some variables that you can use:
# Reset Color_Off='\033[0m' # Text Reset # Regular Colors Black='\033[0;30m' # Black Red='\033[0;31m' # Red Green='\033[0;32m' # Green Yellow='\033[0;33m' # Yellow Blue='\033[0;34m' # Blue Purple='\033[0;35m' # Purple Cyan='\033[0;36m' # Cyan White='\033[0;37m' # White # Bold BBlack='\033[1;30m' # Black BRed='\033[1;31m' # Red BGreen='\033[1;32m' # Green BYellow='\033[1;33m' # Yellow BBlue='\033[1;34m' # Blue BPurple='\033[1;35m' # Purple BCyan='\033[1;36m' # Cyan BWhite='\033[1;37m' # White # Underline UBlack='\033[4;30m' # Black URed='\033[4;31m' # Red UGreen='\033[4;32m' # Green UYellow='\033[4;33m' # Yellow UBlue='\033[4;34m' # Blue UPurple='\033[4;35m' # Purple UCyan='\033[4;36m' # Cyan UWhite='\033[4;37m' # White # Background On_Black='\033[40m' # Black On_Red='\033[41m' # Red On_Green='\033[42m' # Green On_Yellow='\033[43m' # Yellow On_Blue='\033[44m' # Blue On_Purple='\033[45m' # Purple On_Cyan='\033[46m' # Cyan On_White='\033[47m' # White # High Intensity IBlack='\033[0;90m' # Black IRed='\033[0;91m' # Red IGreen='\033[0;92m' # Green IYellow='\033[0;93m' # Yellow IBlue='\033[0;94m' # Blue IPurple='\033[0;95m' # Purple ICyan='\033[0;96m' # Cyan IWhite='\033[0;97m' # White # Bold High Intensity BIBlack='\033[1;90m' # Black BIRed='\033[1;91m' # Red BIGreen='\033[1;92m' # Green BIYellow='\033[1;93m' # Yellow BIBlue='\033[1;94m' # Blue BIPurple='\033[1;95m' # Purple BICyan='\033[1;96m' # Cyan BIWhite='\033[1;97m' # White # High Intensity backgrounds On_IBlack='\033[0;100m' # Black On_IRed='\033[0;101m' # Red On_IGreen='\033[0;102m' # Green On_IYellow='\033[0;103m' # Yellow On_IBlue='\033[0;104m' # Blue On_IPurple='\033[0;105m' # Purple On_ICyan='\033[0;106m' # Cyan On_IWhite='\033[0;107m' # White
the escape character in bash, hex and octal respectively:
| | bash | hex | octal | NOTE | |-------+-------+---------+---------+------------------------------| | start | \e | \x1b | \033 | | | start | \E | \x1B | - | x cannot be capital | | end | \e[0m | \x1b[0m | \033[0m | | | end | \e[m | \x1b[m | \033[m | 0 is appended if you omit it | | | | | | |
short example:
| color | bash | hex | octal | NOTE | |-------------+--------------+----------------+----------------+---------------------------------------| | start green | \e[32m<text> | \x1b[32m<text> | \033[32m<text> | m is NOT optional | | reset | <text>\e[0m | <text>\1xb[0m | <text>\033[om | o is optional (do it as best practice | | | | | | |
bash exception:
If you are going to use these codes in your special bash variables
- PS0
- PS1
- PS2 (= this is for prompting)
- PS4
you should add extra escape characters so that bash can interpret them correctly. Without this adding extra escape characters it works but you will face problems when you use Ctrl + r
for search in your history.
exception rule for bash
You should add \[
before any starting ANSI code and add \]
after any ending ones.
Example:
in regular usage: \033[32mThis is in green\033[0m
for PS0/1/2/4: \[\033[32m\]This is in green\[\033[m\]
\[
is for start of a sequence of non-printable characters
\]
is for end of a sequence of non-printable characters
Tip: for memorize it you can first add \[\]
and then put your ANSI code between them:
\[start-ANSI-code\]
\[end-ANSI-code\]
type of color sequence:
- 3/4 bit
- 8 bit
- 24 bit
Before diving into these colors, you should know about 4 modes with these codes:
1. color-mode
It modifies the style of color NOT text. For example make the color bright or darker.
0
reset 1;
lighter than normal 2;
darker than normal
This mode is not supported widely. It is fully support on Gnome-Terminal.
2. text-mode
This mode is for modifying the style of text NOT color.
3;
italic 4;
underline 5;
blinking (slow) 6;
blinking (fast) 7;
reverse 8;
hide 9;
cross-out
and are almost supported.
For example KDE-Konsole supports 5;
but Gnome-Terminal does not and Gnome supports 8;
but KDE does not.
3. foreground mode
This mode is for colorizing the foreground.
4. background mode
This mode is for colorizing the background.
The below table shows a summary of 3/4 bit version of ANSI-color
