Console color

In a console program, colors can be used. A warning message can be printed on a red background. We set properties on Console in C#.

On a console, text and background colors can be changed—this sometimes makes programs easier to use. Errors and alerts are more noticeable.

First example

Console has many static methods and properties on it. These are static properties and methods, so they can be directly accessed.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Test colors with blue background, white foreground.
        Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Blue;
        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
        Console.WriteLine("White on blue.");
        Console.WriteLine("Another line.");
        Console.ResetColor();
    }
}
White on blue.
Another line.

Full lines

Writing an entire row of color in the Console may be helpful. It may make a good separator (like a line). Here we refactor the Console code into a separate method.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Write one green line.
        WriteFullLine("This line is green.");
        Console.WriteLine();
        // ... Write another green line.
        WriteFullLine("This line is also green.");
        Console.WriteLine();
    }

    static void WriteFullLine(string value)
    {
        // Write an entire line to the console with the string.
        Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Green;
        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.DarkGreen;
        Console.WriteLine(value.PadRight(Console.WindowWidth - 1));
        // Reset the color.
        Console.ResetColor();
    }
}
This line is green.

This line is also green.

All color enums

Here we see a program that displays all the backgrounds and foregrounds possible with the Console. It would be interesting to nest the loops and show all combinations.

using System;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Demonstrate all colors and backgrounds.
        Type type = typeof(ConsoleColor);
        Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.White;
        foreach (var name in Enum.GetNames(type))
        {
            Console.BackgroundColor = (ConsoleColor)Enum.Parse(type, name);
            Console.WriteLine(name);
        }
        Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Black;
        foreach (var name in Enum.GetNames(type))
        {
            Console.ForegroundColor = (ConsoleColor)Enum.Parse(type, name);
            Console.WriteLine(name);
        }
    }
}
Black
DarkBlue
DarkGreen
DarkCyan
DarkRed
DarkMagenta
DarkYellow
Gray
DarkGray
Blue
Green
Cyan
Red
Magenta
Yellow
White
Black
DarkBlue
DarkGreen
DarkCyan
DarkRed
DarkMagenta
DarkYellow
Gray
DarkGray
Blue
Green
Cyan
Red
Magenta
Yellow
White

Padding

Colors are not always the best formatting option. Try focusing on the structure of your output, with padding. We can make columns of text.

Colors, even on consoles, are beautiful. We used Console colors, including BackgroundColor and ForegroundColor. ResetColor and Console.WindowWidth are helpful.