How can I get colored output in VS Code output window?

Question

This is really a two part question, but they are in the same vein, so I will ask in one post.

When I flip through various colors, I see that they also have the ability to change the color of the Output window. Which VS Code setting can I use to change the color of this output? To be specific, I am not asking about the terminal, I am inquiring about the output window that displays the output when using coderunner as an example. Please refer to the screenshot to see which window I am referring to.

Second question is I can see that the output does support multiple colors. I am trying to use the module cpprint from the python lib prettyprinter to print colored output to this window. When I run the script in a terminal, I am getting colors, but in the output window, I am not getting any colors. Will it be possible for me to get similar colored output in the output window as in the terminal? I am assuming the output window supports colors because the [Running]... and end are in colors.

The Python lib I was referring to

Thanks!

Answer 1

So, for long while now, we have had to resort to an IBM developed extension named Output Colorizer, however, this extension clashed with other extensions, and cuased an array of bugs/issues. I personally had to disable it because it was causing text to not print at all in my output window.

We now have a much more robust, built-in solution, and it doesn't require doing anything.

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Visual Studio Code added syntax-highlighting support to the "Output Channel" as part of a Milestone that it had been working on, in its March 2022 Release.

The syntax highlighting is configured by a specified languages grammar. The language grammar that is used will vary, depending on which output channel you use. The person who decided on the language syntax highlighting used for any given output-channel is the person who authored the extension that the output-channel belongs too.

Here is the link to the official release note

Because the output highlights syntax on a language basis, configuring what colors the new feature uses to color any given text, is done the same way you color syntax.

In Depth Explanation:

If numbers are set by your theme to render green (#00FF00), then, then numbers that are printed in the Output View Panel will also be green.

If the language defined constants true & false render as a pastel-red (#FF7799) when you are writing TypeScript, but when you have a Java file open, they render as a bright pastel-yellow-green (#BBEE88), then the way they render will be contingent on whether or not the output window was set to Java or TypeScript. Obviously an output window for an extension that's a tool for Java, will most likely highlight syntax as Java. A typescript-tool extension will likely highlight all syntax as if it were typescript.

Some People Might Prefer that the Feature be more Customizable

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Some people might want a more customizable feature, but I think it would be a mistake, even if it were possible, to highlight the syntax in the output differently from the editor. In fact, thinking about it, it would be stupid to have done that. It makes perfect sense that it is the way it is.

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Anyways, that is the end of the Color in the Output Channel, or at-least for now.