Colored text in Python using ANSI Escape Sequences

Check it out – pretty.py is a miniature library that provides a Python print and stdout wrapper that makes colored terminal text easier to use (eg. without having to mess around with ANSI escape sequences). This code is public domain – there is no license except that you must leave the header intact.

Just import the module and make use of the printc(), writec(), or switchColor() functions in your own programs. A test sequence is included and can be invoked if you execute the script directly. You can download it from here.

#!/usr/bin/env python
#
# pretty - A miniature library that provides a Python print and stdout
# wrapper that makes colored terminal text easier to use (eg. without
# having to mess around with ANSI escape sequences). This code is public
# domain - there is no license.
#

import sys

codeCodes = {
	'black':	'0;30',		'bright gray':	'0;37',
	'blue':		'0;34',		'white':		'1;37',
	'green':	'0;32',		'bright blue':	'1;34',
	'cyan':		'0;36',		'bright green':	'1;32',
	'red':		'0;31',		'bright cyan':	'1;36',
	'purple':	'0;35',		'bright red':	'1;31',
	'yellow':	'0;33',		'bright purple':'1;35',
	'dark gray':'1;30',		'bright yellow':'1;33',
	'normal':	'0'
}

def printc(text, color):
	"""Print in color."""
	print "33["+codeCodes[color]+"m"+text+"33[0m"

def writec(text, color):
	"""Write to stdout in color."""
	sys.stdout.write("33["+codeCodes[color]+"m"+text+"33[0m")

def switchColor(color):
	"""Switch console color."""
	sys.stdout.write("33["+codeCodes[color]+"m")

if __name__ == '__main__':
	print "Welcome to the test routine!"
	print "I will now try to print a line of text in each color."
	for color in codeCodes.keys():
		writec("Hello, world!", color)
		print "\t", color