macOS, you can use Homebrew:

  $ brew install termcolor

• For up-to-date information about existing packages, refer to the following picture:

  

How to use?

It’s very easy to use. The idea is built upon C++ stream manipulators. A typical “Hello World” application looks like this:

#include <iostream>
#include <termcolor/termcolor.hpp>

int main(int /*argc*/, char** /*argv*/)
{
    std::cout << termcolor::red << "Hello, ";                   // 16 colors
    std::cout << termcolor::color<100> << "Colorful ";          // 256 colors
    std::cout << termcolor::color<211, 54, 130> << "World!";    // true colors
    std::cout << std::endl;
    return 0;
}

The application above prints a string using different colors. There is one caveat though: you must not forget to reset colors, otherwise they will be applied to other prints as well.

std::cout << termcolor::red << "Hello, Colorful World!" << std::endl;
std::cout << "I'm RED too!" << std::endl;

The correct version of the code above should look like this:

std::cout << termcolor::red << "Hello, Colorful World!" << termcolor::reset << std::endl;
std::cout << termcolor::reset << "Here I'm!" << std::endl;

By default, Termcolor ignores any colors for non-TTY streams (e.g. std::stringstream), so the following snippet:

std::stringstream ss;
ss << termcolor::red << "unicorn";
std::cout << ss.str();

will print “unicorn” using the default color, not red. To change this behavior, use the termcolor::colorize manipulator, which enforces colors no matter what.

What manipulators are supported?

The manipulators are divided into four groups:

• foreground, which changes text color
• background, which changes text background color
• attributes, which change text style (bold, underline, etc.)
• control, which change termcolor’s behavior

There are also color manipulators for 16 colors, 256 colors, and true colors palettes.

Note

While termcolor supports true color, the terminal emulator you use must also support true color. Please ensure it is supported before filing an issue.

Foreground manipulators

16 colors

1. termcolor::grey
2. termcolor::red
3. termcolor::green
4. termcolor::yellow
5. termcolor::blue
6. termcolor::magenta
7. termcolor::cyan
8. termcolor::white
9. termcolor::bright_grey
10. termcolor::bright_red
11. termcolor::bright_green
12. termcolor::bright_yellow
13. termcolor::bright_blue
14. termcolor::bright_magenta
15. termcolor::bright_cyan
16. termcolor::bright_white

256 colors

• termcolor::color<256_COLOR_CODE>

True colors

• termcolor::color<RED, GREEN, BLUE>

Background manipulators

16 colors

1. termcolor::on_grey
2. termcolor::on_red
3. termcolor::on_green
4. termcolor::on_yellow
5. termcolor::on_blue
6. termcolor::on_magenta
7. termcolor::on_cyan
8. termcolor::on_white
9. termcolor::on_bright_grey
10. termcolor::on_bright_red
11. termcolor::on_bright_green
12. termcolor::on_bright_yellow
13. termcolor::on_bright_blue
14. termcolor::on_bright_magenta
15. termcolor::on_bright_cyan
16. termcolor::on_bright_white

256 colors

• termcolor::on_color<256_COLOR_CODE>

True colors

• termcolor::on_color<RED, GREEN, BLUE>

Attribute manipulators

(Windows API does not support these manipulators except for underline)

1. termcolor::bold
2. termcolor::dark
3. termcolor::italic
4. termcolor::underline
5. termcolor::blink
6. termcolor::reverse
7. termcolor::concealed
8. termcolor::crossed

Control manipulators

(Windows API does not support these manipulators)

1. termcolor::colorize
2. termcolor::nocolorize

Caveats

1. On Windows, due to internal usage of <windows.h>, the global namespace may be polluted with min/max macros. If such an effect is undesirable, consider using:

   #define NOMINMAX
   #include <termcolor.hpp>