Is there any way?

[Blackbox]

I was just wondering if there is anyway to change the color of the text in a "consol application'?

If there is please show me an example of how I would code that.

Thank you.

[Stoned_Coder]

from the good ol helpfiles....

The SetConsoleTextAttribute function sets the foreground (text) and background color attributes of characters written to the screen buffer by the WriteFile or WriteConsole function, or echoed by the ReadFile or ReadConsole function. This function affects only text written after the function call.

BOOL SetConsoleTextAttribute(
HANDLE hConsoleOutput, // handle to console screen buffer
WORD wAttributes // text and background colors
);

Parameters
hConsoleOutput
Handle to a console screen buffer. The handle must have GENERIC_READ access.
wAttributes
Specifies the foreground and background color attributes. Any combination of the following values can be specified: FOREGROUND_BLUE, FOREGROUND_GREEN, FOREGROUND_RED, FOREGROUND_INTENSITY, BACKGROUND_BLUE, BACKGROUND_GREEN, BACKGROUND_RED, and BACKGROUND_INTENSITY. For example, the following combination of values produces white text on a black background:
FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE

Return Values
If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks
To determine the current color attributes of a screen buffer, call the GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo function.

QuickInfo
Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
Windows CE: Unsupported.
Header: Declared in wincon.h.
Import Library: Use kernel32.lib.

and

The GetStdHandle function returns a handle for the standard input, standard output, or standard error device.

HANDLE GetStdHandle(
DWORD nStdHandle // input, output, or error device
);

Parameters
nStdHandle
Specifies the device for which to return the handle. This parameter can have one of the following values: Value Meaning
STD_INPUT_HANDLE Standard input handle
STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE Standard output handle
STD_ERROR_HANDLE Standard error handle


Return Values
If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the specified device.

If the function fails, the return value is the INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE flag. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks
Handles returned by GetStdHandle can be used by applications that need to read from or write to the console. When a console is created, the standard input handle is a handle to the console's input buffer, and the standard output and standard error handles are handles of the console's active screen buffer. These handles can be used by the ReadFile and WriteFile functions, or by any of the console functions that access the console input buffer or a screen buffer (for example, the ReadConsoleInput, WriteConsole, or GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo functions).

All handles returned by this function have GENERIC_READ and GENERIC_WRITE access unless the SetStdHandle function has been used to set a standard handle to be some handle with a lesser access.

The standard handles of a process may be redirected by a call to SetStdHandle, in which case GetStdHandle returns the redirected handle. If the standard handles have been redirected, you can specify the CONIN$ value in a call to the CreateFile function to get a handle to a console's input buffer. Similarly, you can specify the CONOUT$ value to get a handle to a console's active screen buffer.

QuickInfo
Windows NT: Requires version 3.1 or later.
Windows: Requires Windows 95 or later.
Windows CE: Unsupported.
Header: Declared in winbase.h.
Import Library: Use kernel32.lib.

[Nor]

Originally posted by Stoned_Coder

The standard handles of a process may be redirected by a call to SetStdHandle, in which case GetStdHandle returns the redirected handle. If the standard handles have been redirected, you can specify the CONIN$ value in a call to the CreateFile function to get a handle to a console's input buffer. Similarly, you can specify the CONOUT$ value to get a handle to a console's active screen buffer.

didnt check to see if this is an old post but anyway.

which parameter is it talking about?
lpFileName ???

nm should have tried before i posted.
anyways i can use the debugger that came with dev-c++ now.
still cant get cout or printf to work tho

    m_Screen = CreateFile("CONOUT$",       // open MYFILE.TXT
                GENERIC_WRITE,             // open for reading
                FILE_SHARE_WRITE,          // share for reading
                NULL,                      // no security
                OPEN_EXISTING,             // existing file only
                FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,     // normal file
                NULL);                     // no attr. template

    m_Keyboard = CreateFile("CONIN$",      // open MYFILE.TXT
                GENERIC_READ,              // open for reading
                FILE_SHARE_READ,           // share for reading
                NULL,                      // no security
                OPEN_EXISTING,             // existing file only
                FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL,     // normal file
                NULL);                     // no attr. template
    
    SetStdHandle( STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE, m_Screen);
    SetStdHandle( STD_INPUT_HANDLE, m_Keyboard);