C++ std::basic_ostream manipulators for adding ANSI color to terminal- and console-based applications.

color.hpp

// -*- coding:utf-8; mode:c++; mode:auto-fill; fill-column:80; -*-

/// @file      color.hpp
/// @brief     Output stream manipulators to add ANSI console colors.
/// @author    J. Arrieta <[email protected]>
/// @date      March 14, 2017
/// @copyright (c) 2017 Nabla Zero Labs
///
/// This code is released under The MIT License
///
/// Copyright 2017 Nabla Zero Labs
///
/// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
/// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to
/// deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the
/// rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
/// sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
/// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
///
/// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
/// all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
///
/// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
/// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
/// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
/// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
/// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
/// FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
/// IN THE SOFTWARE.

#pragma once

#include <ostream>

namespace color {

#define MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR(name, code)                               \
  template < typename CharT, typename Traits = std::char_traits<CharT> > \
  inline std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits >&                            \
  name(std::basic_ostream< CharT, Traits >& os)                          \
  { return os << code; }

// These color definitions are based on the color scheme used by Git (the
// distributed version control system) as declared in the file
// `git/color.h`. You can add more manipulators as desired.

MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( normal       , ""           )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( reset        , "\033[m"     )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold         , "\033[1m"    )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( red          , "\033[31m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( green        , "\033[32m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( yellow       , "\033[33m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( blue         , "\033[34m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( magenta      , "\033[35m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( cyan         , "\033[36m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_red     , "\033[1;31m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_green   , "\033[1;32m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_yellow  , "\033[1;33m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_blue    , "\033[1;34m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_magenta , "\033[1;35m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bold_cyan    , "\033[1;36m" )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_red       , "\033[41m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_green     , "\033[42m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_yellow    , "\033[43m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_blue      , "\033[44m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_magenta   , "\033[45m"   )
MAKE_COLOR_MANIPULATOR( bg_cyan      , "\033[46m"   )

} // namespace color

example-color.cpp

// -*- coding:utf-8; mode:c++; mode:auto-fill; fill-column:80; -*-

/// @file      example-color.cpp
/// @brief     Example program using ANSI color ostream manipulators.
/// @author    J. Arrieta <[email protected]>
/// @date      March 14, 2017
/// @copyright (c) 2017 Nabla Zero Labs
///
/// This code is released under The MIT License
///
/// Copyright 2017 Nabla Zero Labs
///
/// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
/// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to
/// deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the
/// rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
/// sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
/// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
///
/// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
/// all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
///
/// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
/// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
/// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
/// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
/// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
/// FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
/// IN THE SOFTWARE.

// C++ Standard Library
#include <iostream>

// Color Library
#include "color.hpp"

int
main()
{
  std::cout << color::red          << "this is red\n"
            << color::green        << "this is green\n"
            << color::yellow       << "this is yellow\n"
            << color::blue         << "this is blue\n"
            << color::magenta      << "this is magenta\n"
            << color::cyan         << "this is cyan\n"
            << color::bold_red     << "this is bold_red\n"
            << color::bold_green   << "this is bold_green\n"
            << color::bold_yellow  << "this is bold_yellow\n"
            << color::bold_blue    << "this is bold_blue\n"
            << color::bold_magenta << "this is bold_magenta\n"
            << color::bold_cyan    << "this is bold_cyan\n"
            << color::reset
            << color::bg_red       << "this is bg_red"     << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::bg_green     << "this is bg_green"   << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::bg_yellow    << "this is bg_yellow"  << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::bg_blue      << "this is bg_blue"    << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::bg_magenta   << "this is bg_magenta" << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::bg_cyan      << "this is bg_cyan"    << color::reset << "\n"
            << color::reset;
}

A screenshot of the example code.