Back to ASCII Art Academy

This reference documentation was written and published by Carsten Cumbrowski aka Roy/SAC in March 2014.

Table of Contents

1. ANSI Color Codes
2. ANSI Escape Sequences (Brief)
   1. Set Display Attributes
3. ANSI Escape Sequences Programming (Detailed)
   1. Cursor Commands
   2. Erase Commands
   3. Display Attribute and Mode Commands
   4. Keyboard Commands
4. Notes
   1. Entering the {ESC} Character
   2. Enabling ANSI.SYS
   3. Using ANSI.SYS Escape Sequences
5. ANSI.SYS Examples
   1. Batch File
   2. Command Prompt
   3. Text File Example
6. ANSI.SYS Key and Extended Key Codes
7. ANSI Colors mapped to HTML color codes etc.
8. ASCII Standard Character Set
9. ASCII Extended Character Sets
10. Character Entities in HTML 4
    1. Latin-1 Characters
    2. Mathematical, Greek and Symbolic Characters
    3. Special Characters

ANSI Color Codes

Pueblo/UE supports a wide range of ANSI color codes. This is a list of those codes currently supported by Pueblo/UE, together with which client version they were introduced in. If the version is shown as "--", then it was introduced in version 2.01 or earlier (exact information is not available).

An ANSI code is sent by the world by sending an escape character (ESC, ASCII value 27) followed by the appropriate code sequence:

The bold codes have been given two different interpretations:
In client version 2.01 and earlier, bold was interpreted as the physical bold style - equivalent to the HTML <b> tag. In addition, the code [2m was mistakenly interpreted as bold off and the correct code was not handled.

In version 2.50 and later, bold is interpreted as 'high-intensity', which was the original ANSI definition. (High-intensity colors are brighter than low-intensity ones, which are the default.) If you want the bold font style, you will have to use the <b> tag instead. The incorrect [2m code for bold off is supported for backwards compatibility, along with the correct [22m code.

In addition, the ASCII BEL character (value 7) is internally translated to the HTML sequence <img xch_alert>. This will cause an audible alert sound, if configured to do so in the Preferences. While this is not actually an ANSI code sequence, worlds usually group this with them.

ANSI Escape Sequences (Brief)

Wherever you see '#', that should be replaced by the appropriate number.

Set Display Attributes

ANSI Escape Sequences Programming (Detailed)

Cursor Commands

Cursor Up

Examples

Cursor Down

Examples

Cursor Right

Examples

Cursor Left

Examples

Move Cursor

Examples

Save Cursor Position

Examples

Report Cursor Position

Examples

Restore Cursor Position

Examples

Erase Commands

Erase Display

Examples

Erase Line

Examples

Display Attribute and Mode Commands

Set Attribute

Examples

Set Display Mode

Examples

Turn Off Line Wrap

Examples

Keyboard Commands

Define Key

Examples

Notes

Entering the {ESC} Character

• In DOS: Press and hold the <Alt> key, then type 27 on the keypad.
• In Windows: Press and hold the <Alt> key, then type 0027 on the keypad.
• Exceptions: Sometimes the above keystrokes do not work. Try one of the following methods:
  • In MS-DOS EDITOR and QBASIC, type any one of these:
    • <Ctrl>P, <Alt>027
    • <Ctrl>P, <Ctrl>[
    • <Ctrl>P, <Esc>
  • In Microsoft WORD, use a macro:
    • Sub AsciiEscChar() 'Insert ASCII Esc character. Selection.TypeText Chr(027) End Sub
    • Save the file as "Text Only" or "MS-DOS Text".
  • In Microsoft NOTEPAD and WORDPAD:
    • Copy the {ESC} character from another text file and paste it into the document.

Enabling ANSI.SYS

Before using escape seqences, ANSI.SYS must be named as a device driver in the CONFIG system file.

For Windows 95, Windows 98 and DOS:

• Create or edit the CONFIG.SYS file. (Found in the root directory.)
• Add the following line to the file:

DEVICE=<path>\ANSI.SYS where <path> is the full path of the ANSI.SYS file. (Usually found in the WINDOWS directory.)

• Save CONFIG.SYS with the new line.
• Check that a copy of ANSI.SYS exists in the specified path location.
• Restart the computer to complete the change.

For Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP:

• Create or edit the CONFIG.NT file. (Usually found in the WINNT\SYSTEM32 directory.)
• Add the following line to the file:

DEVICE=%systemroot%\system32\ANSI.SYS

• Save CONFIG.NT with the new line.
• Check that a copy of ANSI.SYS exists in the specified path location.
• Restart the computer to complete the change.

Restrictions:

• Windows NT does not support ANSI.SYS escape sequences in Win32 Console applications.
• The Windows 2000/NT Command Interpreter, CMD.EXE, does not support ANSI.SYS. Use COMMAND.COM instead.

Using ANSI.SYS Escape Sequences

Because ANSI.SYS commands control the console device, they must be typed at the keyboard or sent to the display.

• Put the ANSI.SYS commands in a file and display the file with the TYPE or COPY command.
• Use the PROMPT command with the command prompt code, $e.

Example:

prompt $e[1;37;44m (Set the text color to bright white and the screen color to blue.)

• Use the ECHO command in a batch file.

Example:

echo {ESC}[8;26H (Move the cursor to row 8, column 26.)

To execute a batch file containing ANSI commands in Windows 2000/NT, use one of the following methods:

• Open a DOS command prompt window and type the <batch path>.
• Type %SystemRoot%\system32\COMMAND.COM /c <batch path> at the Run command line.
• Create a program information file (PIF) by making a shortcut of COMMAND.COM, then set the Cmd Line property to the <batch path> and the Advanced Program properties to %SystemRoot%\system32\AUTOEXEC.NT and %SystemRoot%\system32\CONFIG.NT.

• Use the WRITE, PRINT or a similiar command in FORTRAN, C, BASIC, etc.

Example:

WRITE(*,*)'{ESC}[2J' (Clear the screen.)

ANSI.SYS Examples

Batch File

SCREEN.BAT demonstrates some Display Attribute and Cursor commands.

• Download as a zipped file.
• Display as a text file.
• View a screen shot.

Command Prompt

Type the line below in a COMMAND.COM window to change the DOS command prompt.

• prompt=$_$d$_$t$h$h$h$_$e[1;37;43mMy Computer$e[44m $p$g
• View a screen shot.

Text File Example

@echo off

echo [0;1;37;40m[2J

echo SCREEN.BAT demostrates some of the Display Attribute commands

echo            from ANSI Escape Sequences

echo.

echo Each row is numbered with a foreground color.

echo Each column is numbered with a background color.

rem 14 spaces between Normal and High Intensity in next line.

echo [8;26HNormal              High Intensity

rem Five spaces between 7 and 0 in next line.

echo [9;26H0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;24H%%c

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;26H[0;3%%c;40mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;28H[0;3%%c;41mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;30H[0;3%%c;42mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;32H[0;3%%c;43mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;34H[0;3%%c;44mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;36H[0;3%%c;45mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;38H[0;3%%c;46mXX[18C[1mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;40H[0;3%%c;47mXX[18C[1mXX

echo [0;1;37;40m

echo.

pause

echo [8;26HNormal              Underline[K

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;26H[0;3%%c;40mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;28H[0;3%%c;41mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;30H[0;3%%c;42mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;32H[0;3%%c;43mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;34H[0;3%%c;44mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;36H[0;3%%c;45mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;38H[0;3%%c;46mXX[18C[4mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;40H[0;3%%c;47mXX[18C[4mXX

echo [0;1;37;40m

echo.

pause

echo [8;26HNormal              Blink[K

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;26H[0;3%%c;40mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;28H[0;3%%c;41mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;30H[0;3%%c;42mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;32H[0;3%%c;43mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;34H[0;3%%c;44mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;36H[0;3%%c;45mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;38H[0;3%%c;46mXX[18C[5mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;40H[0;3%%c;47mXX[18C[5mXX

echo [0;1;37;40m

echo.

pause

echo [8;26HNormal              Reverse[K

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;26H[0;3%%c;40mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;28H[0;3%%c;41mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;30H[0;3%%c;42mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;32H[0;3%%c;43mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;34H[0;3%%c;44mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;36H[0;3%%c;45mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;38H[0;3%%c;46mXX[18C[7mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;40H[0;3%%c;47mXX[18C[7mXX

echo [0;1;37;40m

echo.

pause

echo [8;26HNormal              Invisible[K

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;26H[0;3%%c;40mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;28H[0;3%%c;41mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;30H[0;3%%c;42mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;32H[0;3%%c;43mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;34H[0;3%%c;44mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;36H[0;3%%c;45mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;38H[0;3%%c;46mXX[18C[8mXX

for %%c in (0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7) do echo [1%%c;40H[0;3%%c;47mXX[18C[8mXX

echo [0;1;37;40m

echo.

echo [K

ANSI.SYS Key and Extended Key Codes

Notes

[1] Standard Codes are single-byte numbers.

