AmigaOS Manual: Control Sequences

A control sequence, also known as escape sequence, is a series of characters used for controlling console text output. When a control sequence is printed to a console window, text style or colors change. There are also control sequences for moving the cursor, erasing characters, clearing the console window, scrolling the console window content, and more.

The length of a control sequence varies from a single character to four character sequences. Some of the longer sequences contain one or two numeric parameters, which for example allow you to move the cursor for a supplied number of steps.

The parameters are marked in the sequence with letters N and M, and they are expected to be replaced with a decimal number when the sequence is used. If N or M is enclosed in brackets, the parameter is optional and can be omitted. When the parameter is left out, the console uses a default value of 1.

Note
Parameters must be inserted in the control sequence as ASCII digits and not as hexadecimal numbers.

For example to move the cursor forward 15 positions, the control sequence string (cs_cursor_fw) must be constructed as follows:

cs_cursor_fw = '9b'x || '15' || '43'x

9B and 43 are hexadecimal values and 15 is an ASCII string. When the control sequence string is printed to the console, the cursor moves forward 15 positions:

SAY cs_cursor_fw || 'Hello!'

Console Control Sequences

These control sequences allow you to move the cursor, erase characters, scroll the console window, control word wrapping, set console marginals, flash the screen, select graphic character set, set cursor properties, and change the line feed mode.

Command	Comment	Sequence of Characters (in Hexadecimal Form)
Bell	Flash the display	07
Backspace	Move cursor left one column	08
Horizontal Tab	Move cursor right one tab stop	09
Line Feed	Move cursor down one text line	0A
Vertical Tab	Move cursor up one text line	0B
Form Feed	Clear the console’s window	0C
Carriage Return	Move cursor to the first column	0D
Shift In	Use ASCII graphic characters	0E
Shift Out	Use ECMA 94 Latin 1 graphic characters	0F
Esc	Escape	1B
Index	Move the active position down one line	84
Next Line	Go to the beginning of the next line	85
Horizontal Tabulation	Set a tab at the active cursor position	88
Reverse Index	Move the active position up one line	8D
CSI	Control sequence introducer	9B
Reset to defaults	Reset console to Initial State	1B 63
Insert [N] Characters	Insert one or more spaces, shifting the remainder of the line to the right	9B [N] 40
Cursor On	Show cursor	9B 20 70
Cursor Off	Hide cursor	9B 30 20 70
Cursor Up [N] Positions	Move cursor up [N] character positions. Default is 1.	9B [N] 41
Cursor Down [N] Positions	Move cursor down [N] character positions. Default is 1.	9B [N] 42
Cursor Forward [N] Positions	Move cursor forward [N] character positions. Default is 1.	9B [N] 43
Cursor Backward [N] Positions	Move cursor backward [N] character positions. Default is 1.	9B [N] 44
Set Cursor Position	Where [N] is row, [M] is column, and semicolon (hex 3B) must be present as a separator, or if row is left out, so the console device can tell that the number after the semicolon actually represents the column number.	9B [N] [3B M] 48
Cursor Horizontal Tabulation	Move cursor forward [N] tab positions.	9B [N] 49
Cursor Next Line [N]	Move cursor [N] lines down. Cursor column is set to 1.	9B [N] 45
Cursor Preceding Line [N]	Move cursor [N] lines up. Cursor column is set to 1.	9B [N] 46
Erase in Display	Clear at end of the display starting from the current cursor position.	9B 4A
Erase in Line	Clear at the end of the line starting from the current cursor position.	9B 4B
Insert Line	Insert a line above the line containing the cursor.	9B 4C
Delete Line	Remove the current line, move all lines up one position to fill gap, and blank the bottom line.	9B 4D
Delete Character [N]	Delete the character that the cursor is sitting on and [N] characters to the right of the cursor.	9B [N] 50
Scroll up [N] Lines	Remove line(s) from the top of the console window, move all other lines up, and blank [N] bottom lines.	9B [N] 53
Scroll down [N] Lines	Remove line(s) from the bottom of the console window, move all other lines down, and blank [N] top lines.	9B [N] 54
Cursor Tabulation Control	Controls the cursor tabulation: when [N] = 0, set tab; when [N] = 2, clear tab; and when [N] = 5, clear all tabs.	9B [N] 57
Cursor Backward Tabulation	Move cursor backward [N] tab positions.	9B [N] 5A
Set Line Feed Mode	Cause Line Feed to respond as Return + Line Feed.	9B 32 30 68
Reset Newline Mode	Cause Line Feed to respond only as Line Feed.	9B 32 30 6C
Enable Scroll	Enable scrolling. This is the default setting.	9B 3E 31 68
Disable Scroll	Disable scrolling	9B 3E 31 6C
Autowrap On	Enable word wrapping. This is the default setting.	9B 3F 37 68
Autowrap Off	Disable word wrapping	9B 3F 37 6C
Set Page Length to N	In character raster lines, causes console to recalculate, using current font, how many text lines will fit on the page	9B N 74
Set Line Length to N	In character positions, using current font, how many characters should be placed on each line	9B N 75
Set Left Offset to N	In raster columns, how far from the left of the window should the text begin	9B N 78
Set Top Offset to N	In raster lines, how far from the top of the window’s RastPort should the topmost line of the character begin	9B N 79

