PHP CLI Colors – PHP Class Command Line Colors (bash)

Updated by on Oct 15, 2010 in Featured, Linux, PHP, Programming | 23 comments

PHP Command Line Interface (CLI) has not built-in coloring for script output, like example Perl language has (perldoc.perl.org/Term/ANSIColor.html). So I decided to make own class for adding colors on PHP CLI output. This class works only Bash shells. This class is easy to use. Just create new instance of class and call getColoredString function with string and foreground color and/or background color.

PHP Class for Coloring PHP Command Line (CLI) Scripts Output

<?php
 
	class Colors {
		private $foreground_colors = array();
		private $background_colors = array();
 
		public function __construct() {
			// Set up shell colors
			$this->foreground_colors['black'] = '0;30';
			$this->foreground_colors['dark_gray'] = '1;30';
			$this->foreground_colors['blue'] = '0;34';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_blue'] = '1;34';
			$this->foreground_colors['green'] = '0;32';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_green'] = '1;32';
			$this->foreground_colors['cyan'] = '0;36';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_cyan'] = '1;36';
			$this->foreground_colors['red'] = '0;31';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_red'] = '1;31';
			$this->foreground_colors['purple'] = '0;35';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_purple'] = '1;35';
			$this->foreground_colors['brown'] = '0;33';
			$this->foreground_colors['yellow'] = '1;33';
			$this->foreground_colors['light_gray'] = '0;37';
			$this->foreground_colors['white'] = '1;37';
 
			$this->background_colors['black'] = '40';
			$this->background_colors['red'] = '41';
			$this->background_colors['green'] = '42';
			$this->background_colors['yellow'] = '43';
			$this->background_colors['blue'] = '44';
			$this->background_colors['magenta'] = '45';
			$this->background_colors['cyan'] = '46';
			$this->background_colors['light_gray'] = '47';
		}
 
		// Returns colored string
		public function getColoredString($string, $foreground_color = null, $background_color = null) {
			$colored_string = "";
 
			// Check if given foreground color found
			if (isset($this->foreground_colors[$foreground_color])) {
				$colored_string .= "\033[" . $this->foreground_colors[$foreground_color] . "m";
			}
			// Check if given background color found
			if (isset($this->background_colors[$background_color])) {
				$colored_string .= "\033[" . $this->background_colors[$background_color] . "m";
			}
 
			// Add string and end coloring
			$colored_string .=  $string . "\033[0m";
 
			return $colored_string;
		}
 
		// Returns all foreground color names
		public function getForegroundColors() {
			return array_keys($this->foreground_colors);
		}
 
		// Returns all background color names
		public function getBackgroundColors() {
			return array_keys($this->background_colors);
		}
	}
 
?>

Colors class basic usage examples

<?php
 
	// Create new Colors class
	$colors = new Colors();
 
	// Test some basic printing with Colors class
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is purple string on yellow background.", "purple", "yellow") . "\n";
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is blue string on light gray background.", "blue", "light_gray") . "\n";
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is red string on black background.", "red", "black") . "\n";
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is cyan string on green background.", "cyan", "green") . "\n";
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is cyan string on default background.", "cyan") . "\n";
	echo $colors->getColoredString("Testing Colors class, this is default string on cyan background.", null, "cyan") . "\n";
 
?>

Output:

All Foreground and background colors printed

<?php
 
		// Create new Colors class
		$colors = new Colors();
 
		// Get Foreground Colors
		$fgs = $colors->getForegroundColors();
		// Get Background Colors
		$bgs = $colors->getBackgroundColors();
 
		// Loop through all foreground and background colors
		$count = count($fgs);
		for ($i = 0; $i < $count; $i++) {
			echo $colors->getColoredString("Test Foreground colors", $fgs[$i]) . "\t";
			if (isset($bgs[$i])) {
				echo $colors->getColoredString("Test Background colors", null, $bgs[$i]);
			}
			echo "\n";
		}
		echo "\n";
 
		// Loop through all foreground and background colors
		foreach ($fgs as $fg) {
			foreach ($bgs as $bg) {
				echo $colors->getColoredString("Test Colors", $fg, $bg) . "\t";
			}
			echo "\n";
		}
 
?>

Output:

Follow If Not True Then False Updates!

