Thread: Colour question

Is it possible to colour the ENTIRE background of a console program, rather than just the background behind the text?

Here's one way, I'll bet there are better ways. But this is the best I can do.

Code:

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

using namespace std; 

HANDLE hStdout, hStdin; 
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbiInfo; 
BOOL SetBackForeColors(const HANDLE hConsole, const DWORD );

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
	hStdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE); 
	if ( hStdout == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE ) 
	{
		cout << "GetStdHandle" << endl; 
		return 1;
	}

	SetBackForeColors( hStdout, ( FOREGROUND_GREEN | BACKGROUND_RED )  );

	cout << "Ye ha..." << endl;

	cout << endl << endl << endl << endl;

	cout << "                           Yo-ho" << endl << endl;

	return 0;
}



BOOL SetBackForeColors(const HANDLE hConsole, const DWORD dwColor ) 
{   
	COORD coordScreen = { 0, 0 };		/* here's where we'll home the cursor */   
	BOOL bSuccess = TRUE;   
	DWORD cCharsWritten;   
	CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbi;	/* to get buffer info */   
	DWORD dwConSize;					/* number of character cells in the current buffer */    
	
	/* get the number of character cells in the current buffer */   
	bSuccess = GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hConsole, &csbi);   
	dwConSize = csbi.dwSize.X * csbi.dwSize.Y;   
	

	if ( ! SetConsoleTextAttribute( hStdout, dwColor  ) ) 
		cout << "SetConsoleTextAttribute" << endl; 

	/* fill the entire screen with blanks */   
	bSuccess = FillConsoleOutputCharacter(hConsole, (TCHAR) ' ',  dwConSize, coordScreen, &cCharsWritten);   

	/* get the current text attribute */   
	if( bSuccess )
		bSuccess = GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hConsole, &csbi);   
	
	/* now set the buffer's attributes accordingly */  
	if( bSuccess )
		bSuccess = FillConsoleOutputAttribute(hConsole, csbi.wAttributes, dwConSize, coordScreen, &cCharsWritten);   
	
	/* put the cursor at (0, 0) */   
	if( bSuccess )
		bSuccess = SetConsoleCursorPosition(hConsole, coordScreen);   

	return bSuccess; 
}

There is different ways of doing it. It all depends on your compiler. If your using MS Visual C++, the way Dang did it is the best. If you are using a DOS compiler, then it is simple. use
textbackground(3); //or whatever number for a color