Table of Contents

1. TermStylist
2. Dependencies
3. Installation
4. Usage (Default Syntax)
5. Usage (Creating an Object
6. Usage (TermStylist Objects Syntax)
7. Examples
8. License

🎨 TermStylist

Screenshot above is running demo.cpp in iTerm2.

TermStylist is a terminal colours library that is header-only.

Feel free to submit any issues or improvements.

Enjoy!

Dependencies

No external dependencies are needed in order to use TermStylist.

C++17 is the minimum version you can use since TermStylist has inline variables to prevent duplicate symbols across multiple files due to the internal objects. Now if you need to support an older version, then you may have to rework this part in the header. If necessary, I can tweak the library to make it compatible with older versions.

The internal objects look like this (removed comments):

namespace obj_internal {
    Attributes inline ATTRS;

    Reset inline RESET;

    FGColours816 inline FG816;

    BGColours816 inline BG816;

    FGColours256 inline FG256;

    BGColours256 inline BG256;
}

Also, you need to make sure your terminal supports both ANSI escape codes and at the minimum, 8/16 colours. A terminal that supports both ANSI escape codes and up to 256 colours would be preferred, although not necessary. This will vary depending on your OS platform, but there are tons of good terminal emulators that have proper colour support out of the box.

Installation

Clone the repository.

git clone <SSH/HTTPS URL>

Go to the directory TermStylist/include and copy termstylist.h into your project - preferrably in an include folder.

Include the header in your project.

#include "include/termstylist.h"

Alternatively:

1. Go to releases on the right-hand side of this repository.
2. Find the latest version available for the library (MUST be at least v1.2.0).
3. Download the termstylist.h file.
4. Copy termstylist.h into the include directory of your project.
5. Include the header in your project

#include "include/termstylist.h"

Usage (Default Syntax)

The ANSI escape code strings are split into 6 categories:

1. Attributes
2. Reset
3. Foreground colours - 8/16 colours (FGColours816)
4. Background colours - 8/16 colours (BGColours816)
5. Foreground colours - 256 colours (FGColours256)
6. Background colours - 256 colours (BGColours256)

TermStylist uses ostream overloads with a function that returns an output stream containing the string of the ANSI escape code.

Note: Remember to reset your attributes/colours using the Reset syntax (i.e., termstylist::RESET_Default) or the default syntax correlated to the colour type you're using (i.e., termstylist::FG_Default).

If you need compatibility for terminals that don't support 256 colours, then you should use the syntax for 8/16 colours which is the standard. Using the syntax for 256 colours usually won't be necessary unless you really need a specific colour in there.

---

Attributes:

1. Bold (termstylist::ATTRS_Bold)
2. Dim (termstylist::ATTRS_Dim)
3. Underline (termstylist::ATTRS_Underline)
4. Reverse (termstylist::ATTRS_Reverse)
5. Clear (termstylist::ATTRS_Clear)

Reset:

1. Default (termstylist::RESET_Default)
2. Bold (termstylist::RESET_Bold)
3. Dim (termstylist::RESET_Dim)
4. Underline (termstylist::RESET_Underline)
5. Reverse (termstylist::RESET_Reverse)

Foreground colours - 8/16 colours (FGColours816):

8 colours:

1. Default (termstylist::FG_Default)
2. Black (termstylist::FG_Black)
3. Red (termstylist::FG_Red)
4. Green (termstylist::FG_Green)
5. Yellow (termstylist::FG_Yellow)
6. Blue (termstylist::FG_Blue
7. Magenta (termstylist::FG_Magenta)
8. Cyan (termstylist::FG_Cyan)
9. White (termstylist::FG_White)
10. Light Grey (termstylist::FG_LightGrey)
11. Dark Grey (termstylist::FG_DarkGrey)
12. Light Red (termstylist::FG_LightRed)
13. Light Green (termstylist::FG_LightGreen)
14. Light Yellow (termstylist::FG_LightYellow)
15. Light Blue (termstylist::FG_LightBlue)
16. Light Magenta (termstylist::FG_LightMagenta)
17. Light Cyan (termstylist::FG_LightCyan)