[2] Extended Codes are two-byte numbers. Extended codes always begin with zero.

ANSI Colors mapped to HTML color codes etc.

Here is the same mapping, but grouped differently as it is used in ANSI Editors such as TheDraw, AcidDraw or PabloDraw.

#	Color Name	HTML Hex	R,G,B	ESC	#	Color Name	HTML Hex	R,G,B	ESC
00	Black	#000000	0,   0,   0	[0;30m	01	Dark Blue	#0000AA	0,   0, 170	[0;34m
02	Dark Green	#00AA00	0, 170,   0	[0;32m	03	Dark Cyan	#00AAAA	0, 170, 170	[0;36m
04	Dark Red	#AA0000	170,   0,   0	[0;31m	05	Purple/Dark Magenta	#AA00AA	170,   0, 170	[0;35m
06	Brown	#AA5500	170, 85,   0	[0;33m	07	Gray	#AAAAAA	170, 170, 170	[0;37m
08	Dark Gray	#555555	85,  85,  85	[1;30m	09	Blue	#5555FF	85,  85, 255	[1;34m
10	Green	#55FF55	85, 255,  85	[1;32m	11	Cyan	#55FFFF	85, 255, 255	[1;36m
12	Red	#FF5555	255,  85,  85	[1;31m	13	Light Purple/Magenta	#FF55FF	255,  85, 255	[1;35m
14	Yellow	#FFFF55	255, 255,  85	[1;33m	15	White	#FFFFFF	255, 255, 255	[1;37m

Note: The for the ESC sequence must be replaced with the ASCII character for "Escape" (Chr(27)).

ASCII Standard Character Set

Notes

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is a 7-bit character code that was introduced by American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and is used by most U.S. personal and workstation computers.

ASCII Extended Character Sets

ASCII Extended Character Sets, PC

Typing an ASCII character

In DOS:

Hold down the <Alt> key while typing the decimal number on the keyboard keypad. (Example: <Alt>178)

In Windows for a DOS character:

Hold down <Alt> while typing the decimal on the keyboard keypad. (Example: <Alt>230)

In Windows for a WIN character:

Hold down <Alt> while typing "0" then the decimal number on the keyboard keypad. (Example: <Alt>0140)

ASCII Extended Character Set, Macintosh

Typing an ASCII character

Keystroke Abbreviations:

<op> Option key
<sh> Shift key
<sp> Space bar

Keystroke Examples:

<op><sh>a Hold down the Option, Shift and "a" keys simultaneously, then release the keys.

<op>c Hold down the Option and "c" keys simultaneously, then release.

<op>e E Hold down the Option and "e" keys simultaneously, release, then type a capital "

Character Entities in HTML 4

Latin-1 , Mathematical, Greek and Symbolic , Special

Latin-1 Characters

Mathematical, Greek and Symbolic Characters

Special Characters

Notes

In order to view the following character entities, your browser must support the respective character set:

Latin-1 Characters: ISO 8859-1 (Supported by HTML 2.0 and later)

Mathematical, Greek and Symbolic Characters: ISO 10646

Special Characters: ISO 10646

Back to ASCII Art Academy

Useful Resources

• ASCII Art Academy - articles and tutorials about ASCII art
• Online Videos releated to text art, BBS, demoscene, SAC and Warez
• ASCII Nudes Collection - 30 Years of "Naked" ASCII Art - 30 pieces of ASCII art showing nude girls created by hand by various different artists. A "boss key" feature is available too, which is interesting by itself, showing additional examples of great ASCII art without nudity.
• "Morph" - ASCII Animation (ASCIIMation) using JavaScript created by Skylined. It "morphs" a number of ASCII pictures from one into another and finishes with a great "mandelbrot" fractal zoom.
• "Star Field" - Another nice ASCII Animation using JavaScript created by Skylined showing a horizontal semi 3d star field animation like the ones that were popular in old computer demos and intros.