DBBasic TextBrowser Color Demo

This page demonstrates HTML font colors in a text browser!

What You're Seeing

The <font color> tag was part of HTML since 1997, but text browsers never rendered it. Until now!

DBBasic TextBrowser bridges the gap between HTML colors and terminal colors, creating what could have been: a colorful BBS-style web.

Standard HTML Color Names

Basic Colors

Red - Errors, warnings, important notices

Green - Success, confirmation, positive actions

Blue - Information, links, neutral content

Yellow - Caution, highlights, attention

Cyan - Secondary information, metadata

Magenta - Special content, emphasis

White - Default text, primary content

Black - (May not be visible on dark backgrounds)

Extended Colors

Orange - Warnings (maps to yellow/red)

Purple - Special content (maps to magenta)

Pink - Highlight (maps to magenta)

Brown - Neutral (maps to yellow)

Gray - Muted content (maps to white/black)

Grey - British spelling also works!

Practical Examples

System Messages

✓ SUCCESS: Your changes have been saved.

✗ ERROR: Unable to connect to server.

⚠ WARNING: This action cannot be undone.

ℹ INFO: You have 3 unread messages.

Code Syntax

function calculateTotal() {

return price * quantity;

}

Status Indicators

Server Status: ● ONLINE

Database Status: ● ONLINE

Cache Status: ● DEGRADED

Backup Status: ● OFFLINE

Log Output

[2025-01-28 14:32:01] INFO Server started on port 8080

[2025-01-28 14:32:15] DEBUG Processing request from 192.168.1.1

[2025-01-28 14:32:16] WARN Slow query detected (2.3s)

[2025-01-28 14:32:20] ERROR Connection timeout

File Listings

documents/ - Directory

script.sh* - Executable

readme.txt - Text file

config.json - Config file

secret.key - Important file

Progress Indicators

Download: ████████████████████ 100%

Upload: ███████████░░░░░░░░░ 55%

Install: ███░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░░ 15%

The BBS-Style Web That Could Have Been

In the 1980s and 90s, BBS systems used ANSI color codes to create vibrant, colorful text interfaces.

In 1997, HTML added the <font color> tag.

But text browsers like Lynx never implemented it.

Why not? They had all the technology:

• Terminals supported 8-16 colors (ANSI codes)
• HTML defined standard color names
• Browsers could parse the tags

The result: The text web remained monochrome while BBSes were colorful.

Until now. DBBasic TextBrowser brings color to the text web.

Technical Details

Color Mapping

Terminal color palette (8 basic + bright variants):

• 0: Black
• 1: Red
• 2: Green
• 3: Yellow
• 4: Blue
• 5: Magenta
• 6: Cyan
• 7: White

Why This Works

• No bandwidth overhead - colors are text attributes
• Universal support - works in any terminal
• Semantic meaning - colors convey information
• Accessibility - color + text = redundant encoding
• Standards-based - uses HTML 3.2 tags

Rainbow Text Demo

Colorful text in a terminal!

ASCII Art + Color

    ___
   /   \
  | O O |  DBBasic TextBrowser
   \___/   Bringing color to the text web
    | |
   /   \
    

Compare With Modern Web

Modern Web (CSS):

<span class="text-red-500 font-bold bg-gray-100 px-4 py-2 rounded-lg">Error</span>

• Requires CSS framework (Tailwind)
• 50+ KB CSS file
• Doesn't work in text browsers
• Breaks without JavaScript sometimes

DBBasic TextBrowser (HTML font colors):

<font color="red">Error</font>

• No framework needed
• Zero CSS
• Works in text browsers
• Never breaks

Future Possibilities

What if the web had embraced terminal colors?

• SSH web browsing - Full color over slow connections
• BBS-style web apps - Text interfaces with color
• Low-bandwidth rich content - No images needed
• Terminal-native web - curl + color = rich experience
• Accessibility first - Screen readers + semantic color

Press Ctrl-K to go anywhere | Press H for help | Press Q to quit

DBBasic TextBrowser - The colorful text web that should have existed