How to Get/Read Console palette setting (from C)?

[marko]

Hi, I wonder if it's possible (how) to easily detect (in C code), if the palette in Console is set to "System Pens" or ANSI colors?

In other words, I want to Get/Read the Console palette setting, from my C code/program? If it's "System Pens" or "Full ANSI colors" or other...

If it's possible, thanks


EDIT:
Subject changed from "If palette in Console is System Pens or ANSI colors?" to "How to Get/Read Console palette setting (from C)?"

[tonyw]

You can set the palette yourself at any time, and you are expected to remember what you set it to. The default setting is System Pens (zero), but that will be over-written by the console prefs setting when the window is opened.

To set the palette, you can use the IO request CD_SETATTRS (see the docs for CD_SETATTRS/CDT_SELECTPALETTE).
You can also use the escape sequence "CSI <n>s", where "<n>" is the number of the palette. See the docs for CMD_WRITE, look for "aSCP". The angle brackets around the "n" are there only to show that it is an argument. Example:

9B 31 73 // set the palette to "1" (ANSI colours)

[marko]

@tonyw

Okej.. but I'm looking for a way of doing the other way around...

I want to get (from my C code), if a user have set the Console palette to "System Pens" or "Full ANSI colors".

Being able to read/get what kind of palette the user have chosen in the Console, allows my code the behave correctly...

Now my code/program, needs the user to tell my code/program what kind of palette the user is using... so my code/program can behave correctly...

[marko]

For example:

I have this program called ShowFiles (sf), I want to output file links in green color to the console, so I use pen 2 to do so if the user uses ANSI colors.
But if the user uses System Pens, it outputs links in white color (instead of green), which is wrong. Instead my code should detect that a non-ANSI palette is being used and output the link in default color (pen 1 (black) in this case).

So now I need the user telling my code/program what kind of palette the person is using, before the program outputs correctly to the Console. Instead I want my code/program being able to get/read what kind of palette the user have chosen in the Console Preferences (so the program doesn't need to bother the user about it).

Is it possible?

[tonyw]

As it stands, you can read the Console Prefs settings at any time, it will return the "struct ConsolePrefs", which includes the current palette and colour settings. To do that, you have to:

Code: Select all

#include <prefs/console.h>
struct ConsolePrefs conPrefs;
struct IORequest request;
Tag tagList[4];

// open console device first, to get io_Device and io_Unit. Copy from earlier request if you like.
request.io_Length = sizeof (tagList);
request.io_Command = CD_GETATTRS;
request.io_Data = tagList;

// enter Tags
tagList[0] = CDT_GETPREFS;
tagList[1] = (uint32)&conPrefs;
tagList[2] = TAG_END;

// send the request
error = IExec->DoIO (request);
if ((error != 0) || (request.io_Error != 0))
{
// error handling
}
palette = conPrefs.Palette;
FGColour = conPrefs.FGColor;
BGColour = conPrefs.BGColor;
(etc)

That should get you started. It's just off the top of my head, I haven't checked it.

[marko]

@tonyw

Thank you for the example code Tony, I will give it a go