23 Comments

  1. Scriptster / July 21, 2010

    Thank you for the tip! I admit it never occurred to me to color command line output but you got me thinking now! Many times you have to stare at multi-line outputs of some long running scripts and it’s oh so easy to miss an important line with some sort of an error or warning message in it. It would stand out so much more if it’s, say, red or black on yellow background. I think I’m going to give it a try now.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  2. David Ayvazyan / October 27, 2010

    BEST JOB !!!! Great thanks !!!!

    Reply
  3. Ben Harris / June 7, 2011

    Thanks for this. Like @Scriptster, I’m going to use it for important debug messages/output. I’ve re-written it a bit to shorten the syntax, so to make the text red for example, I use

    $c = new Colors();
    $c->red(“I’m red”);
    $c->green(“I’m green”);

    Cheers,

    Ben

    Reply
  4. Jesse Donat / October 26, 2011

    I found your version a little over complicated so I simplified it and saved it as a Github Gist here – https://gist.github.com/1315354

    There was no real need to require an instance as there are no local members being modified – so its purposely suited to just being accessed from the static state.

    Reply
    • JR / October 26, 2011

      Hi Jesse,

      I checked your static function and idea is nice, but it lacks a few things.

      1. It’s working only with PHP >= 5.3.0
      2. It throws a PHP Notice if background color is not set
      3. You have to call some totally random static method if you don’t want any foreground color

      Static and much more compatible with earlier PHP versions example could be following:

      <?php
 
     	class ColorCLI {
                static $foreground_colors = array(
                        'black'        => '0;30', 'dark_gray'    => '1;30',
                        'blue'         => '0;34', 'light_blue'   => '1;34',
                        'green'        => '0;32', 'light_green'  => '1;32',
                        'cyan'         => '0;36', 'light_cyan'   => '1;36',
                        'red'          => '0;31', 'light_red'    => '1;31',
                        'purple'       => '0;35', 'light_purple' => '1;35',
                        'brown'        => '0;33', 'yellow'	 => '1;33',
                        'light_gray'   => '0;37', 'white'        => '1;37',
                );
 
                static $background_colors = array(
                        'black'        => '40', 'red'          => '41',
                        'green'        => '42', 'yellow'       => '43',
                        'blue'         => '44', 'magenta'      => '45',
                        'cyan'         => '46', 'light_gray'   => '47',
                );
 
                // Returns colored string
                public static function getColoredString($string, $foreground_color = null, $background_color = null) {
                        $colored_string = "";
 
                        // Check if given foreground color found
                        if ( isset(self::$foreground_colors[$foreground_color]) ) {
                                $colored_string .= "\033[" . self::$foreground_colors[$foreground_color] . "m";
                        }
                        // Check if given background color found
                        if ( isset(self::$background_colors[$background_color]) ) {
                                $colored_string .= "\033[" . self::$background_colors[$background_color] . "m";
                        }
 
                        // Add string and end coloring
                        $colored_string .=  $string . "\033[0m";
 
                        return $colored_string;
                }
 
                // Returns all foreground color names
                public static function getForegroundColors() {
                        return array_keys(self::$foreground_colors);
                }
 
                // Returns all background color names
                public static function getBackgroundColors() {
                        return array_keys(self::$background_colors);
                }
        }

      Example usage:

      echo ColorCLI::getColoredString('Test');
echo ColorCLI::getColoredString('Test', 'blue');
echo ColorCLI::getColoredString('Test', null, 'blue');
 
print_r(ColorCLI::getForegroundColors());
print_r(ColorCLI::getBackgroundColors());
      Reply
      • Jesse Donat / May 17, 2012

        I never saw your reply and accidentally stumbled on this googling what else was out there just now :-)

        If you recheck the gist here – https://gist.github.com/1315354
        I’ve since fixed many of the complaints, added blink, underline, normal and some other things. It still uses __callStatic, but seriously, 5.4 is out, there’s no excuse to still be on 5.2. The bell function doesn’t belong honestly, but I’m working on a more generic general terminal control class, which I’ve used to implement for instance progress bars and other cool stuff, its not done yet though so I haven’t published it yet as some of the code is admittedly wonky.

