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Overview

Tabular supports both standard terminal colors via the Color enum and true-color (24-bit RGB) via the Rgb struct. These can be used to style table content and borders.

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Color Enum

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Definition

namespace tabular {
  enum class Color : uint8_t;
}

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Values

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Standard Colors

Color::Black    = 30
Color::Red      = 31
Color::Green    = 32
Color::Yellow   = 33
Color::Blue     = 34
Color::Magenta  = 35
Color::Cyan     = 36
Color::White    = 37

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Bright Colors

Color::BrightBlack    = 90
Color::BrightRed      = 91
Color::BrightGreen    = 92
Color::BrightYellow   = 93
Color::BrightBlue     = 94
Color::BrightMagenta  = 95
Color::BrightCyan     = 96
Color::BrightWhite    = 97

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Usage

The Color enum is used for foreground and background colors in both columns and border parts. Example: 
using namespace tabular;

// Foreground color
col.style().fg(Color::Green);

// Background color
col.style().bg(Color::Black);

// Border color
table.border().horizontal().fg(Color::Blue);

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RGB Struct

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Definition

namespace tabular {
  struct Rgb {
    uint8_t r;
    uint8_t g;
    uint8_t b;
  };
}

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Constructors

Default Constructor 
constexpr Rgb()
Creates an RGB color with all components set to 0 (black). Component Constructor 
constexpr Rgb(uint8_t r, uint8_t g, uint8_t b)
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r
uint8_t
Red component (0-255)
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g
uint8_t
Green component (0-255)
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b
uint8_t
Blue component (0-255)
Example: 
Rgb orange(255, 165, 0);
Rgb purple(128, 0, 128);
Hex Constructor 
constexpr Rgb(uint32_t hex)
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hex
uint32_t
Hexadecimal color value (e.g., 0xFF5733)
Example: 
Rgb color1(0xFF5733);  // Orange
Rgb color2(0x00FF00);  // Green
Rgb color3(0x1E90FF);  // Dodger Blue

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Methods

toHex() 
constexpr uint32_t toHex() const
Converts the RGB color to a hexadecimal value. Returns: 24-bit hex value (0xRRGGBB) Example: 
Rgb color(255, 100, 50);
uint32_t hex = color.toHex();  // 0xFF6432

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Usage

The Rgb struct provides true-color support for terminals that support 24-bit colors. Example: 
using namespace tabular;

// Using RGB components
col.style().fg(Rgb(255, 100, 50));

// Using hex values
col.style().bg(Rgb(0x2C3E50));

// Border with RGB colors
table.border().horizontal().fg(Rgb(100, 150, 255));

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Examples

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Using Standard Colors

#include <tabular/table.h>
using namespace tabular;

Table table;
table.addRow({"Error", "Warning", "Success"});

// Red text
table[0].column(0).style().fg(Color::Red);

// Yellow text
table[0].column(1).style().fg(Color::Yellow);

// Green text
table[0].column(2).style().fg(Color::Green);

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Using Bright Colors

using namespace tabular;

Column header("HEADER");
header.style()
      .fg(Color::BrightCyan)
      .bg(Color::Black)
      .attrs(Attr::Bold);

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Using RGB Colors

using namespace tabular;

Column col("Custom Colors");

// Orange text on dark background
col.style()
   .fg(Rgb(255, 165, 0))      // Orange
   .bg(Rgb(30, 30, 30));      // Dark gray

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Using Hex Colors

using namespace tabular;

Column col("Hex Colors");

// Using popular hex colors
col.style()
   .fg(Rgb(0xFF6B35))         // Vivid orange
   .bg(Rgb(0x2C3E50));        // Midnight blue

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Gradient-Like Effect

using namespace tabular;

Table table;
table.addRow({"Red", "Orange", "Yellow", "Green", "Blue"});

table[0].column(0).style().fg(Rgb(255, 0, 0));      // Red
table[0].column(1).style().fg(Rgb(255, 165, 0));    // Orange
table[0].column(2).style().fg(Rgb(255, 255, 0));    // Yellow
table[0].column(3).style().fg(Rgb(0, 255, 0));      // Green
table[0].column(4).style().fg(Rgb(0, 0, 255));      // Blue

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Colored Border with RGB

using namespace tabular;

Table table;
table.border(Border::modern());

// Purple-ish border
Rgb borderColor(138, 43, 226);  // Blue Violet

table.border().horizontal().fg(borderColor);
table.border().vertical().fg(borderColor);
table.border().cornerTopLeft().fg(borderColor);
table.border().cornerTopRight().fg(borderColor);
table.border().cornerBottomLeft().fg(borderColor);
table.border().cornerBottomRight().fg(borderColor);
table.border().intersection().fg(borderColor);
table.border().connectorLeft().fg(borderColor);
table.border().connectorRight().fg(borderColor);
table.border().connectorTop().fg(borderColor);
table.border().connectorBottom().fg(borderColor);

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Status Colors

using namespace tabular;

// Common status color palette
Rgb success(46, 204, 113);    // Green
Rgb warning(241, 196, 15);    // Yellow
Rgb error(231, 76, 60);       // Red
Rgb info(52, 152, 219);       // Blue

Column successCol("✓ Success");
successCol.style().fg(success);

Column warningCol("⚠ Warning");
warningCol.style().fg(warning);

Column errorCol("✗ Error");
errorCol.style().fg(error);

Column infoCol("ℹ Info");
infoCol.style().fg(info);

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Material Design Colors

using namespace tabular;

// Material Design color palette
Rgb mdRed(0xF44336);
Rgb mdPink(0xE91E63);
Rgb mdPurple(0x9C27B0);
Rgb mdIndigo(0x3F51B5);
Rgb mdBlue(0x2196F3);
Rgb mdCyan(0x00BCD4);
Rgb mdTeal(0x009688);
Rgb mdGreen(0x4CAF50);

Column col("Material");
col.style().fg(mdIndigo).attrs(Attr::Bold);

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Terminal Compatibility

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Standard Colors (Color Enum)

  • Support: Widely supported across all terminals
  • Colors: 16 colors (8 standard + 8 bright)
  • Use when: Maximum compatibility is needed

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RGB Colors (Rgb Struct)

  • Support: Modern terminals (24-bit true color support)
  • Colors: 16.7 million colors (256³)
  • Use when: Rich color accuracy is needed
  • Terminals: Most modern terminals support this:
    • Windows Terminal
    • iTerm2
    • Alacritty
    • Kitty
    • GNOME Terminal (recent versions)
    • VS Code integrated terminal

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See Also

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