Thread: Colors in Consol programming

Here's a code snippet I took from MSDN and modified to get you going. If you want more info look in wincon.h it declares all the structures, attributes and APIs.

Code:

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

using namespace std; 

HANDLE hStdout, hStdin; 
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbiInfo; 

int main() 
{  


	// Get handle to STDIN. 

	hStdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE); 
	if ( hStdout == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE ) 
	{
		cout << "GetStdHandle" << endl; 
		return 1;
	}

	// Save the current text colors. 

	if ( ! GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo( hStdout, &csbiInfo) ) 
		cout << "GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo" << endl; 


	// Set the text attr. to draw red text on black background. 

	if ( ! SetConsoleTextAttribute( hStdout, FOREGROUND_GREEN | BACKGROUND_RED  ) ) 
		cout << "SetConsoleTextAttribute" << endl; 

	cout << "this should show new attribute " << endl;

	cout << "press any key to reset console" << endl;

	cin.get( ); 

	if ( ! SetConsoleTextAttribute( hStdout, csbiInfo.wAttributes ) ) 
		cout << "Reseting SetConsoleTextAttribute" << endl; 

	cout << "this should show old attributes " << endl;

	return 0; 
}

This is easier than the previous...

SetConsoleTextAttribute(GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HA NDLE),FOREGROUND_BLUE);

Or for a brighter blue...

SetConsoleTextAttribute(GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HA NDLE),FOREGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_INTENSITY);

Just add this line as the very first line in your main() function.