C# Signature:
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
static extern bool SetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(
IntPtr ConsoleOutput,
ref CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX ConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx
);
VB Signature:
Declare Function SetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx Lib "kernel32.dll" (TODO) As TODO
User-Defined Types:
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
public struct CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX
{
public uint cbSize;
public COORD dwSize;
public COORD dwCursorPosition;
public short wAttributes;
public SMALL_RECT srWindow;
public COORD dwMaximumWindowSize;
public ushort wPopupAttributes;
public bool bFullscreenSupported;
internal COLORREF black;
internal COLORREF darkBlue;
internal COLORREF darkGreen;
internal COLORREF darkCyan;
internal COLORREF darkRed;
internal COLORREF darkMagenta;
internal COLORREF darkYellow;
internal COLORREF gray;
internal COLORREF darkGray;
internal COLORREF blue;
internal COLORREF green;
internal COLORREF cyan;
internal COLORREF red;
internal COLORREF magenta;
internal COLORREF yellow;
internal COLORREF white;
}
Alternative Managed API:
Do you know one? Please contribute it!
Notes:
// Untested, added during 1-pass copy & paste of windows console fuctions
Tips & Tricks:
Please add some!
Sample Code:
// Copyright Alex Shvedov
// Modified by MercuryP with color specifications
// Use this code in any way you want
using System;
using System.Diagnostics; // for Debug
using System.Drawing; // for Color (add reference to System.Drawing assembly)
using System.Runtime.InteropServices; // for StructLayout
internal class SetScreenColorsDemo
{
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
internal struct COORD
{
internal short X;
internal short Y;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
internal struct SMALL_RECT
{
internal short Left;
internal short Top;
internal short Right;
internal short Bottom;
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
internal struct COLORREF
{
internal uint ColorDWORD;
internal COLORREF(Color color)
{
ColorDWORD = (uint)color.R + (((uint)color.G) << 8) + (((uint)color.B) << 16);
}
internal COLORREF(uint r, uint g, uint b)
{
ColorDWORD = r + (g << 8) + (b << 16);
}
internal Color GetColor()
{
return Color.FromArgb((int)(0x000000FFU & ColorDWORD),
(int)(0x0000FF00U & ColorDWORD) >> 8, (int)(0x00FF0000U & ColorDWORD) >> 16);
}
internal void SetColor(Color color)
{
ColorDWORD = (uint)color.R + (((uint)color.G) << 8) + (((uint)color.B) << 16);
}
}
[StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)]
internal struct CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX
{
internal int cbSize;
internal COORD dwSize;
internal COORD dwCursorPosition;
internal ushort wAttributes;
internal SMALL_RECT srWindow;
internal COORD dwMaximumWindowSize;
internal ushort wPopupAttributes;
internal bool bFullscreenSupported;
internal COLORREF black;
internal COLORREF darkBlue;
internal COLORREF darkGreen;
internal COLORREF darkCyan;
internal COLORREF darkRed;
internal COLORREF darkMagenta;
internal COLORREF darkYellow;
internal COLORREF gray;
internal COLORREF darkGray;
internal COLORREF blue;
internal COLORREF green;
internal COLORREF cyan;
internal COLORREF red;
internal COLORREF magenta;
internal COLORREF yellow;
internal COLORREF white;
}
const int STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE = -11; // per WinBase.h
internal static readonly IntPtr INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE = new IntPtr(-1); // per WinBase.h
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern IntPtr GetStdHandle(int nStdHandle);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool GetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(IntPtr hConsoleOutput, ref CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX csbe);
[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
private static extern bool SetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(IntPtr hConsoleOutput, ref CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX csbe);
/*** C prototype:
#include <Windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>
//#include <conio.h> // for _getch()
int wmain() {
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFOEX info;
info.cbSize = sizeof(info);
HANDLE hConsole = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
GetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(hConsole, &info);
// info.ColorTable[0] - "Screen Background" color
