Multiple Colours.

[Jacob]

I have always wondered, if it is possible to display multiple colours within MS-DOS.
I know perl can do this (I think). But then if a 3rd party ran the file, without perl installed, would it work?
Any help or information is greatly appreciated.

Problem Solved:
Thanks ALAN and Dias.
http://www.computerhope.com/forum/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=69701.0;attach=6821

[ALAN_BR]

Hi

See http://www.computerhope.com/ansisys.htm

ANSI ESC code sequences change the colour attributes quite nicely, with great versatility.

Years ago I had two project folders
C:\some\thing\or\other\etc
G:\some\thing\or\other\etc

My work in progress was on C:, and my server based backup archive was on G:.
Since both sets of folder names were identical, I sometimes got confused as to whether I was about to update the archive with today's work, or whether I was about to wipe-out today's work !!!

I achieved a perfect solution - I modified the usual $P$G prompt with an extra ANSI escape code sequence that altered the colour attributes depending upon which Drive I was aiming at.

Regards
Alan

[Jacob]

I've taken a look, so what would I need to type. To display
echo red (as red.)
and
echo white (as white.)
as an example.

Thanks for your response.

[diablo416]

just find windows.ini i think it is in your system folder and add a line that says , DEVICEHIGH=ANSI.SYS
thats if ansi.sys is in the root folder otherwise include the path too


you can google ansi sequences , it doesnt work in vista i dont think

color 08 &echo k&pause>nul &color 0F &echo k&pause>nul &color 0D &echo k&Pause>nul

@echo off
set top=0
:top
set /a top=%top%+1
if "%top%"=="1" Color 0F
if "%top%"=="1" Color 08
if "%top%"=="1" Color 0D
if "%top%"=="1" Color 02
if "%top%"=="4" Exit
CLS&ECHO Message.
Goto Top

those are some other ideas

[Jacob]

I'm struggling on how to even set up ansi.sys. to work.
As I don't know anything about it.
I need somebody with good knowledge to please explain it well on everything I have to do.

My OS is windows XP.

And by multiple I mean say on the same screen:
echo hello this is red.
echo hello this is blue.
echo hello this is cyan.
Without having to reload, so that each line has a separate colour, or each word.

[ALAN_BR]

Jacob

Sorry to abandon you after starting you down this road !!!

I last used ansi.sys about 3 years ago, and it was 10 years ago when I last configured Windows 95 to activate ansi.sys.  I forget all the details

If you search on this site for "ansi.sys" there are 6 results.
The link I previously quoted shows that Windows 95/98 uses
device=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys
and says the syntax is
Device=[drive:][path]ANSI.SYS [/x] [/k] [/r]

In my Windows XP Home edition, SP3, I can find c:\windows\system32\ansi.sys,
so I guess it is still supported.
Unfortunately "Device /?" is not a recognised command,
therefore "Device=c:\windows\system32\ansi.sys" will probably not work
( I never actually tried that because if it did do something it would be unpredictable.)

Another link to look at is http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000361.htm
This is specific to Windows ME, but it gives a link for ANSI.COM at
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1556221,00.asp
which says it works on "Platforms: DOS or equivalent".
With luck it might do what you need, and if it is not compatible the worst that can happen is a refresher course on reinstalling Windows !!!

Alternatively, for a safer life, wait for Diablo who probably has a 2 line fix for you

Regards
Alan

[Dias de verano]

device=c:\windows\command\ansi.sys
and says the syntax is
Device=[drive:][path]ANSI.SYS [/x] [/k] [/r]

You don't get ansi support in NT family command prompt under cmd.exe. But it is available under command.com. This may or may not be good news!

"Device= ... " lines are not commands you can type at the prompt, or include in a batch, they are config lines that you put into DOS files such as config.sys.

1. Edit or create a config.nt file in "c:\windows\system32" folder.
2. Add the line: device=c:\windows\system32\ansi.sys

Now when you start the (real) MS-DOS prompt ansi.sys will be loaded.

[Jacob]

Thanks both of you, but Dias I adopted your approach and I think it has worked.
I still need an answer to the second part of my question.

echo hello this is red.
echo hello this is blue.
echo hello this is cyan.
Without having to reload, so that each line has a separate colour, or each word.

Thanks to both of you so far, you are great.

[ALAN_BR]

Hi

I will implement the solution by Dias, but I have other things to do first.

I cannot test this yet, but search for "ESC[Ps;...;Psm" on
http://www.computerhope.com/ansisys.htm
This is followed by a list of arguments to control colours etc.

I think you will get red text on a blue background with
echo ESC[Ps;31,44;Psm hello this is red

NB what is shown as ESC actually represents the Escape character, value 0x1B or decimal 27, which can by created by typing 27 whilst holding down the ALT key.

Regards
Alan

[Jacob]

That does not work, It just echo's.
ESC[Ps;31,44;Psm hello this is red

[ALAN_BR]

Hi

I suspect you typed
"echo ESC[Ps;31,44;Psm hello this is red"

and what is needed is
"echo ←[Ps;31,44;Psm hello this is red"

NB "←" is what appears on my screen when I release the ALT key, after I have held the ALT key down whilst typing the digits "2" then "7".

I get ← with NUMLOCK active and typing 27 on the number pad of my USB keyboard.
The USB keyboard gives me nothing at all if I use the row of numbers under the Function keys.

Instead of ← I get • by using the same row of numbers on the built in keyboard of my laptop.  I guess it is yet another of those weird codepage and Windows things that just are - I don't know why !!!

Regards
Alan

[Jacob]

 ←or • do not work.
Do I need to type this on the command line or in a batch file?
I can also not save ← in a bat file.

[ALAN_BR]

If you have a hex editor, what you need is a character sequence which starts
65 63 58 6f 20 1B 5b 50 73  i.e. characters
e   c   h   o        ←  [   P   s    etc. etc.

where ← is the special character I see when I release ALT key after typing 2 7 with the key down.
That is how I think I remember creating the ESC code using Windows 98.
Today using XP I just cannot get the value 0x1B.   It gives me other strange values instead, and using Notepad in any mode other than ANSI just makes things worse.

Sorry, I will have to think so more

Regards
Alan

[Jacob]

No worries, thanks for helping me some more.
Let me know if you find any solution.

[ALAN_BR]

Hi

Notepad is giving me the same level of aggravation as the servers here !!!

I normally use a free download dual pane replacement for Windows Explorer available from
http://www.zabkat.com/

The package includes Editor2, with which I created this code.
It seems to paste on this forum, but just in case I have also attached it as colour3.txt
( I believe *.cmd files get rejected ).

Code: [Select]

echo s;31,44;Psm hello this is red
Regards
Alan


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