DOS Batch files Using ANSI sequences. This page discusses the use of ANSI. SYS in COMMAND. COM, both native in MS DOS. Unfortunately, ANSI. SYS is no longer available in CMD. EXE Windows NT 4 and later. NTs COLOR command can only be used to set the text and background color for the entire console, other ANSI. SYS features require third party utilities in CMD. EXE. Use ANSI sequences to You can use ANSI sequences to creaty fancy prompts or text screens or even text mode animated screens though it may take several days to create one ANSI animated screen. For ANSI sequences to be shown, they have to be sent to the screen. You can create a bat file to run as administrator automatically itself. Heres a detailed guide on how to run batch programs as admin automatically. Disable-the-Insert-Key-in-Windows-Step-1-Version-2.jpg/aid119211-v4-728px-Disable-the-Insert-Key-in-Windows-Step-1-Version-2.jpg' alt='Disable Keyboard Batch File' title='Disable Keyboard Batch File' />You may use either TYPE, ECHO or a combination of PROMPT and ECHO OFF, or even any combination of these methods within a single batch file. The only requirement to use ANSI sequences is the line DEVICEANSI. SYSin your CONFIG. SYS, at least for DOS systems. Or use some other ANSI interpreter, like ANSI. COM, by Michael J. Mefford. OS2 command prompts do not need ANSI. SYS, since the ANSI functions are built in the command processor. To use ANSI sequences on DOS command prompts in OS2 youll still need to load ANSI. SYS in CONFIG. SYS. It is possible to disable ANSI in OS2 with the command ANSI OFFLikewise you may enable it again with ANSI ONWindows NT doesnt support ANSI by default. Check out George Roettgers home page for help on running ANSI. SYS in NT plus many more NT tips. Athabasca University Bachelor Of Commerce Accounting Program'>Athabasca University Bachelor Of Commerce Accounting Program. Replace lt Esc with ASCII character 2. TYPEd files or ECHOed strings or with E in PROMPT strings. Most DOS based editors will display the Escape character as a left arrow. Most Windows based editors will display the escape character as a square. TurnOffMonitor04.png' alt='Disable Keyboard Batch File' title='Disable Keyboard Batch File' />Note Inserting ASCII Character 2. Esc In EDIT, use CtrlP follwed by Alt2. Alt, keep it pressed, and then type 2. In Notepad or Wordpad, copy and paste the Escape character from some reference file you can create using EDIT. In Norton Commander or File Commanders editor, use CtrlQ followed by Alt2. In E and EPM OS2 just type Alt2. In Ultra. Edit, press CtrlI followed by the Esc key. You may have to change the codepage to 4. You may combine as many text attributes as you see fit. Authorizations Made Easy. Esc 5m will give different results in different situations In plain DOS and in full screen OS2 text mode it will result in blinking text. In OS2 and DOS windows it will result in a bright background. For PROMPT strings some extra ANSI sequeunces are available. Text color Color. Normalforeground. Boldforeground. Background. Blacklt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. Esc 4. Redlt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. 1mlt Esc 4. Greenlt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. Esc 4. Yellowlt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. 3mlt Esc 4. Bluelt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. Esc 4. Word Disable the Insert Key to Permanently Turn Off Overtype Mode. Filename. CPL is the name of one of Control Panels. CPL files, n is the zero based number of the applet within the CPL file, and t is the number of the tab for. Magentalt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. Esc 4. Cyanlt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. 