How to Add ANSI Color to User Response

[Pierre Fortin]

On Thu, 11 Apr 2024 04:50:49 +1000 WordWeaver Evangelist via Python-list
wrote:

>Hello List,
>
>I have a simple question. I use the following textPrompt in some of my Jython modules:
> '\nYour choice is? (A B C D E): ', maxChars=1, autoAccept=False, forceUppercase=True)
>Is there a way to add an ANSI color code to the end where the conditions are, so that the color of the user’s input is of a color of my choosing, instead of just white?
>Thank you very much in advance.
>Kind regards,
>Bill Kochman

Over the years, I've tried different mechanisms for applying colors until
I got my hands on f-stings; then I created a tiny module with all the
colors (cR, cG, etc) which made my life so much simpler (attached). The
module includes background colors (bX); but I very rarely use those.

Then, I just use the module like this:

# place the module in a directory where your script is
# e.g., $ mkdir mymods (rename as desired) 
from mymods.colors import *  
# or just include the contents inline

# this simply switches from one color to the next
print( f"{cR}red, {cB}blue, {cG}green {cO}are colors." )

# color just the response
ans = input( f"Answer?: {cG}" ) # turn off color on next line
print( f"{cO}You entered: {cY}{ans}{cO}" )
#        ^^^^ 

# to turn off each color (white commas), change the above to:
print( f"{cR}red{cO}, {cB}blue{cO}, {cG}green {cO}are colors." )

On Windows, you'll need to add this *before* using the colors:
import os
if os.name == 'nt': # Only if we are running on Windows
    from ctypes import windll
    w = windll.kernel32
    # enable ANSI VT100 colors on Windows.
    w.SetConsoleMode(w.GetStdHandle(-11), 7)

HTH,
Pierre