ContextQMD
Back to Serial Studio

ANSI Color & VT-100 Test Suite

examples/ANSI Color Test/README.md

3.2.76.1 KB
Original Source

ANSI Color & VT-100 Test Suite

This example demonstrates Serial Studio's comprehensive ANSI color and VT-100 terminal emulation support.

Features Tested

4-bit Colors (Standard ANSI)

  • Standard foreground colors (30-37): Black, Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Magenta, Cyan, White
  • Bright foreground colors (90-97): Bright variants of all standard colors
  • Standard background colors (40-47)
  • Bright background colors (100-107)
  • Combined foreground and background colors

8-bit Colors (256 Color Palette)

  • Standard colors (0-15)
  • 6×6×6 RGB color cube (16-231): 216 colors
  • 24-step grayscale ramp (232-255)
  • Foreground colors: \033[38;5;Nm
  • Background colors: \033[48;5;Nm

24-bit RGB Colors (True Color)

  • RGB foreground: \033[38;2;R;G;Bm
  • RGB background: \033[48;2;R;G;Bm
  • Full 16.7 million color support

VT-100 Control Sequences

  • Cursor movement (up, down, forward, backward)
  • Bold text styling
  • Combined text styles with colors

Visual Displays

  • 16-color ANSI palette table
  • 256-color palette organized display
  • Color boxes with labels
  • RGB gradients (red, green, blue, cyan-magenta, grayscale)

Creative Effects

  • Rainbow text using both 8-bit and 24-bit RGB
  • Color gradients (red→yellow, blue, grayscale)

Requirements

  • Python 3.6 or later
  • Serial Studio with ANSI colors support

Setup

  1. Configure Serial Studio:

    • Open Serial Studio
    • Go to Setup → Hardware → Network
    • Set mode to UDP Server
    • Set port to 9000
    • Click Connect

  2. Enable ANSI Colors:

    • Open the Console pane
    • Check the "ANSI Colors" checkbox
    • Optionally check "Show Timestamp" to see colored timestamps

Usage

Run Full Test Suite

Run the complete test script with all color tests:

bash
python3 test_ansi_colors.py

The script will send a comprehensive suite of ANSI color and VT-100 test sequences to Serial Studio via UDP. Watch the console pane to see:

  • All color combinations rendered with their ANSI codes
  • Background colors behind text
  • Rainbow effects and gradients
  • VT-100 cursor movement demonstrations

Command-Line Options

You can also run individual test sections:

bash
# Display 16-color ANSI palette
python3 test_ansi_colors.py --16colors

# Display 256-color palette
python3 test_ansi_colors.py --256colors

# Display simple color boxes
python3 test_ansi_colors.py --boxes

# Display RGB gradients
python3 test_ansi_colors.py --gradients

# Show help message
python3 test_ansi_colors.py --help

How It Works

The script connects to localhost:9000 via UDP and sends formatted test sequences. Each test section includes:

  1. Visual output: Colored text/backgrounds displayed in the terminal
  2. ANSI codes: The escape sequences used (e.g., \033[38;5;206m)
  3. Descriptions: What each test demonstrates

Color Code Reference

4-bit Foreground

\033[30m  Black          \033[90m  Bright Black
\033[31m  Red            \033[91m  Bright Red
\033[32m  Green          \033[92m  Bright Green
\033[33m  Yellow         \033[93m  Bright Yellow
\033[34m  Blue           \033[94m  Bright Blue
\033[35m  Magenta        \033[95m  Bright Magenta
\033[36m  Cyan           \033[96m  Bright Cyan
\033[37m  White          \033[97m  Bright White

4-bit Background

\033[40m   Black BG      \033[100m  Bright Black BG
\033[41m   Red BG        \033[101m  Bright Red BG
\033[42m   Green BG      \033[102m  Bright Green BG
\033[43m   Yellow BG     \033[103m  Bright Yellow BG
\033[44m   Blue BG       \033[104m  Bright Blue BG
\033[45m   Magenta BG    \033[105m  Bright Magenta BG
\033[46m   Cyan BG       \033[106m  Bright Cyan BG
\033[47m   White BG      \033[107m  Bright White BG

8-bit Colors

\033[38;5;Nm     Set foreground to color N (0-255)
\033[48;5;Nm     Set background to color N (0-255)

Color ranges:

  • 0-7: Standard colors
  • 8-15: Bright colors
  • 16-231: 6×6×6 RGB cube (calculated as: 16 + 36×r + 6×g + b, where r,g,b ∈ [0,5])
  • 232-255: Grayscale ramp (24 shades from dark to light)

24-bit RGB Colors

\033[38;2;R;G;Bm    Set foreground to RGB(R, G, B)
\033[48;2;R;G;Bm    Set background to RGB(R, G, B)

Where R, G, B are values from 0-255.

Combined Colors

Multiple codes can be combined with semicolons:

\033[31;47m              Red text on white background
\033[1;32m               Bold green text
\033[38;5;206;48;5;57m   8-bit pink on blue
\033[38;2;255;82;197;48;2;155;106;0m   RGB pink on brown

Reset

\033[0m   Reset all attributes (color, bold, etc.)

Example Output

When you run the test, you should see colorful output in the Serial Studio console like:

╔════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╗
║          4-BIT COLOR TESTS (Standard ANSI)                 ║
╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝
Red        (\033[31m)
Green      (\033[32m)
Blue       (\033[34m)
...

Each color will be rendered in its actual color, with backgrounds displaying behind text.

Customization

You can modify test_ansi_colors.py to:

  • Change the UDP host/port (default: localhost:9000)
  • Add custom color combinations
  • Adjust timing delays between messages
  • Create your own color effects

Technical Details

Serial Studio's ANSI color implementation:

  • Performance: Lock-free data paths with zero-copy dashboard updates
  • Color accuracy: Full 24-bit RGB support (16.7M colors)
  • Standards compliance: VT-100/ANSI X3.64 escape sequences
  • Background rendering: Separate passes for backgrounds and text to prevent overlap
  • Optional: Colors are only processed when "ANSI Colors" is enabled

See Also