Usage - Description - Example - Options - Limitations - Return codes
acho [log logfile] [option] arg [...]
acho writes, to standard output, arg ... with the following args changing the console's foreground/background colour:
| Argument | Colour change |
|---|---|
| .n | Normal display (low intensity white on black) |
| .o | Original colours and intensity 1 |
| .r | Original colours reversed, original intensity |
| .hi
.fg=hi |
High intensity foreground |
| .lo
.fg=lo |
Low intensity foreground 1 |
| .fg=bla | Black foreground |
| .fg=red | Red foreground |
| .fg=gre | Green foreground |
| .fg=yel | Yellow foreground |
| .fg=blu | Blue foreground |
| .fg=mag | Magenta foreground |
| .fg=cya | Cyan foreground |
| .fg=whi | White foreground |
| .bg=hi | High intensity background 1 |
| .bg=lo | Low intensity background 1 |
| .bg=bla | Black background |
| .bg=red | Red background |
| .bg=gre | Green background |
| .bg=yel | Yellow background |
| .bg=blu | Blue background |
| .bg=mag | Magenta background |
| .bg=cya | Cyan background |
| .bg=whi | White background |
1 : Only effective for Win32 version.
acho still recognizes the .normal, .high, and .rev arguments, for compatability with earlier versions.
acho does not print a space between args.
If you don't specify logfile, acho writes error messages to
standard error.
The command:
acho .bg=whi .fg=red "hello world" .n
prints the one-line message "hello world" to the screen in red on white and then resets the display to normal.
acho recognizes the following command line options:
| Option | Function |
|---|---|
| -n | Don't print newline after last arg. |
| -v | Print version banner and usage info to standard error (or logfile, if given), then exit. |
Unrecognized options are printed.
acho requires a colour display.
To use the DOS version of acho, the ANSI.SYS driver must be loaded. If not already present, add the following line (typically) to your "config.sys" (or "config.nt") file:
DEVICE=C:\DOS\ANSI.SYS
To use the Win32 version of acho, no special setup is needed.
acho returns with one of the following codes ("error levels"):
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0 | Success |
| 102 | Incorrect command line arguments |
| 104 | Error opening file |
| 105 | I/O error |
| 110 | Error getting standard output handle |