        Reply
  5. Olivier Pons / August 4, 2012

    As for me (Ubuntu 10.04), all “light_xx” options are in bold (= the opposite of what the name suggests).

    I’m pretty sure this is the default Ubuntu 10.04 shell.

    Am I the only one?

    Reply
    • JR / August 5, 2012

      Hi Olivier,

      Could you take screenshot and post sample image?

      Reply
  6. Olivier Pons / August 5, 2012

    Hi,

    Here’s my screenshot:

    And here’s the sample code I’ve used:


    require_once 'includes/objet/cli_colors.php';
    $cli = new CliColors();
    $fg = array(
    'bold',
    'dim',
    'black',
    'dark_gray',
    'blue',
    'light_blue',
    'green',
    'light_green',
    'cyan',
    'light_cyan',
    'red',
    'light_red',
    'purple',
    'light_purple',
    'brown',
    'yellow',
    'light_gray',
    'white',
    'normal'
    );

    $bg = array(
    'black',
    'red',
    'green',
    'yellow',
    'blue',
    'magenta',
    'cyan',
    'light_gray'
    );
    reset($bg);
    list(,$bg_1)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_2)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_3)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_4)=each($bg);
    printf("\n");
    foreach ($fg as $fg_color) {
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_1.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_1));
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_2.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_2));
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_3.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_3));
    printf("[%'--50s]\n", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_4.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_4));
    }
    list(,$bg_1)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_2)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_3)=each($bg);
    list(,$bg_4)=each($bg);
    printf("\n");
    foreach ($fg as $fg_color) {
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_1.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_1));
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_2.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_2));
    printf("[%'--50s]", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_3.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_3));
    printf("[%'--50s]\n", $cli->getColoredString("Bg = ".$bg_4.", Fg = ".$fg_color, $fg_color, $bg_4));
    }

    Reply
  7. Olivier Pons / August 5, 2012

    Sorry, the screenshot can be found here:

    http://olivierpons.fr/img/php_cli_colors.png

    Reply
    • Olivier Pons / August 5, 2012

      As you can see light_green, light_blue, light_cyan, light_red are… bold ;)

      Reply
      • JR / August 5, 2012

        Oh, I see what you mean, this depends on terminal what you are using. This “light blue” try to tell only color tone, not font weight. You can see all available command line colors with using following script (originally from http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Bash-Prompt-HOWTO/x329.html):

        #!/bin/bash
#
#   This file echoes a bunch of color codes to the 
#   terminal to demonstrate what's available.  Each 
#   line is the color code of one forground color,
#   out of 17 (default + 16 escapes), followed by a 
#   test use of that color on all nine background 
#   colors (default + 8 escapes).
#
 
T='gYw'   # The test text
 
echo -e "\n                 40m     41m     42m     43m\
     44m     45m     46m     47m";
 
for FGs in '    m' '   1m' '  30m' '1;30m' '  31m' '1;31m' '  32m' \
           '1;32m' '  33m' '1;33m' '  34m' '1;34m' '  35m' '1;35m' \
           '  36m' '1;36m' '  37m' '1;37m';
  do FG=${FGs// /}
  echo -en " $FGs \033[$FG  $T  "
  for BG in 40m 41m 42m 43m 44m 45m 46m 47m;
    do echo -en "$EINS \033[$FG\033[$BG  $T  \033[0m";
  done
  echo;
done
echo

        Blue is 34m and “light blue” is 1;34m. If you change another virtual console (ALT+F2 / ALT+F3 … or CTRL+ALT+F2 / CTRL+ALT+F3 …) and run above script then you might see same “light blue” with normal font weight. I tested it on Debian Sid and both blue and light blue is rendered exactly same font weight and 34m is much darker than 1;34m. I hope this helps you. :)

        Reply
  8. Olivier Pons / August 5, 2012

    Ok I’ve got it!

    “lighter” in the sense of “color tone, not font weight”.

    This is just a coincidence that all “lighter colors” are drawn with “bold fonts”, but there’s no relation between each other.

