Struct Color

Namespace: Terminal.Gui.Drawing

Assembly: Terminal.Gui.dll

Represents a 24-bit color encoded in ARGB32 format.

The RGB components define the color identity (what color it is), while the alpha channel defines rendering intent (how transparent it should be when drawn).

[JsonConverter(typeof(ColorJsonConverter))]
public readonly struct Color : ISpanParsable<Color>, IParsable<Color>, IUtf8SpanParsable<Color>, ISpanFormattable, IFormattable, IUtf8SpanFormattable, IMinMaxValue<Color>, IEquatable<Color>

Implements: ISpanParsable<Color>

IParsable<Color>

IUtf8SpanParsable<Color>

ISpanFormattable

IFormattable

IUtf8SpanFormattable

IMinMaxValue<Color>

IEquatable<Color>

Inherited Members: object.GetType()

object.Equals(object, object)

object.ReferenceEquals(object, object)

Remarks

When matching colors to standard color names (e.g., via GetColorName(Color)), the alpha channel is ignored. This means colors with the same RGB values but different alpha values will resolve to the same color name. This design supports transparency features while maintaining semantic color identity.

While Terminal.Gui does not currently support alpha blending during rendering, the alpha channel is used to indicate rendering intent:

<ul><li>Alpha = 0: Fully transparent (don't render)</li><li>Alpha = 255: Fully opaque (normal rendering)</li><li>Other values: Reserved for future alpha blending support</li></ul>

Constructors

Color(): Initializes a new instance of the Color with all channels set to 0.

Color(int): Initializes a new instance of the Color class with an encoded signed 32-bit color value in ARGB32 format.

Color(int, int, int, int): Initializes a new instance of the Color struct using the supplied component values.

Color(string): Initializes a new instance of the Color color from string. See TryParse(string, out Color?) for details.

Color(uint): Initializes a new instance of the Color class with an encoded unsigned 32-bit color value in ARGB32 format.

Color(in ColorName16): Initializes a new instance of the Color color from a legacy 16-color named value.

Color(in StandardColor): Initializes a new instance of the Color color from a value in the StandardColor enum.

Fields

A: The value of the alpha channel component

Argb: The value of this Color as a uint in ARGB32 format.

B: The value of the blue color component.

Black: The black color.

Blue: The blue color.

BrightBlue: The bright bBlue color.

BrightCyan: The bright cyan color.

BrightGreen: The bright green color.

BrightMagenta: The bright magenta color.

BrightRed: The bright red color.

BrightYellow: The bright yellow color.

Cyan: The cyan color.

DarkGray: The dark gray color.

G: The value of the green color component.

Gray: The gray color.

Green: The green color.

Magenta: The magenta color.

None: No color (alpha = 0). When used in an Attribute, the terminal's default foreground or background color is used instead of an explicit color. This allows the terminal's native background (including any transparency or acrylic effects) to show through.

R: The value of the red color component.

Red: The red color.

Rgba: The value of this Color encoded as a signed 32-bit integer in ARGB32 format.

White: The White color.

Yellow: The yellow color.

Properties

Colors16: Gets or sets the 3-byte/6-character hexadecimal value for each of the legacy 16-color values.

Methods

Equals(object)

Equals(Color)

GetAnsiColorCode(): Gets the Color using a legacy 16-color ColorName16 value. get will return the closest 16 color match to the true color when no exact value is found.

GetBrighterColor(double, bool?): Returns a "highlighted" version of this color — visually more prominent against the given background context.

GetClosestNamedColor16(): Gets the Color using a legacy 16-color ColorName16 value. get will return the closest 16 color match to the true color when no exact value is found.

GetDimmerColor(double, bool?): Returns a "dimmed" version of this color appropriate for the given background context. On dark backgrounds, dims by reducing lightness (darker). On light backgrounds, dims by increasing lightness (lighter/washed out), moving the color toward the background.

GetHashCode()

IsClosestToNamedColor16(in ColorName16): Determines if the closest named Color to this is the provided namedColor.

IsDarkColor(): Returns true if this color is "dark" (HSL lightness < 0.5).

ToString(): Converts the color to a string representation.

ToString(string?, IFormatProvider?): Returns a string representation of the current Color value, according to the provided formatString and optional formatProvider.

TryFormat(Span<byte>, out int, ReadOnlySpan<char>, IFormatProvider?)

TryFormat(Span<char>, out int, ReadOnlySpan<char>, IFormatProvider?)

TryParse(string, out Color?): Converts the provided string to a new Color instance.

Operators

operator ==(Color, Color)

explicit operator Vector3(Color): Implicit conversion from Color to Vector3 via Vector3(float, float, float) where ( X, Y, Z) is (R,G,B).

implicit operator Color(int): Implicit conversion from int to Color, via the Color(int) costructor.

implicit operator Color(Vector3): Implicit conversion from Vector3, where X = R, Y = G, and Z = B.

implicit operator Color(Vector4): Implicit conversion from Vector4 to Color, where (X, Y, Z, W) is (A,R, G,B), via Color(int, int, int, int).

implicit operator Color(uint): Implicit conversion from uint to Color, via the Color(uint) costructor.

implicit operator int(Color): Implicit conversion from Color to int by returning the value of the Rgba field.

implicit operator Vector4(Color): Implicit conversion to Vector3, where X = R, Y = G, and Z = B.

implicit operator uint(Color): Implicit conversion from Color to uint by returning the value of the Argb field.

implicit operator Color(ColorName16): Implicit conversion from Terminal.Gui.Drawing.Color.GetClosestNamedColor16(Terminal.Gui.Drawing.Color) to Color via lookup from Terminal.Gui.Drawing.ColorExtensions.ColorName16ToColorMap.