Attribute (Ctrl-A) Codes

Attribute Codes (a.k.a. ^A codes) are terminal control sequences embedded in Synchronet text and menu display files.

Ctrl-A codes are primarily used in place of ANSI X3.64 terminal escape sequences to control terminal text attribute (e.g. color) combinations and perform some cursor positioning and other advanced features (not available with ANSI escape sequences).

The advantage that Ctrl-A codes have over ANSI escape sequences is that they are easily stripped out or converted by the Terminal Server of the BBS software to automatically meet the capabilities of the remote user's terminal. There are additional capabilities in Ctrl-A codes that go beyond the realm of terminal control and ANSI escape sequences.

The Ctrl-A character was chosen because it's a control character not often found in displayable text files or expected to be rendered in a consistent manner on all terminals. And “A” is for “Attribute”.

Ctrl-A codes may be included in most text files displayed to users of the Synchronet Terminal Server as well as messages posted in message bases, extended file descriptions, and other places where some colored text can give users the opportunity to better express themselves.

Ctrl-A codes are 2-character sequences that begin with a Ctrl-A (ASCII 1) character (hence the name) followed by a single character (the operand) which determines the operation to be performed. The only exception to this 2-character sequence is the Ctrl-A“filename code, which takes a filename as an argument and the filename is considered part of the sequence and not displayed.

It can sometimes require a special purpose text editor to actually enter a Ctrl-A character into a text file. Some editors may require a special key sequence or use of a menu option to enter an actual Ctrl-A character into a file. The graphical representation of the character may be a happy face (☺) or any other non-alphanumeric symbol that the editor chooses to render to represent that character code. There are @-Codes for the equivalent of most Ctrl-A codes, so consider using them if they are more convenient for your text editor of choice.

In the text.dat and possibly some other files (e.g. JavaScript and Baja source files), Ctrl-A characters may be included by using the escape sequence \1 (or \x01) rather than having to insert the actual control character into the file.

The ANS2ASC utility may be used to convert files encoded with ANSI X3.64 terminal escape sequences (e.g. *.ans) into Ctrl-A encoded output and the ASC2ANS utility can be used to perform the opposite operation (useful for editing Ctrl-A encoded files (e.g. *.msg or *.asc) with an ANSI-BBS screen editor).

The following table is a list of Color Control Ctrl-A codes and their purpose:

The following table is a list of Attribute Control Ctrl-A codes, and a brief description of each code's usage:

The rainbow attribute (Ctrl-AX or Ctrl-Ax code) enables an alternating attribute pattern that is configurable by the sysop in their ctrl/attr.ini file or by using the RAINBOW @-code.

• If you wish to start with an attribute offset from the beginning of the configured rainbow attribute pattern (i.e. don't start with the first attribute of the pattern), include multiple consecutive Ctrl-AX or Ctrl-Ax codes before the first text character that's to be colorized.
• If you wish for the last rainbow attribute to be repeated (rather than wrapping back to the first attribute) when the end of the attribute pattern is reached, use Ctrl-Ax (lowercase x) instead of Ctrl-AX

The High Intensity console attribute behaves as it does with ANSI terminals: that is, once enabled, the current color and any subsequent new colors will be rendered in their “high intensity” (bright) version. To revert to normal/dark colors, a Normal (or Optimized Normal) Ctrl-A code must be specified. The Normal attribute code will reset both the High Intensity and the current color - back to the default, “light gray”.

The Blink console attribute behaves similarly: once set, all newly-printed characters will have the blink attribute until a Normal attribute code is encountered.

The following table is a list of Terminal Control Ctrl-A codes, and a brief description of each code's usage:

The following table is a list of Macro Ctrl-A codes, and a brief description of each code's usage:

The following table is a list of Advanced Ctrl-A codes, and a brief description of each code's usage:

Synchronet also supports Secure Control Ctrl-A codes which may be used to hide text from users not meeting certain security criteria (i.e.: Security Level or Flags from Flag Set #1).

The following table is a list of Security Control Ctrl-A codes, and a brief description of each code's usage:

• @-Codes
• ANS2ASC
• ASC2ANS
• ANSI
• Customization
• ANSI Editors