    Ok!

    Reply
    • JR / August 5, 2012

      I have not even thought this, before you asked it. I guess that nowadays terminals, like gnome-terminal, konsole, lxterm, etc. renders these “light colors” with bold font weight, because it stands out more or some another good reason. :)

      Reply
  9. Dopey / October 12, 2012

    Thank you for this wonderful class :)

    Reply
  10. Saidou GUEYE / December 4, 2012

    Thanks. Worked fine for me !

    Reply
  11. La5 / January 19, 2013

    Thank you! Very useful class for me!

    Reply
  12. William Wallace / January 20, 2013

    Using __call(), i was able to shorten this a little


    red("Enter Launch Code","green");
    **/
    class c {
    public $foreground_colors = array();

    public function __construct() {
    // Set up shell colors
    $this->foreground_colors['black'] = '0;30';
    $this->foreground_colors['dark_gray'] = '1;30';
    $this->foreground_colors['blue'] = '0;34';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_blue'] = '1;34';
    $this->foreground_colors['green'] = '0;32';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_green'] = '1;32';
    $this->foreground_colors['cyan'] = '0;36';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_cyan'] = '1;36';
    $this->foreground_colors['red'] = '0;31';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_red'] = '1;31';
    $this->foreground_colors['purple'] = '0;35';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_purple'] = '1;35';
    $this->foreground_colors['brown'] = '0;33';
    $this->foreground_colors['yellow'] = '1;33';
    $this->foreground_colors['light_gray'] = '0;37';
    $this->foreground_colors['white'] = '1;37';

    $this->background_colors['black'] = '40';
    $this->background_colors['red'] = '41';
    $this->background_colors['green'] = '42';
    $this->background_colors['yellow'] = '43';
    $this->background_colors['blue'] = '44';
    $this->background_colors['magenta'] = '45';
    $this->background_colors['cyan'] = '46';
    $this->background_colors['light_gray'] = '47';
    }

    // Returns colored string
    public function __call($foreground_color, $args) {
    $colored_string = "";
    $string = $args[0];
    if(!empty($args[1])) {
    $background_color = $args[1];
    }
    // Check if given foreground color found
    if (isset($this->foreground_colors[$foreground_color])) {
    $colored_string .= "33[" . $this->foreground_colors[$foreground_color] . "m";
    }
    // Check if given background color found
    if (!empty($background_color) && isset($this->background_colors[$background_color])) {
    $colored_string .= "33[" . $this->background_colors[$background_color] . "m";
    }
    $colored_string .= $string . "33[0m";

    return $colored_string;
    }
    }
    $c = new c();
    foreach ($c->foreground_colors as $color => $v) {
    echo $c->$color($color)."\n";
    }

    foreach ($c->foreground_colors as $color => $v) {
    foreach ($c->background_colors as $bg_color => $v) {
    echo $c->$color($color,$bg_color);
    }
    }

    Reply
    • William Wallace / January 20, 2013

      The comment got cut off
      red(“Enter Launch Code”,”green”);
      **/

      Reply
      • William Wallace / January 20, 2013

        Still getting cut off, oh well

        Reply
        • Jesse Donat / January 20, 2013

          That _construct is painful to look at!

          Just do

          class c {

          private $foreground_colors = array(
          'black' => '0;30';
          'dark_gray' => '1;30';
          'blue' => '0;34';
          'light_blue' => '1;34';
          'green' => '0;32';
          'light_green' => '1;32';
          'cyan' => '0;36';
          'light_cyan' => '1;36';
          'red' => '0;31';
          'light_red' => '1;31';
          'purple' => '0;35';
          'light_purple' => '1;35';
          'brown' => '0;33';
          'yellow' => '1;33';
          'light_gray' => '0;37';
          'white' => '1;37';
          );

          ... class stuff

          Reply
  13. michal / May 15, 2013

    I get raw color string instead of colors what is happening ? ex. “0;33″ instead of color…

    Reply
    • JR / May 18, 2013

      Hi michal,

      Could you post output of following command on your shell where you try to run/use this code:

      ps -p $$
      Reply

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