6mlt Esc 4. Whitelt Esc 3. Esc 1 3. Esc 4. Back to the top of this page. Other text attributes lt Esc 0m. Reset all previous text attributeslt Esc 1m. Bold or bright textlt Esc 2m. Bold off not reliable use lt Esc 0m insteadlt Esc 4m. Underlined monochrome. Esc 5m. Blinking text orbright backgroundlt Esc 7m. Reversed text lt Esc 8m. Invisible textInvisible textNotes 1DOS will display blinking text with lt Esc 5m, OS2 windows will give a bright background, and OS2 Full screen will start with a bright background but will switch to blinking text as soon as it loses focus. Text made invisible on screen with lt Esc 8m will still be visible on screen prints. It is therefore not recommended for hiding passwords etc., unless you use cursor positioning and then lt Esc K to wipe the password from the screen completely, immediately after inputting it. Back to the top of this page. Cursor positioning ANSI Sequence. Effectlt Esc r c. Cypress Driver Windows 7'>Cypress Driver Windows 7. HPosition cursor at row r and column clt Esc n. AMove cursor n rows uplt Esc n. BMove cursor n rows downlt Esc n. CMove cursor n columns forward rightlt Esc n. DMove cursor n columns back leftlt Esc 6n. Show current cursor positionlt Esc s. Save current cursor positionlt Esc u. Restore previously stored cursor position. Back to the top of this page. Clear text area ANSI Sequence. Effectlt Esc 2. JClear screenlt Esc KClear to end of line. Back to the top of this page. Set video mode ANSI sequence. Video mode   ANSI sequence. Video modelt Esc 0hlt Esc 0l. BW text lt Esc 7ldisable wraplt Esc 1hlt Esc 1l. Esc 1. 3hlt Esc 1. Esc 2hlt Esc 2l. BW text lt Esc 1. Esc 1. 4l. 64. Esc 3hlt Esc 3l. Esc 1. 5hlt Esc 1. Esc 4hlt Esc 4l. Esc 1. Esc 1. Esc 5hlt Esc 5l. Esc 1. 7hlt Esc 1. Esc 6hlt Esc 6l. Esc 1. Esc 1. Esc 7henable wrap lt Esc 1. Esc 1. 9l. 32. Note The l in lt Esc nl is a lower case LBack to the top of this page. Keyboard macros General usage lt Esc inkey outstringpinkeyspecifies the macros hotkeyoutstringspecifies the keystrokes to be performedinkeycodeoutstringcode. ANSIsequence. Result. Esc 6. 5 8. Replace A ASCII 6. Q ASCII 8. 1AZERTY to QWERTY translation the hard way0 6. DIR 1. 3lt Esc 0 6. DIR 1. 3p. Pressing F1. ASCII 0 6. 8 will result in DIR being typed, followed by lt Enter ASCII 1. Notes 1The keyboard redirection or keyboard macro will be active only when ANSI is active in command prompt sessions and batch files. It cannot be used within application programs. The keyboard redirection or keyboard macro is not permanent. You should re execute the batch file that activates the macro every time you start a new command line session. Back to the top of this page. ANSI Art. Take a look at ANSIDEMO. BAT for some examples of cursor positioning and text attributes. Shown below is a picture of the ANSI screen output for ANAPPLE. ANS, a fine example of ANSI art by Chris Blanton View it in text mode by changing to the right directory and using the following command TYPE ANAPPLE. ANSBack to the top of this page. ANSI. SYS Alternatives. There may be occasions where you dont know in advance if ANSI. SYS will be loaded or not. You can check if ANSI. SYS was loaded using MEM C but that only looks for ANSI. SYS or ANSI. COM. Utilities like BATCHMAN do a better job since they search for functionality, not for a particular driver. On the other hand, once you are using BATCHMAN, why not use that to display colored text etcetera Unlike ANSI. SYS, BATCHMAN will even work in Windows 2. In many cases ANSI. COM may be a better solution. Like BATCHMAN, ANSI. COM was written by Michael J. Mefford. When called  at the start of a DOS batch file  it will load only if no other ANSI interpreter is active. When loaded it will function just like ANSI. SYS would. At the end of the batch file, you may unload it again, freeing memory for other programs. By using ANSI. COM, you can make sure that your batch files will display their fancy colors just the way you intended them to. Unfortunately, ANSI. SYS is no longer available in CMD. EXE NT 4 and later. Using ANSI like features will require third party utilities. Whereas ANSI. SYS could be used to set the color for a selection of the console text, NTs COLOR command will set the colors of the entire console.