pretty-console

A fluent, zero-cost API for styling terminal text with colors and attributes. Write beautifully formatted console output with an intuitive, chainable interface.

Features

• 🎨 Rich Color Support: 16 named colors, 256 colors, and true color RGB
• ⚡ Zero-Cost Abstractions: Builder pattern compiles to efficient code
• 🔧 Fluent API: Chainable methods for intuitive styling
• 📝 Text Attributes: Bold, italic, underline, blink, reverse, and more
• 🌍 Cross-Platform: ANSI escape codes with Windows 10+ support
• 🎯 Flexible Output: Print immediately or get formatted strings
• 🔄 Reusable Styles: Create style templates and reuse them
• 🚫 No-Color Support: Optional feature to disable all coloring

Quick Start

Add this to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
pretty_console = "0.1.0"

Basic usage:

use pretty_console::Console;

fn main() {
    Console::new("Hello, world!").red().bold().println();
    Console::new("This is a warning").yellow().underline().println();
    Console::new("Success!").green().on_black().println();
}

Examples

Basic Styling

use pretty_console::Console;

// Simple color and attribute combinations
Console::new("Error message").red().bold().println();
Console::new("Warning message").yellow().italic().println();
Console::new("Info message").blue().underline().println();

// Background colors
Console::new("Inverted").white().on_red().println();

RGB Colors

Console::new("Custom color!").fg_rgb(255, 0, 128).println();
Console::new("Gradient").bg_rgb(128, 255, 0).println();

Multiple Attributes

Console::new("Important notice!")
    .bright_red()
    .on_bright_yellow()
    .bold()
    .italic()
    .underline()
    .blink()
    .println();

Reusable Styles

use pretty_console::Console;

// Create a style template
let error_style = Console::new("").red().bold();
let warning_style = Console::new("").yellow().italic();
let success_style = Console::new("").green().bold();

// Reuse with different text
error_style.with_text("Error: File not found").println();
warning_style.with_text("Warning: Deprecated API").println();
success_style.with_text("Success: Operation completed").println();

Using with Format Strings

use pretty_console::Console;

let username = "Alice";
let status = Console::new("online").green().bold();

println!("User {} is {}", username, status);
// Output: User Alice is online (with "online" in green and bold)

Advanced Style Management

use pretty_console::{Console, Style, Color};

// Create predefined styles
let heading_style = Style::new()
    .fg(Color::BRIGHT_BLUE)
    .bold()
    .underline();

let note_style = Style::new()
    .fg(Color::BRIGHT_BLACK)
    .italic();

// Use the styles
Console::new_with_style("Chapter 1: Introduction", heading_style).println();
Console::new_with_style("Note: This is important", note_style).println();

API Reference

Color Constants

// Basic colors
Color::BLACK, Color::RED, Color::GREEN, Color::YELLOW
Color::BLUE, Color::MAGENTA, Color::CYAN, Color::WHITE

// Bright colors
Color::BRIGHT_BLACK, Color::BRIGHT_RED, Color::BRIGHT_GREEN
Color::BRIGHT_YELLOW, Color::BRIGHT_BLUE, Color::BRIGHT_MAGENTA
Color::BRIGHT_CYAN, Color::BRIGHT_WHITE

Console Methods

Color Setters

• fg(color), bg(color) - Set foreground/background color
• fg_rgb(r, g, b), bg_rgb(r, g, b) - Set RGB colors
• red(), green(), blue(), etc. - Foreground color shortcuts
• on_red(), on_green(), on_blue(), etc. - Background color shortcuts

Attribute Setters

• bold(), italic(), underline(), blink()
• dim(), reverse(), hidden(), strikethrough()

Output Methods

• print() - Print without newline
• println() - Print with newline
• write_to(writer) - Write to any std::io::Write
• to_string() - Get formatted string

No-Color Support

For environments where terminal colors aren't supported or desired:

[dependencies]
pretty_console = { version = "0.1.0", features = ["no-color"] }

With the no-color feature, all ANSI escape codes are omitted, and text is printed as-is.

Performance

The builder pattern uses zero-cost abstractions - all styling is computed at compile time where possible. The ANSI code generation is optimized and only occurs when actually printing.

Platform Support

• Unix-like systems: Full support via ANSI escape codes
• Windows 10+: Full support via virtual terminal sequences
• Older Windows: Limited support (requires enabling virtual terminal)

For best Windows compatibility, ensure your terminal supports ANSI escape codes or use Windows 10+.

Alternatives Comparison

License

• MIT license (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)

Contribution

Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.

Happy styling! 🎨