// info.ColorTable[7] - "Screen Text" color
info.ColorTable[0] = RGB(0, 0, 200);
info.ColorTable[7] = RGB(200, 200, 0);
++info.srWindow.Bottom; // reasons for these is unknown
++info.srWindow.Right;
SetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(hConsole, &info);
puts("Press ENTER to exit...");
char bbb[100];
gets_s(bbb);
return 0;
}
*/
// Set a specific console color to an RGB color
// The default console colors used are gray (foreground) and black (background)
public static int SetColor(ConsoleColor consoleColor, Color targetColor)
{
return SetColor(consoleColor, targetColor.R, targetColor.G, targetColor.B);
}
public static int SetColor(ConsoleColor color, uint r, uint g, uint b)
{
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX csbe = new CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO_EX();
csbe.cbSize = (int)Marshal.SizeOf(csbe); // 96 = 0x60
IntPtr hConsoleOutput = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE); // 7
if (hConsoleOutput == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
{
return Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
}
bool brc = GetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(hConsoleOutput, ref csbe);
if (!brc)
{
return Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
}
switch (color)
{
case ConsoleColor.Black:
csbe.black = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkBlue:
csbe.darkBlue = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkGreen:
csbe.darkGreen = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkCyan:
csbe.darkCyan = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkRed:
csbe.darkRed = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkMagenta:
csbe.darkMagenta = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkYellow:
csbe.darkYellow = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Gray:
csbe.gray = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.DarkGray:
csbe.darkGray = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Blue:
csbe.blue = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Green:
csbe.green = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Cyan:
csbe.cyan = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Red:
csbe.red = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Magenta:
csbe.magenta = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.Yellow:
csbe.yellow = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
case ConsoleColor.White:
csbe.white = new COLORREF(r, g, b);
break;
}
++csbe.srWindow.Bottom;
++csbe.srWindow.Right;
brc = SetConsoleScreenBufferInfoEx(hConsoleOutput, ref csbe);
if (!brc)
{
return Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();
}
return 0;
}
public static int SetScreenColors(Color foregroundColor, Color backgroundColor)
{
int irc;
irc = SetColor(ConsoleColor.Gray, foregroundColor);
if (irc != 0) return irc;
irc = SetColor(ConsoleColor.Black, backgroundColor);
if (irc != 0) return irc;
return 0;
}
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
Color screenTextColor = Color.Red;
Color screenBackgroundColor = Color.Blue;
int irc = SetScreenColors(screenTextColor, screenBackgroundColor);
Debug.Assert(irc == 0, "SetScreenColors failed, Win32Error code = " + irc + " = 0x" + irc.ToString("x"));
Debug.WriteLine("LargestWindowHeight=" + Console.LargestWindowHeight + " LargestWindowWidth=" + Console.LargestWindowWidth);
Debug.WriteLine("BufferHeight=" + Console.BufferHeight + " WindowHeight=" + Console.WindowHeight + " BufferWidth=" + Console.BufferWidth + " WindowWidth=" + Console.WindowWidth);
//// these are relative to the buffer, not the screen:
//Debug.WriteLine("WindowTop=" + Console.WindowTop + " WindowLeft=" + Console.WindowLeft);
Debug.WriteLine("ForegroundColor=" + Console.ForegroundColor + " BackgroundColor=" + Console.BackgroundColor);
Console.WriteLine("Some text in a console window");
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Cyan;
Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Yellow;
Debug.WriteLine("ForegroundColor=" + Console.ForegroundColor + " BackgroundColor=" + Console.BackgroundColor);
Console.Write("Press ENTER to exit...");
Console.ReadLine();
// Note: If you use SetScreenColors, the RGB values of gray and black are changed permanently for the console window.
// Using i.e. Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Gray afterwards will switch the color to whatever you changed gray to
// It's best to use SetColor for the purpose of choosing the 16 colors you want the console to be able to display, then use
// Console.BackgroundColor and Console.ForegrondColor to choose among them.
}
}