|------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | color-mode | octal | hex | bash | description | example (= in octal) | NOTE | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 0 | \033[0m | \x1b[0m | \e[0m | reset any affect | echo -e "\033[0m" | 0m equals to m | | 1 | \033[1m | | | light (= bright) | echo -e "\033[1m####\033[m" | - | | 2 | \033[2m | | | dark (= fade) | echo -e "\033[2m####\033[m" | - | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | text-mode | ~ | | | ~ | ~ | ~ | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 3 | \033[3m | | | italic | echo -e "\033[3m####\033[m" | | | 4 | \033[4m | | | underline | echo -e "\033[4m####\033[m" | | | 5 | \033[5m | | | blink (slow) | echo -e "\033[3m####\033[m" | | | 6 | \033[6m | | | blink (fast) | ? | not wildly support | | 7 | \003[7m | | | reverse | echo -e "\033[7m####\033[m" | it affects the background/foreground | | 8 | \033[8m | | | hide | echo -e "\033[8m####\033[m" | it affects the background/foreground | | 9 | \033[9m | | | cross | echo -e "\033[9m####\033[m" | | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | foreground | ~ | | | ~ | ~ | ~ | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 30 | \033[30m | | | black | echo -e "\033[30m####\033[m" | | | 31 | \033[31m | | | red | echo -e "\033[31m####\033[m" | | | 32 | \033[32m | | | green | echo -e "\033[32m####\033[m" | | | 33 | \033[33m | | | yellow | echo -e "\033[33m####\033[m" | | | 34 | \033[34m | | | blue | echo -e "\033[34m####\033[m" | | | 35 | \033[35m | | | purple | echo -e "\033[35m####\033[m" | real name: magenta = reddish-purple | | 36 | \033[36m | | | cyan | echo -e "\033[36m####\033[m" | | | 37 | \033[37m | | | white | echo -e "\033[37m####\033[m" | | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 38 | 8/24 | This is for special use of 8-bit or 24-bit | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | background | ~ | | | ~ | ~ | ~ | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 40 | \033[40m | | | black | echo -e "\033[40m####\033[m" | | | 41 | \033[41m | | | red | echo -e "\033[41m####\033[m" | | | 42 | \033[42m | | | green | echo -e "\033[42m####\033[m" | | | 43 | \033[43m | | | yellow | echo -e "\033[43m####\033[m" | | | 44 | \033[44m | | | blue | echo -e "\033[44m####\033[m" | | | 45 | \033[45m | | | purple | echo -e "\033[45m####\033[m" | real name: magenta = reddish-purple | | 46 | \033[46m | | | cyan | echo -e "\033[46m####\033[m" | | | 47 | \033[47m | | | white | echo -e "\033[47m####\033[m" | | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------| | 48 | 8/24 | This is for special use of 8-bit or 24-bit | | |------------+----------+---------+-------+------------------+------------------------------+--------------------------------------|
The below table shows a summary of 8 bit version of ANSI-color
|------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------------| | foreground | octal | hex | bash | description | example | NOTE | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------------| | 0-7 | \033[38;5 | \x1b[38;5 | \e[38;5 | standard. normal | echo -e '\033[38;5;1m####\033[m' | | | 8-15 | | | | standard. light | echo -e '\033[38;5;9m####\033[m' | | | 16-231 | | | | more resolution | echo -e '\033[38;5;45m####\033[m' | has no specific pattern | | 232-255 | | | | | echo -e '\033[38;5;242m####\033[m' | from black to white | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------------| | foreground | octal | hex | bash | description | example | NOTE | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------------| | 0-7 | | | | standard. normal | echo -e '\033[48;5;1m####\033[m' | | | 8-15 | | | | standard. light | echo -e '\033[48;5;9m####\033[m' | | | 16-231 | | | | more resolution | echo -e '\033[48;5;45m####\033[m' | | | 232-255 | | | | | echo -e '\033[48;5;242m####\033[m' | from black to white | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+------------------+------------------------------------+-------------------------|
The 8-bit fast test:
for code in {0..255}; do echo -e "\e[38;05;${code}m $code: Test"; done
The below table shows a summary of 24 bit version of ANSI-color
|------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------+-----------------| | foreground | octal | hex | bash | description | example | NOTE | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------+-----------------| | 0-255 | \033[38;2 | \x1b[38;2 | \e[38;2 | R = red | echo -e '\033[38;2;255;0;02m####\033[m' | R=255, G=0, B=0 | | 0-255 | \033[38;2 | \x1b[38;2 | \e[38;2 | G = green | echo -e '\033[38;2;;0;255;02m####\033[m' | R=0, G=255, B=0 | | 0-255 | \033[38;2 | \x1b[38;2 | \e[38;2 | B = blue | echo -e '\033[38;2;0;0;2552m####\033[m' | R=0, G=0, B=255 | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------+-----------------| | background | octal | hex | bash | description | example | NOTE | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------+-----------------| | 0-255 | \033[48;2 | \x1b[48;2 | \e[48;2 | R = red | echo -e '\033[48;2;255;0;02m####\033[m' | R=255, G=0, B=0 | | 0-255 | \033[48;2 | \x1b[48;2 | \e[48;2 | G = green | echo -e '\033[48;2;;0;255;02m####\033[m' | R=0, G=255, B=0 | | 0-255 | \033[48;2 | \x1b[48;2 | \e[48;2 | B = blue | echo -e '\033[48;2;0;0;2552m####\033[m' | R=0, G=0, B=255 | |------------+-----------+-----------+---------+-------------+------------------------------------------+-----------------|
some screen-shots
foreground 8-bit summary in a .gif