16 colours (bold, aka bright):

1. Bold Black (termstylist::FG_BoldBlack)
2. Bold Red (termstylist::FG_BoldRed)
3. Bold Green (termstylist::FG_BoldGreen)
4. Bold Yellow (termstylist::FG_BoldYellow)
5. Bold Blue (termstylist::FG_BoldBlue)
6. Bold Magenta (termstylist::FG_BoldMagenta)
7. Bold Cyan (termstylist::FG_BoldCyan)
8. Bold White (termstylist::FG_BoldWhite)
9. Bold Light Grey (termstylist::FG_BoldLightGrey)
10. Bold Dark Grey (termstylist::FG_BoldDarkGrey)
11. Bold Light Red (termstylist::FG_BoldLightRed)
12. Bold Light Green (termstylist::FG_BoldLightGreen)
13. Bold Light Yellow (termstylist::FG_BoldLightYellow)
14. Bold Light Blue (termstylist::FG_BoldLightBlue)
15. Bold Light Magenta (termstylist::FG_BoldLightMagenta)
16. Bold Light Cyan (termstylist::FG_BoldLightCyan)

Background colours - 8/16 colours (BGColours816):

8 colours:

1. Default (termstylist::BG_Default)
2. Black (termstylist::BG_Black)
3. Red (termstylist::BG_Red)
4. Green (termstylist::BG_Green)
5. Yellow (termstylist::BG_Yellow
6. Blue (termstylist::BG_Blue)
7. Magenta (termstylist::BG_Magenta)
8. Cyan (termstylist::BG_Cyan)
9. White (termstylist::BG_White)
10. Light Grey (termstylist::BG_LightGrey)
11. Dark Grey (termstylist::BG_DarkGrey)
12. Light Red (termstylist::BG_LightRed)
13. Light Green (termstylist::BG_LightGreen)
14. Light Yellow (termstylist::BG_LightYellow)
15. Light Blue (termstylist::BG_LightBlue)
16. Light Magenta (termstylist::BG_LightMagenta)
17. Light Cyan (termstylist::BG_LightCyan)

16 colours (bold, aka bright):

1. Bold Black (termstylist::BG_BoldBlack)
2. Bold Red (termstylist::BG_BoldRed)
3. Bold Green (termstylist::BG_BoldGreen)
4. Bold Yellow (termstylist::BG_BoldYellow)
5. Bold Blue (termstylist::BG_BoldBlue)
6. Bold Magenta (termstylist::BG_BoldMagenta)
7. Bold Cyan (termstylist::BG_BoldCyan)
8. Bold White (termstylist::BG_BoldWhite)
9. Bold Light Grey (termstylist::BG_BoldLightGrey)
10. Bold Dark Grey (termstylist::BG_BoldDarkGrey)
11. Bold Light Red (termstylist::BG_BoldLightRed)
12. Bold Light Green (termstylist::BG_BoldLightGreen)
13. Bold Light Yellow (termstylist::BG_BoldLightYellow)
14. Bold Light Blue (termstylist::BG_BoldLightBlue)
15. Bold Light Magenta (termstylist::BG_BoldLightMagenta)
16. Bold Light Cyan (termstylist::BG_BoldLightCyan)

Foreground colours - 256 colours (FGColours256):

1. 0-256 (termstylist::FG256_0-256)

To use foreground colours (256 colours), the syntax is termstylist::FG256_0-256, where the number after the underscore correlates to one of the 256 foreground colours (i.e., 0, 1, 2, etc).

Background colours - 256 colours (BGColours256):

1. 0-256 (termstylist::BG256_0-256)

To use background colours (256 colours), the syntax is termstylist::BG256_0-256, where the number after the underscore correlates to one of the 256 background colours (i.e., 0, 1, 2, etc).