Graphic Rendition Control Sequences

These control sequences allow you to change text style and colors.

The available text styles are: plain, bold, italic, underscore, strike-through, reverse video, faint, blinking, and concealed. Styles can be mixed, i.e. you can print bold italic text or reverse video italic text, etc.

Character color (foreground color), character cell color (text background color) and console background color can be selected freely from an 8 pen palette. The palette pen colors can be changed through the Console Preferences Editor. See Console Preferences Editor for more information on the console colors.

Command	Comment	Sequence of Characters (in Hexadecimal Form)
Plain Text	Plain text	9B 30 6D
Boldface On	Bolded	9B 31 6D
Italic On	Italics	9B 33 6D
Italic Off	Italics off	9B 32 33 6D
Underscore On	Underlined	9B 34 6D
Underscore Off	Underlined off	9B 32 34 6D
Strike-Through On		9B 39 6D
Strike-Through Off		9B 32 39 6D
Reverse Video On		9B 37 6D
Reverse Video Off		9B 32 37 6D
Faint On	Faint (secondary text color)	9B 32 6D
Faint Off / Boldface Off	Return to normal text color. This will also turn boldface off.	9B 32 32 6D
Slow Blink On	Start printing slowly blinking characters	9B 35 6D
Slow Blink Off	Stop printing slowly blinking characters	9B 32 35 6D
Fast Blink On	Start printing fast blinking characters	9B 36 6D
Fast Blink Off	Stop printing fast blinking characters	9B 32 36 6D
Concealed On	Enter concealed mode. In the concealed mode chracters are not printed.	9B 38 6D
Concealed Off	Exit concealed mode	9B 32 38 6D
Set Character Color	Select color 0	9B 33 30 6D
	Select color 1	9B 33 31 6D
	Select color 2	9B 33 32 6D
	Select color 3	9B 33 33 6D
	Select color 4	9B 33 34 6D
	Select color 5	9B 33 35 6D
	Select color 6	9B 33 36 6D
	Select color 7	9B 33 37 6D
	Select default color	9B 33 39 6D
Set Character Cell Color	Select color 0	9B 34 30 6D
	Select color 1	9B 34 31 6D
	Select color 2	9B 34 32 6D
	Select color 3	9B 34 33 6D
	Select color 4	9B 34 34 6D
	Select color 5	9B 34 35 6D
	Select color 6	9B 34 36 6D
	Select color 7	9B 34 37 6D
	Select default color	9B 34 39 6D
Set Background Color	Select color 0	9B 3E 30 6D
	Select color 1	9B 3E 31 6D
	Select color 2	9B 3E 32 6D
	Select color 3	9B 3E 33 6D
	Select color 4	9B 3E 34 6D
	Select color 5	9B 3E 35 6D
	Select color 6	9B 3E 36 6D
	Select color 7	9B 3E 37 6D

Examples

Flash the screen:

SAY '07'x

Clear the console window:

SAY '0c'x

Display a progress indicator utilizing the Vertical Tab:

SAY ''
DO index = 0 TO 100 BY 5
   SAY '0b'x || 'Processing: ' || index || '%'
   ADDRESS command 'Wait 1'
END

Print the same phrase using 9 different text styles:

