Console

Introduction

The VEXcode IQ (2nd gen) Console is displayed in the Monitor window within VEXcode. Console methods can display text, numbers, and variable values while a project is running. They can also clear the Console, read user input, and set the color of text printed after the color is changed.

When using VS Code, text-based Console output appears in the terminal instead of the VEXcode Console.

Note: When using the VEXcode Console, you must connect to the Console Serial Port before any output can be printed to the Console.

Below is a list of all methods:

Actions — Output text or clear the Console.

• print — Displays text, numbers, or variable values in the Console or terminal.

• clear_console — Clears all rows in the Console.

Getter — Read user input.

• input — Displays an optional prompt string, waits for user input, and returns the response as text.

Mutator — Format printed text.

• set_console_text_color — Sets the color used for text printed in the Console.

Actions

print

print displays text, numbers, or variable values in the Console. In VS Code, print displays output in the terminal.

Use custom string formatting when you want a printed message to include values from your project, like a score, timer, or sensor reading. See the String Formatting page for more information.

By default, each print() statement ends with \n, which stands for a new line. This moves the cursor to the next line after the value is printed. The optional end parameter changes what is added after the printed value.

Usage:
print(value, end=“\n”)

Parameter	Description
value	The text, number, or variable value to display in the Console or terminal.
end	Optional. The text added after value is printed. The default is “\n”, which moves the cursor to the next line. Use end=“” to keep the next printed value immediately after the previous value on the same line. Use another string, such as end=”, “, to add text between printed values.

# Display two messages on separate lines
print("Hello, robot!")
print("This prints on the next line.")

# Display two messages on the same line
print("Hello,", end=" ")
print("robot!")

# Print three colors on one line, separated by commas
colors = ["Red", "Green", "Blue"]

for color in colors:
    print(color, end=", ")

Escape Sequences

Escape sequences are short codes that can be printed with print to change how text appears in the Console.

Most projects should use set_console_text_color to change text color and clear_console to clear the Console. Escape sequences are useful when you want to do those things directly inside a print statement.

To change the text color, print \033 followed by a color code.

Color	Escape sequence
Red	\033[31m
Green	\033[32m
Blue	\033[34m
Black	\033[30m
White	\033[37m
Yellow	\033[33m
Orange	\033[91m
Purple	\033[35m
Cyan	\033[36m
Transparent	\033[97m

# Print VEXcode in red
print("\033[31mVEXcode")

# Set the Console text color to red before printing
print("\033[31m")
print("VEXcode")

To clear the entire Console with an escape sequence, print \033[2J. This also moves the cursor back to row 1.

# Clear the Console after two seconds
print("VEXcode")
wait(2, SECONDS)
print("\033[2J")

clear_console

clear_console clears all rows from the Console.

Usage:
clear_console()

Parameters	Description
	This method has no parameters.

# Display text, then clear it after two seconds
print("This will disappear...")
wait(2, SECONDS)
clear_console()

Getter

input

input displays an optional prompt string, waits for the user to enter a response, then returns that response as text.

The project pauses at input() until a response is entered in the Console. In VS Code, the response is entered in the terminal.

The value returned by input() is always text. To use the response as a number, convert it first with int() or float().

Usage:
input(prompt)

Parameter	Description
prompt	Optional. A string to display in the Console or terminal before waiting for a response. If no prompt is included, no message is displayed before waiting.

# Ask for a name, then print a greeting
answer = input("What's your name?")
print("Hello, " + answer)

# Ask for a number, then use it in math
answer = input("Enter a number:")
number = float(answer)
print(number + 1)

Mutator

set_console_text_color

set_console_text_color sets the color used for text printed in the Console after this method is used. At the start of a project, the Console text color is set to BLUE.

This method changes text color in the VEXcode Console. In VS Code, terminal color support can vary by terminal.

Usage:
set_console_text_color(color)

Parameter	Description
color	The color to use for text printed in the Console: Color.BLACK Color.BLUE Color.CYAN Color.GREEN Color.ORANGE Color.PURPLE Color.RED Color.WHITE Color.YELLOW

# Print text in different colors
print("Default text color")
set_console_text_color(Color.RED)
print("Red text color")