AmigaOS Manual: Control Sequences

If an item is enclosed in square brackets, it is optional and may be omitted. For example, for Insert [N] Characters the value for N is shown as optional. The console device responds to such optional items by treating the value of N as 1 if it is not specified. The value of N or M is always a decimal number, having one or more ASCII digits to express its value.

Console Control Sequences

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
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 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

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
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 7 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
 
/* 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 ''

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