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                                     VTCOL
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Change the color scheme (and more) of the virtual Linux console.

Color schemes
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Use ``vtcol colors`` to manipulate the console palette.

**vtcol** knows two ways of loading a color scheme: From a set of predefined
palettes or by loading it from a definition file. The latter accepts input in
the format supported by setcolors_. (Not much effort has been put into ensuring
compliance so YMMV.) Check the subdirectory ``./schemes`` in the **vtcol** tree
for examples of definition files.

Three color schemes are predefined:

    * ``default``          the default color scheme of the Linux console.
    * ``solarized``        the Solarized_ color scheme, dark version.
    * ``solarized_light``  the Solarized_ color scheme, light version.

Invoke **vtcol** with the ``set`` command specifying the scheme of your
choice: ::

    $ vtcol colors set solarized_light

In order to view the available schemes, use the ``list`` command. Should the
scheme specified not resolve to one of the predefined ones, **vtcol** will fall
back on interpreting the name as that of a file. Likewise, loading a scheme
directly from a definition file is accomplished by specifying the ``--file``
argument to ``set``. ::

    $ vtcol colors set --file ./schemes/solarized

Instead of an actual scheme or file name, these parameters accept ``-``
as an argument in order to read from ``stdin``. ::

    $ vtcol colors set -

To show the current scheme of the active console use the ``get`` subcommand: ::

    $ vtcol colors get
    solarized_dark

With the ``-base64`` switch ``vtcol`` outputs a binary representation of color
schemes: ::

    $ vtcol colors get --base64
    ACs23DIvhZkAtYkAJovS0zaCKqGY7ujVACs2y0sWWG51ZXuDg5SWbHHEk6Gh/fbj

which can then be re-applied with ``vtcol set``::

    $ vtcol colors set --base64 \
        ACs23DIvhZkAtYkAJovS0zaCKqGY7ujVACs2y0sWWG51ZXuDg5SWbHHEk6Gh/fbj

It is also possible to use vtcol to switch between two themes by means of the
``toggle`` subcommand. E. g. to cycle between “dark mode” and “light mode”: ::

    $ vtcol colors toggle solarized solarized_light

To view a scheme’s definition, for instance in order to verify that **vtcol**
parses it correctly, use the ``dump`` command. ::

    $ vtcol colors dump default
    $ vtcol colors dump ./schemes/solarized

This will print the color definitions contained in the scheme; if the specified
name does not resolve to a pre-defined scheme it will be interpreted as a file
name instead.

Keyboard LEDs
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Show the current state of the keyboard LEDs: ::

    $ vtcol leds get
    caps: false, num: true, scroll: false

Building
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Use Cargo to obtain a binary: ::

    $ cargo build --features=vtcol-bin

To generate the manpage, run ::

    $ make man

*rst2man* from the *Docutils* suite needs to be installed for this.

Background
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The default palette that comes with a Linux terminal was inherited from a long
history of virtual console implementations. The colors assigned were chosen for
pragmatic reasons but that palette may not harmonize with everybody’s taste.
Enter **vtcol**.

**vtcol** attempts to make the console colors themeable with a simple plain
text input format. The very popular themes from the Solarized_ family are
included as predefined palettes; the same is true of the Linux default palette,
so they can be conveniently restored when experimenting.

About
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The **vtcol** source code is available from the `canonical repository`_.
**vtcol** is redistributable under the terms of the `GNU General Public
License`_ version 3 (exactly). Patches or suggestions welcome.

.. _setcolors:                  https://github.com/EvanPurkhiser/linux-vt-setcolors
.. _Solarized:                  http://ethanschoonover.com/solarized
.. _GNU General Public License: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
.. _canonical repository:       https://gitlab.com/phgsng/vtcol