Colors in C++ win32 console

Question

std::cout << "blblabla... [done]" << std::endl;

Is it possible to make [done] be in another color, and possibly bold? I'm using Windows 7

Answer 1

This depends on which OS you are using.

If you're using windows you want SetConsoleTextAttribute:

HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);  // Get handle to standard output
SetConsoleTextAttribute(hConsole, FOREGROUND_BLUE);

You can also combine values.

An application can combine the foreground and background constants to achieve different colors. For example, the following combination results in bright cyan text on a blue background.

FOREGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY | BACKGROUND_BLUE

You can then use WriteFile or WriteConsole to actually write the the console.

Answer 2

Yes, you just send a standard escape sequence, e.g.

    const char* green = "\033[0;32m";
    const char* white = "\033[0;37m";
    const char* red   = "\033[0;31m";
    double profit = round(someComplicatedThing());
    std::cout << (profit < 0 ? red : (profit > 0 ? green : white))
              << "Profit is " << profit << white << std::endl;

You also get bold vs normal, colored background etc. The Wikipedia page on ANSI escape code has details, the Bash-Prompt HOWTO has examples.