SetConsoleTextAttribute(Get..., int x)? How does it work

I have a function:

Code:

---

void color(int x)
{
SetConsoleTextAttribute(GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE), x);
}

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I don't understand how the x works, when do I get the foreground and the background, I made a generator (for-loop to 1000 (and also a input color(...,int x)), I still didn't get it.

Thanks.

It actually takes type WORD instead of int.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en...ter_attributes
The basic Red, Blue, and Green are defined already and you can mix them to make the other available console colors.

BOOL SetConsoleTextAttribute(
HANDLE hConsoleOutput,
WORD wAttributes
);


HANDLE is the parameter that you pass in that is the handle to the output devices. For example the output device is the monitor.

WORD is the data type that you pass in the color that you want to use, here is a list of colors for you:

FOREGROUND_BLUE
FOREGROUND_GREEN
FOREGROUND_RED
FOREGROUND_INTENSITY
BACKGROUND_BLUE
BACKGROUND_GREEN
BACKGROUND_RED

These colors are actualy hex vaules, but its easlier to just use the name instead of the hex value. To make other color values you bitwise OR the colors together

Example: FOREGROUND_BLUE | BACKGROUND_RED | BACKGROUND_GREEN | BACKGROUND_BLUE | BACKGROUND_INTENSITY

This example gives you a text color of blue with a white background.

Here is an example program so you can better see how it works, remember use this tutorial to learn, not as a tool to copy and paste.

Code:

---

// Code by: Justin (Code Monkey)
#include <windows.h>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>


// This is our function that will change the text color of the text passed in
void g_ColorText(std::string, WORD);

int main() {
       
        g_ColorText("Hello World", FOREGROUND_BLUE | BACKGROUND_RED | BACKGROUND_GREEN | BACKGROUND_BLUE | BACKGROUND_INTENSITY);

        return 0;
}

// This is our function that will change the text color of the text passed in
void g_ColorText(std::string text_message, WORD text_color) {
        // This is our handle to our output device (monitor)
        // But before we use the output_handle we need to initialize it,
        // so we get the standard handle and set it to the standard output
        // handled device
        HANDLE output_handle = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);

        // This is our default color so that after the we change the text
        // we can change it back to the default dos console color
        WORD default_dos_color = FOREGROUND_RED |
                                                        FOREGROUND_GREEN |
                                                        FOREGROUND_BLUE |
                                                        FOREGROUND_INTENSITY;

        // Here we pass in the output_handle and the text_color that we want
        // the text to look like. This function changes the dos text colors.
        // Its like as if yoou went to the DOS properties and change the colors
        // mannualy. But this function lets you set the text attributes for the
        // program so you don't have to tell the player/user of it to change
        // the colors. = ]
        SetConsoleTextAttribute(output_handle, text_color);

        std::cout << text_message << std::endl;

        // Simply sets every thing back to normal
        SetConsoleTextAttribute(output_handle, default_dos_color);
}

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Using the colour functions in a console is described in part 4 of my windows console programming tutorial starting here.