Usage (Creating an Object)

You may opt to create your own objects from the structs to minimize the verboseness or if you prefer to access the ANSI escape codes that way.

1. Attributes (object created via termstylist::Attributes <object name>)
2. Reset (object created via termstylist::Reset <object name>)
3. Foreground colours - 8/16 colours (object created via termstylist::FGColours816 <object name>)
4. Background colours - 8/16 colours (object created via termstylist::BGColours816 <object name>)
5. Foreground colours - 256 colours (object created via termstylist::FGColours256 <object name>)
6. Background colours - 256 colours (object created via termstylist::BGColours256 <object name>)

You can access the objects' members via the dot operator (i.e., <object name>.<member>).

Usage (TermStylist Objects Syntax)

TermStylist allows the user to access the ANSI escape code strings from the structs via its own created objects. They are contained within an unnamed namespace in the library header. It's useful if you don't want to create an object yourself, but it might not be depending on your use case.

You can access the objects' members via the dot operator (i.e., termstylist::EO_ATTRS.<member>).

Note: EO means "External Object", denoting that it is used only in external files and not within the library's namespace.

1. Attributes (object accessed via termstylist::EO_ATTRS.<member>)
2. Reset (object accessed via termstylist::EO_RESET.<member>)
3. Foreground colours - 8/16 colours (object accessed via termstylist::EO_FG816.<member>)
4. Background colours - 8/16 colours (object accessed via termstylist::EO_BG816.<member>)
5. Foreground colours - 256 colours (object accessed via termstylist::EO_FG256.<member>)
6. Background colours - 256 colours (object accessed via termstylist::EO_BG256.<member>)

Examples

Attributes

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::ATTRS_Bold << "I am bold!" << termstylist::RESET_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Foreground colours - 8/16 colours

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::FG_LightYellow << "I am light yellow!" << termstylist::FG_Default << '\n';
    
    return 0;
}

Background colours - 8/16 colours

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::BG_BoldBlue << "I am bold blue!" << termstylist::BG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Foreground colours - 256 colours

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::FG256_170 << "I am colour 170/256!" << termstylist::FG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Background colours - 256 colours

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::BG256_172 << "I am colour 172/256!" << termstylist::BG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Accessing via objects (TermStylist syntax)

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    std::cout << termstylist::EO_FG256.FG256_208 << "I am colour 208/256!" << termstylist::EO_FG816.FG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

std::ostream &boldCyan(std::ostream &out) {
    out << termstylist::EO_FG816.FG_BoldCyan << "I am bold cyan!" << termstylist::EO_FG816.FG_Default;

    return out;
}

int main() {
    std::cout << boldCyan << '\n';

    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>
#include <string>

struct Colour {
    public:
        std::string bgLightMagenta = termstylist::EO_BG816.BG_LightMagenta;
        std::string bgDefault = termstylist::EO_BG816.BG_Default;
};

int main() {
    Colour col;

    std::cout << col.bgLightMagenta << "I am light magenta!" << col.bgDefault << '\n';

    return 0;
}

Accessing via objects (Your own created object)

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    termstylist::Attributes atr;
    termstylist::Reset re;

    std::cout << atr.ATTRS_Bold << "I am bold!" << re.RESET_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    termstylist::FGColours816 fg16;

    std::cout << fg16.FG_Yellow << "I am yellow!" << f16.FG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    termstylist::BGColours816 bg16;

    std::cout << bg16.BG_BoldRed << "I am bold red!" << bg16.BG_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    termstylist::FGColours256 fg256;
    termstylist::FGColours816 fg;

    std::cout << fg256.FG256_2 << "2" << fg.FG_Default << '\n';
    
    return 0;
}

#include "include/termstylist.h"
#include <iostream>

int main() {
    termstylist::BGColours256 bg256;
    termstylist::Reset re;

    std::cout << bg256.BG256_204 << "204" << re.RESET_Default << '\n';

    return 0;
}

License

MIT License.