Colored output in C++
Use {fmt} library, which is being slowly absorbed into C++ standard, starting with C++20 in <format>
header. Text colors and styles are not in the standard yet, AFAIK, but you can get them with the version from github, where you can find this example:
#include <fmt/color.h>
int main() {
fmt::print(fg(fmt::color::crimson) | fmt::emphasis::bold,
"Hello, {}!\n", "world");
fmt::print(fg(fmt::color::floral_white) | bg(fmt::color::slate_gray) |
fmt::emphasis::underline, "Hello, {}!\n", "мир");
fmt::print(fg(fmt::color::steel_blue) | fmt::emphasis::italic,
"Hello, {}!\n", "世界");
}
In a more c++ way for an ANSI capable terminal, it is possible to write your own ansi stream manipulators like std::endl but for handling ansi escape code.
Code for doing so can look like this for basic raw implementation:
namespace ansi {
template < class CharT, class Traits >
constexpr
std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > & reset( std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > &os )
{
return os << "\033[0m";
}
template < class CharT, class Traits >
constexpr
std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > & foreground_black( std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > &os )
{
return os << "\033[30m";
}
template < class CharT, class Traits >
constexpr
std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > & foreground_red( std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits > &os )
{
return os << "\033[31m";
}
...
} // ansi
And it can be used in a code like this:
std::cout << ansi::foreground_red << "in red" << ansi::reset << std::endl;
You need the terminal color codes. For linux it's the following (your system might be different, look it up):
//the following are UBUNTU/LINUX, and MacOS ONLY terminal color codes.
#define RESET "\033[0m"
#define BLACK "\033[30m" /* Black */
#define RED "\033[31m" /* Red */
#define GREEN "\033[32m" /* Green */
#define YELLOW "\033[33m" /* Yellow */
#define BLUE "\033[34m" /* Blue */
#define MAGENTA "\033[35m" /* Magenta */
#define CYAN "\033[36m" /* Cyan */
#define WHITE "\033[37m" /* White */
#define BOLDBLACK "\033[1m\033[30m" /* Bold Black */
#define BOLDRED "\033[1m\033[31m" /* Bold Red */
#define BOLDGREEN "\033[1m\033[32m" /* Bold Green */
#define BOLDYELLOW "\033[1m\033[33m" /* Bold Yellow */
#define BOLDBLUE "\033[1m\033[34m" /* Bold Blue */
#define BOLDMAGENTA "\033[1m\033[35m" /* Bold Magenta */
#define BOLDCYAN "\033[1m\033[36m" /* Bold Cyan */
#define BOLDWHITE "\033[1m\033[37m" /* Bold White */
This allows you to do the following:
std::cout << RED << "hello world" << RESET << std::endl;
Note: If you don't use RESET the color will remain changed until the next time you use a color code.