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stackbiz
Asked: 2024-07-21 18:50:50 +0800 CST

How to set default foreground color in Bash shell?

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I found the set default background color code from @user313992's answer:

On xterm-like terminal emulators:

This sets the background to a light green without having to clear the screen:

printf %b '\e]11;#ccffcc\a'

It works. But how to set the default foreground color in Bash shell in a similar manner? Something like:

printf %b '???(default_foreground_color)???'

And, where to find the related information about the \e]11; code for the background color and the respective ??? code for the foreground color?

command-line

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    See https://invisible-island.net/xterm/ctlseqs/ctlseqs.pdf (page 34):

    Ps = 1 0 ® Change VT100 text foreground color to Pt.
    Ps = 1 1 ® Change VT100 text background color to Pt.

    You already used 11 (\e]11;) to change the background, now use 10 (\e]10;) to change the foreground, e.g.:

    printf '\e]10;#ff0000\a'

    will set the foreground to red, while:

    printf '\e]11;#ff0000\a\e]10;#0000ff\a'

    will set the background to red and foreground to blue.

    As @ubfan1 mentioned in a comment, if you prefer you can use color names instead of #rrggbb color codes in the printf, e.g.

    printf '\e]11;red\a\e]10;blue\a'
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