Console-rs is a Rust library that provides cross-platform utilities for working with terminals and console applications. It offers features such as colored output, cursor manipulation, and terminal size detection, making it easier to create rich command-line interfaces in Rust.

Pros

• Cross-platform compatibility (Windows, macOS, Linux)
• Easy-to-use API for terminal manipulation and styling
• Supports ANSI colors and styles
• Provides terminal size detection and cursor movement

Cons

• Limited support for complex terminal layouts
• May have performance overhead for very large output
• Requires runtime checks for terminal capabilities
• Some advanced features might not work in all terminal emulators

Code Examples

1. Colored output:

use console::style;

println!("This is {}!", style("colored").red());
println!("This is {}!", style("bold").bold());

2. Terminal size detection:

use console::Term;

let term = Term::stdout();
let (width, height) = term.size();
println!("Terminal size: {}x{}", width, height);

3. Cursor manipulation:

use console::Term;

let term = Term::stdout();
term.clear_screen()?;
term.move_cursor_to(10, 5)?;
println!("This text appears at row 5, column 10");

4. Progress bar:

use console::Term;
use std::{thread, time};

let term = Term::stdout();
for i in 0..=100 {
    term.clear_line()?;
    term.write_str(&format!("Progress: {}%", i))?;
    thread::sleep(time::Duration::from_millis(50));
}

Getting Started

To use console-rs in your Rust project, add the following to your Cargo.toml:

[dependencies]
console = "0.15.5"

Then, in your Rust code, you can import and use the library like this:

use console::{style, Term};

fn main() -> std::io::Result<()> {
    let term = Term::stdout();
    term.write_line(&format!("Hello, {}!", style("world").cyan()))?;
    Ok(())
}

This example prints "Hello, world!" with the word "world" in cyan color.