/* VARIABLES */
phrase            = 'The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog'
cs_clear          = '0c'x
cs_plain          = '9b306d'x
cs_bold_on        = '9b316d'x
cs_bold_off       = '9b32326d'x
cs_italic_on      = '9b336d'x
cs_italic_off     = '9b32336d'x
cs_strike_on      = '9b396d'x
cs_strike_off     = '9b32396d'x
cs_underscore_on  = '9b346d'x
cs_underscore_off = '9b32346d'x
cs_faint_on       = '9b326d'x
cs_faint_off      = cs_bold_off
cs_reverse_on     = '9b376d'x
cs_reverse_off    = '9b32376d'x
cs_slow_blink_on  = '9b356d'x
cs_slow_blink_off = '9b32356d'x
cs_fast_blink_on  = '9b366d'x
cs_fast_blink_off = '9b32366d'x
 
/* Test text styles */
SAY cs_clear || cs_plain || 'Plain'
SAY cs_plain || phrase
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Bold'
SAY cs_bold_on || phrase || cs_bold_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Italic'
SAY cs_italic_on || phrase || cs_italic_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Strike-through'
SAY cs_strike_on || phrase || cs_strike_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Underscore'
SAY cs_underscore_on || phrase || cs_underscore_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Faint'
SAY cs_faint_on || phrase || cs_faint_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Reverse Video'
SAY cs_reverse_on || phrase || cs_reverse_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Slowly blinking'
SAY cs_slow_blink_on || phrase || cs_slow_blink_off
SAY ''
 
SAY cs_plain || 'Fast blinking'
SAY cs_fast_blink_on || phrase || cs_fast_blink_off
SAY ''

Test console color features:

/* VARIABLES */
phrase            = 'The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog'
cs_clear          = '0c'x
cs_defchcolor     = '9b33396d'x /* Character colors */
cs_chcolor.0      = '9b33306d'x
cs_chcolor.1      = '9b33316d'x
cs_chcolor.2      = '9b33326d'x
cs_chcolor.3      = '9b33336d'x
cs_chcolor.4      = '9b33346d'x
cs_chcolor.5      = '9b33356d'x
cs_chcolor.6      = '9b33366d'x
cs_chcolor.7      = '9b33376d'x
cs_defcccolor     = '9b34396d'x /* Character cell colors */
cs_cccolor.0      = '9b34306d'x
cs_cccolor.1      = '9b34316d'x
cs_cccolor.2      = '9b34326d'x
cs_cccolor.3      = '9b34336d'x
cs_cccolor.4      = '9b34346d'x
cs_cccolor.5      = '9b34356d'x
cs_cccolor.6      = '9b34366d'x
cs_cccolor.7      = '9b34376d'x
cs_bgcolor.0      = '9b3e306d'x /* Background colors */
cs_bgcolor.1      = '9b3e316d'x
cs_bgcolor.2      = '9b3e326d'x
cs_bgcolor.3      = '9b3e336d'x
cs_bgcolor.4      = '9b3e346d'x
cs_bgcolor.5      = '9b3e356d'x
cs_bgcolor.6      = '9b3e366d'x
cs_bgcolor.7      = '9b3e376d'x
 
SAY cs_clear || '---  Character Color  ---'
DO color = 0 TO 7
    SAY cs_defchcolor || color || ': ' || cs_chcolor.color || phrase || cs_defchcolor
END
SAY ''
 
SAY '---  Character Cell Color  ---'
DO color = 0 TO 7
    SAY cs_defcccolor || color || ': ' || cs_cccolor.color || phrase || cs_defcccolor
END
SAY ''
 
SAY '---  Background Color  ---'
SAY ''
SAY 'Press enter to change the background color.'
SAY ''
DO color = 0 TO 7
    SAY color || ':'
END
SAY COPIES( '0b'x, 8 + 1 )
DO color = 0 TO 7
    OPTIONS PROMPT cs_defchcolor || cs_defcccolor || color || ': '
    PARSE PULL key
    SAY '0b'x || color || ': Using background color ' || color || '.' || cs_bgcolor.color
END
SAY ''
OPTIONS PROMPT ''
OPTIONS PROMPT cs_defchcolor || cs_defcccolor || 'Press enter to exit.'
PARSE PULL key
SAY cs_bgcolor.0