color in format strings

src/common/format.c

@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ void ffParseFormatString(FFstrbuf* buffer, const FFstrbuf* formatstr, const FFst
 
     uint32_t numOpenIfs = 0;
     uint32_t numOpenNotIfs = 0;
+    uint32_t numOpenColors = 0;
 
     for(uint32_t i = 0; i < formatstr->length; ++i)
     {
@@ -153,6 +154,21 @@ void ffParseFormatString(FFstrbuf* buffer, const FFstrbuf* formatstr, const FFst
             continue;
         }
 
+        // test for end of a color, if so do nothing
+        if(placeholderValue.length == 1 && placeholderValue.chars[0] == '#')
+        {
+            if(numOpenColors == 0)
+                appendInvalidPlaceholder(buffer, "{", &placeholderValue, i, formatstr->length);
+            else
+            {
+                ffStrbufAppendS(buffer, "\033[0m");
+                --numOpenColors;
+            }
+
+            ffStrbufDestroy(&placeholderValue);
+            continue;
+        }
+
         // test for if, if so evaluate it
         if(placeholderValue.chars[0] == '?')
         {
@@ -227,6 +243,18 @@ void ffParseFormatString(FFstrbuf* buffer, const FFstrbuf* formatstr, const FFst
             continue;
         }
 
+        //test for color, if so evaluate it
+        if(placeholderValue.chars[0] == '#')
+        {
+            ++numOpenColors;
+            ffStrbufSubstrAfter(&placeholderValue, 0);
+            ffStrbufAppendS(buffer, "\033[");
+            ffStrbufAppend(buffer, &placeholderValue);
+            ffStrbufAppendC(buffer, 'm');
+            ffStrbufDestroy(&placeholderValue);
+            continue;
+        }
+
         uint32_t index = getArgumentIndex(&placeholderValue);
 
         // test for invalid index
@@ -243,4 +271,7 @@ void ffParseFormatString(FFstrbuf* buffer, const FFstrbuf* formatstr, const FFst
     }
 
     ffStrbufTrimRight(buffer, ' ');
+
+    if(numOpenColors > 0)
+        ffStrbufAppendS(buffer, "\033[0m");
 }

src/fastfetch.c

@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ static inline void printCommandHelpColor()
         "usage: fastfetch --color <color>\n"
         "\n"
         "<color> must be a color encoding for linux terminals. It is inserted between \"ESC[\" and \"m\".\n"
-        "Infos about them can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#Colors.\n"
+        "Infos about them can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_(Select_Graphic_Rendition)_parameters.\n"
         "Examples:\n"
         "   \"--color 35\":    sets the color to pink\n"
         "   \"--color 4;92\":  sets the color to bright Green with underline\n"
@@ -169,6 +169,14 @@ static inline void printCommandHelpFormat()
         "To stop formating at any point in the format string, use \"{-}\".\n"
         "For example to print an error instead of the normal output if it occured, prefix the format string with \"{?e}{e}{-}{?}...\".\n"
         "\n"
+        "To print something with color, start a placeholder with a '#' and then the linux terminal color encoding.\n"
+        "\"\\033[\" at the start and a 'm' at the end is automatically added, so don't do that.\n"
+        "A \"{#}\" is equivalent to a \"{#0}\" and resets everything to normal.\n"
+        "For example to print something pink and underline use \"{#4;35}...{#}\".\n"
+        "If not in a format string, fastfetch wraps errors with \"{#1;31}error{#}\", so you might want to do that to if you show errors.\n"
+        "Information about what the numbers mean can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ANSI_escape_code#SGR_(Select_Graphic_Rendition)_parameters.\n"
+        "Which escape codes are supported and how they look like is defined by your terminal.\n"
+        "\n"
         "If an format string evaluates to an empty value, the whole line in the output will be discarded.\n"
         "You can therefore use --host-format \" \" to disable host output.\n"
         "Note that --host-format \"\" would evaluate as not set, and therefore use the built in host format\n"