ansi.js

ansi.js

ansi escape sequences for terminal cursor positioning and coloring.

ansi.js provides many easy-to-use methods for writing ANSI escape codes to Stream instances. ANSI escape codes are used to do fancy things in a terminal window, such as, positioning the cursor, coloring the text, erasing characters, lines or even the entire window, or hide and show the cursor, and many others.

Install

First make sure you have installed the latest version of node.js (You may need to restart your computer after this step).

Install with npm:

$ npm install ansi.js --save

Usage

var ansi   = require('ansi.js');
var cursor = ansi(process.stdout);

// You can chain your calls forever:
cursor
  .red()                 // set font color to red
  .bg.grey()             // set background color to grey
  .write('Hello World!') // write 'Hello World!' to stdout
  .bg.reset().end()      // reset the bgcolor before writing the trailing \n,
                         // `end()` for chain calling.
  .write('\n');          // add a final \n to wrap things up avoiding Terminal glitches

// Rendering modes are persistent:
cursor
  .hex('#660000')
  .bold()
  .underline();

// You can use the regular logging functions, text will be green:
console.log('This is blood red, bold text.');

// To reset just the foreground color:
cursor.fg.reset();

console.log('This will still be bold.');

// move the cursor to an absolute location (x,y)
// note: 1-indexed, not 0-indexed:
cursor
  .moveTo(10, 5)
  .write('Five down, ten over.');

// to clear the current line:
cursor
  .moveToColumn(0)
  .eraseLine()
  .write('Starting again');

// to go to a different column on the current line:
cursor
  .moveToColumn(5)
  .write('column five');

// clean up
cursor.reset();

Constructor

var ansi   = require('ansi.js');
var cursor = ansi(stream, options);

stream

Any Stream instance, for terminal it would be process.stdout.

options

enabled

When enabled is false then all the methods are no-ops except for write(). Default true.

buffering

When buffering is true, then write() calls are buffered in memory until flush() is invoked.

Default false.

lineTrack

Keep track of the number of newline that get encountered.

Default false.

Properties

stream

The Stream instance.

enabled

Passed by options, when enabled is false then all the methods are no-ops except for write().

buffering

Passed by options, when buffering is true, then write() calls are buffered in memory until flush() is invoked.

newline

The number of new line that get encountered when options.lineTrack is true.

fg/foreground

Instance of Colour, provides many useful methods for setting foreground color.

Set by color names: cursor.fg.white()

Valid color name methods:

• black()
• red()
• green()
• yellow()
• blue()
• magenta()
• cyan()
• white()
• grey()
• brightBlack()
• brightRed()
• brightGreen()
• brightYellow()
• brightBlue()
• brightMagenta()
• brightCyan()
• brightWhite()

Set by rgb(r, g, b)

Arguments are the values of color channels, should be 0-255.

Set by hex(color)

color is CSS color string, such as: "#FF0000"

PS: All the above methods of bg was attached on cursor with the same method name. And these methods are chainable:

cursor
  .blue()
  .write('This is blue.')
  .green()
  .write('this is green.');

// with the `fg` property
cursor
  .fg.blue().end()
  .write('This is blue.')
  .fg.green().end()
  .write('this is green.');

end()

End the methods calling of bg, return Cursor instance for chain calling.

reset()

Reset the current foreground color to the default setting.

bg/background

Instance of Colour, provides many useful methods for setting background color. This property has all the same methods of fg, but these methods are not be attached on Curosr instance, you can use it like this:

cursor
  .bg.blue().end()
  .write('This background is blue.')
  .bg.green().end()
  .write('this background is green.');

font

Instance of Font, for setting font styles with these methods:

• bold()
• italic()
• underline()
• inverse()
• resetBold()
• resetItalic()
• resetUnderline()
• resetInverse()
• end()

And these methods are attached on Curosr instance:

cursor
  .font.bold().italic().end()
  .write('This will be bold and italic.')
  .resetItalic()
  .underline()
  .write('This will be bold and underline.');

display

Instance of Display, setting the display mode with the these methods:

• dim()
• blink()
• hidden()
• bright()
• reverse()
• underscore()
• reset()

newlines

Keep track of the number of newline that get encountered.

Methods

enable() & disable()

Update the cursor.enabled, When cursor.enabled is false then all the methods are no-ops except for write().

write(data)

Helper method that calls write() on the underlying Stream.

buffer()

Set cursor.buffering truly, when cursor.buffering is true, then write() calls are buffered in memory until flush() is invoked.

flush()

Write out the in-memory buffer, then set cursor.buffering falsely.

move(x, y)

Move the cursor position by the relative coordinates x, y.

moveTo(x, y)

Set the cursor position to the absolute coordinates x, y.

moveUp(count)

Move the cursor up by count (default 1) rows.

moveDown(count)

Move the cursor down by count (default 1) rows.

backward(count)

Move the cursor backward by count (default 1) columns.

forward(count)

Move the cursor forward by count (default 1) columns.

nextLine(n)

Move cursor to beginning of the line n (default 1) lines down.

prevLine(n)

Move cursor to beginning of the line n (default 1) lines up.

moveToColumn(n)

Moves the cursor to column n (default 1).

scrollUp(n)

Scroll whole page up by n (default 1) lines. New lines are added at the bottom.

scrollDown()

Scroll whole page down by n (default 1) lines. New lines are added at the top.

erase(type)

Clear part of the screen or line defined by the string type.

• end - clear from the cursor to the end of the line
• start - clear from the cursor to the start of the line
• line - clear the current line
• down - clear everything below the current line
• up - clear everything above the current line
• screen - clear the entire screen

eraseRight()

Clear from cursor to the end of the line. Cursor position does not change.

eraseLeft()

Clear from cursor to the start of the line. Cursor position does not change.

eraseLine()

Clear the current line. Cursor position does not change.

eraseUp()

Clear from cursor to beginning of the screen.

eraseDown()

Clear from cursor to end of screen.

eraseScreen()

Clear entire screen. And moves cursor to upper left on DOS

delete(mode, n)

Delete 'line' or 'char's. delete differs from erase because it does not write over the deleted characters with whitesapce, but instead removes the deleted space.

mode can be 'line' or 'char'. n is the number of items to be deleted. n must be a positive integer.

The cursor position is not updated.

deleteLine(n)

deleteChar(n)

insert(mode, n)

Insert space into the terminal. insert is the opposite ofdelete, and the arguments are the same.

beep()

Output a beeping sound.

show() & hide()

Show/Hide cursor.

save(withAttributes) & restore(withAttributes)

Save/Restore the cursor position and optionally the attribute state.

reset()

Reset all terminal settings to default.

Attached methods of foreground property

These methods are used for setting the foreground color.

• black()
• red()
• green()
• yellow()
• blue()
• magenta()
• cyan()
• white()
• grey()
• brightBlack()
• brightRed()
• brightGreen()
• brightYellow()
• brightBlue()
• brightMagenta()
• brightCyan()
• brightWhite()
• rgb(r, g, b)
• hex(color)

Attached methods of font property

These methods are used for setting the font style.

• bold()
• italic()
• underline()
• inverse()
• resetBold()
• resetItalic()
• resetUnderline()
• resetInverse()

Attached methods of display property

These methods are used for setting the display mode.

• dim()
• blink()
• hidden()
• bright()
• reverse()
• underscore()

License

MIT © bubkoo