colors on c++

To display colors in C++, you can make use of the escape sequences. Here's an explanation of the steps involved:

  1. Include the necessary headers: In C++, you need to include the <iostream> and <windows.h> headers to use the escape sequences for colors. The <iostream> header is used for input/output operations, while <windows.h> provides access to the Windows API functions.

  2. Use the Windows API function: To set the console text color, you can use the SetConsoleTextAttribute() function from the Windows API. This function takes two parameters: the handle to the console output (GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE)) and the color attribute.

  3. Define the color attributes: The color attributes are defined using hexadecimal values. Each color attribute consists of two components: the background color and the foreground color. You can combine different color attributes to create different color combinations.

  4. Set the color attribute: To set the desired color, you need to call the SetConsoleTextAttribute() function and pass the appropriate color attribute as the second parameter.

  5. Reset the color: After displaying the text in the desired color, it's a good practice to reset the color back to the default. This can be done by calling the SetConsoleTextAttribute() function again and passing the default color attribute.

Here's an example code snippet that demonstrates how to display text in different colors using escape sequences in C++:

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

int main() {
    // Define color attributes
    const int RED = 12;
    const int GREEN = 10;
    const int BLUE = 9;

    // Get the handle to the console output
    HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);

    // Set text color to red
    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, RED);
    std::cout << "This text is in red." << std::endl;

    // Set text color to green
    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, GREEN);
    std::cout << "This text is in green." << std::endl;

    // Set text color to blue
    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, BLUE);
    std::cout << "This text is in blue." << std::endl;

    // Reset text color to default
    SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, 7); // 7 is the default color attribute

    return 0;
}

This code snippet demonstrates how to set the text color to red, green, and blue using the escape sequences in C++. Remember to include the necessary headers and handle resetting the color back to the default at the end.