background 8-bit summary in a .gif

color summary with their values

blinking
on KDE-Terminal


a simple `C` code that shows you more


a more advanced tool that I developed to deal with these colors:

color-mode shot

text mode shot

combining is OK

Tips and Tricks for Advanced Users and Programmers:
Can we use these codes in a programming language?
Yes, you can. I experienced in bash, c, c++, d perl, python
Do they slow down the speed of a program?
I think, NO.
Can we use these on Windows?
3/4-bit Yes, if you compile the code with gcc
some screen-shots on Win-7
How to calculate the length of code?
\033[
= 2, other parts 1
Where can we use these codes?
Anywhere that has a tty
interpreter
xterm
, gnome-terminal
, kde-terminal
, mysql-client-CLI
and so on.
For example if you want to colorize your output with mysql you can use Perl
#!/usr/bin/perl -n print "\033[1m\033[31m$1\033[36m$2\033[32m$3\033[33m$4\033[m" while /([|+-]+)|([0-9]+)|([a-zA-Z_]+)|([^\w])/g;
store this code in a file name: pcc
(= Perl Colorize Character) and then put the file a in valid PATH
then use it anywhere you like.
ls | pcc
df | pcc
inside mysql
first register it for pager
and then try:
[user2:db2] pager pcc PAGER set to 'pcc' [user2:db2] select * from table-name;

It does NOT handle Unicode.
Do these codes only do colorizing?
No, they can do a lot of interesting things. Try:
echo -e '\033[2K' # clear the screen and do not move the position
or:
echo -e '\033[2J\033[u' # clear the screen and reset the position
There are a lot of beginners that want to clear the screen with system( "clear" )
so you can use this instead of system(3)
call
Are they available in Unicode?
Yes. \u001b
Which version of these colors is preferable?
It is easy to use 3/4-bit
, but it is much accurate and beautiful to use 24-bit
.
If you do not have experience with html so here is a quick tutorial:
24 bits means: 00000000
and 00000000
and 00000000
. Each 8-bit is for a specific color.
1..8
is for
and 9..16
for
and 17..24
for 
So in html #FF0000
means
and here it is: 255;0;0
in html #00FF00
means
which here is: 0;255;0
Does that make sense? what color you want combine it with these three 8-bit values.
reference:
Wikipedia
ANSI escape sequences
tldp.org
tldp.org
misc.flogisoft.com
some blogs/web-pages that I do not remember