macroColor

Short header for colored output in c and c++

How it works

Small header which include macro. It use :

• #include <windows.h> for SetConsoleTextAttribute on Windows.
• #include <iostream> for std::cout on Linux (c++).
• #include <stdio.h> for printf() on Linux (c).

Features

• 7 colors possibles : blu, green, cyan, red, magenta, yellow, white
• It work with both C and C++ (with the same header)
• Multi-line color (see "How to use" below or an exemple)
• Nested color
• It work with both std::cout and printf
• Tested and working : Windows Seven mingw, Linux Mint, Windows Seven Msys2 with both mingw32 and 64 (if you use the MSYS_COMP define)
• You can easily remove the color in compilation with #define REMOVE_COLOR

How to use

Simply drop the header file "macroColor" in your directory, then insert #include "macroColor.h" in your .cpp file.

How to use the basic macro :

GREEN
(
	std::cout << "show up as green" ; 
);

Will show up in green.

The 7 color are : GREEN BLU CYAN RED MAGENTA YELLOW WHITE

To use nested color :

GREEN
(
	std::cout << "1 - show up as green\n" ;
	RED
	(
		std::cout << "2 - show up as red\n" ;	
	);
	std::cout << "3 - show up as green\n" ;
);

You can also use directly the color macro with C_GREEN C_BLU etc. however it won't revert back to white automatically.

C_YELLOW
std::cout << "Yellow without white afterward\n" ; 
int abc = 0 ; 
std::cout << abc << "\n" ; 
std::cout << "Still yellow\n" ; 
C_WHITE

The result of the exemple given in exemple/ should show something like this :

Issues

Because the macro uses a do { } while(0) ;, it mean any variable, function, etc. declared in the macro will create an error if you try to use it outside of its scope.

Forcing AINSI color (for msys2 on windows)

Simply put a #define MSYS_COMP right before the #include "macroColor.h" in your .cpp file. Like so :

#define MSYS_COMP
#include "macroColor.h"

If you wish to get your color back, simply delete the #define MSYS_COMP or comment it out with //

Future

What I plan to do in order

• Maybe background
• Implementing a macro that resolve the issue mentionned above

If by miracle someone use this, please don't hesitate to send me your opinion on macroColor !