cecho – a function to print using different colors in bash
The following script can be used to print colored text in bash
.
You can use it in any script without copy pasting everything in it by executing the following command source cecho.sh
.
Doing so, it will load to your script the functions that are defined in cecho.sh
, making them available for you to use (something like including code in C, with some caveats).
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#!/bin/bash # The following function prints a text using custom color # -c or --color define the color for the print. See the array colors for the available options. # -n or --noline directs the system not to print a new line after the content. # Last argument is the message to be printed. cecho () { declare -A colors; colors=(\ ['black']='\E[0;47m'\ ['red']='\E[0;31m'\ ['green']='\E[0;32m'\ ['yellow']='\E[0;33m'\ ['blue']='\E[0;34m'\ ['magenta']='\E[0;35m'\ ['cyan']='\E[0;36m'\ ['white']='\E[0;37m'\ ); local defaultMSG="No message passed."; local defaultColor="black"; local defaultNewLine=true; while [[ $# -gt 1 ]]; do key="$1"; case $key in -c|--color) color="$2"; shift; ;; -n|--noline) newLine=false; ;; *) # unknown option ;; esac shift; done message=${1:-$defaultMSG}; # Defaults to default message. color=${color:-$defaultColor}; # Defaults to default color, if not specified. newLine=${newLine:-$defaultNewLine}; echo -en "${colors[$color]}"; echo -en "$message"; if [ "$newLine" = true ] ; then echo; fi tput sgr0; # Reset text attributes to normal without clearing screen. return; } warning () { cecho -c 'yellow' "$@"; } error () { cecho -c 'red' "$@"; } information () { cecho -c 'blue' "$@"; }
Usage
Function cecho
accepts the options to set the color and to control if a new line should be print.
Parameter -c
or --color
define the color for the print. See the array colors
for the available options.
Parameter -n
or --noline
directs the system not to print a new line after the content.
The last parameter is the string message to be printed.
Functions warning
, error
and information
are using cecho
to print in color.
These three functions always print a new line and they have hardcoded one color set for each.
Example
#Get the name of the script currently being executed scriptName=$(basename $(test -L "$0" && readlink "$0" || echo "$0")); #Get the directory where the script currently being executed resides scriptDirDIR=$(cd $(dirname "$0") && pwd); #Print in blue color with no new line cecho -n -c 'blue' "$scriptDir"; #Print in red color with a new line following the message cecho -c 'red' "$scriptName"; #Using the information() function to print in blue followed by a new line information ‘End of script’;