[RFC] Allow copying ANSI escape code control sequences

This is an initial attempt at allowing including control sequences in
text copied from the terminal, for use in tools that subsequently know
how to parse and display that. See microsoft#15703.

At a high level, so far this:
- Expands the `CopyTextArgs` to have a `withControlSequences` bool.
- Plumbs that bool down through many layers to where we actuall get data
  out of the text buffer.
- Adds basic proof-of-concept functionality in the text buffer to
  generate the relevant control sequences based on the text attributes
  and uses that when the bool is set.

Right now I'm mainly looking for feedback on whether this is something
that might be accepted (is this functionality that's wanted) and whether
this approach broadly seems reasonable. If both of those "checks" pass,
I'll work on polishing this up with completeness, tests, etc.

doc/cascadia/profiles.schema.json

@@ -851,6 +851,11 @@
  "default": false,
  "description": "If true, the copied content will be copied as a single line (even if there are hard line breaks present in the text). If false, newlines persist from the selected text."
  },
+ "withControlSequences": {
+ "type": "boolean",
+ "default": false,
+ "description": "If true, copied content will contain ANSI escape code control sequences representing the styling of the content."
+ },
  "dismissSelection": {
  "type": "boolean",
  "default": true,

src/buffer/out/textBuffer.cpp

@@ -12,9 +12,11 @@
 #include "../../types/inc/GlyphWidth.hpp"
 #include "../renderer/base/renderer.hpp"
 #include "../types/inc/utils.hpp"
+#include "../terminal/adapter/DispatchTypes.hpp"
 
 using namespace Microsoft::Console;
 using namespace Microsoft::Console::Types;
+using namespace Microsoft::Console::VirtualTerminal::DispatchTypes;
 
 using PointTree = interval_tree::IntervalTree<til::point, size_t>;
 
@@ -2102,6 +2104,97 @@ std::wstring TextBuffer::GetPlainText(const CopyRequest& req) const
  return selectedText;
 }
 
+// TODO - Description
+std::wstring TextBuffer::GetWithControlSequences(const CopyRequest& req) const
+{
+ if (req.beg > req.end)
+ {
+ return {};
+ }
+
+ std::wstring selectedText;
+ TextAttribute previousAttr;
+
+ for (auto iRow = req.beg.y; iRow <= req.end.y; ++iRow)
+ {
+ const auto& row = GetRowByOffset(iRow);
+ const auto [rowBeg, rowEnd, addLineBreak] = _RowCopyHelper(req, iRow, row);
+ const auto rowBegU16 = gsl::narrow_cast<uint16_t>(rowBeg);
+ const auto rowEndU16 = gsl::narrow_cast<uint16_t>(rowEnd);
+ const auto runs = row.Attributes().slice(rowBegU16, rowEndU16).runs();
+
+ auto x = rowBegU16;
+ for (const auto& [attr, length] : runs)
+ {
+ const auto nextX = gsl::narrow_cast<uint16_t>(x + length);
+ // TODO - Rest of the implementation, currently just handling Index16 foreground colors
+ const auto fg = attr.GetForeground();
+
+ if (fg != previousAttr.GetForeground())
+ {
+ auto fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundDefault;
+
+ if (!fg.IsDefault() && fg.IsIndex16())
+ {
+ switch (fg.GetIndex())
+ {
+ case TextColor::DARK_BLACK:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundBlack;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_BLUE:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundBlue;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_GREEN:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundGreen;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_CYAN:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundCyan;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_RED:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundRed;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_MAGENTA:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundMagenta;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_YELLOW:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundYellow;
+ break;
+ case TextColor::DARK_WHITE:
+ fgCode = GraphicsOptions::ForegroundWhite;
+ break;
+ }
+ }
+ selectedText += L"\x1b[" + std::to_wstring(fgCode) + L"m";
+ }
+ //const auto [fg, bg, ul] = GetAttributeColors(attr);
+ //const auto fgHex = Utils::ColorToHexString(fg);
+ //const auto bgHex = Utils::ColorToHexString(bg);
+ //const auto ulHex = Utils::ColorToHexString(ul);
+ //const auto ulStyle = attr.GetUnderlineStyle();
+ //const auto isUnderlined = ulStyle != UnderlineStyle::NoUnderline;
+ //const auto isCrossedOut = attr.IsCrossedOut();
+ //const auto isOverlined = attr.IsOverlined();
+ //if (isIntenseBold && attr.IsIntense())
+ //if (attr.IsItalic())
+
+ // text
+ selectedText += row.GetText(x, nextX);
+
+ // advance to next run of text
+ x = nextX;
+ previousAttr = attr;
+ }
+
+ if (addLineBreak && iRow != req.end.y)
+ {
+ // TODO - Add a reset?
+ selectedText += L"\r\n";
+ }
+ }
+
+ return selectedText;
+}
+
 // Routine Description:
 // - Generates a CF_HTML compliant structure from the selected region of the buffer
 // Arguments:

src/buffer/out/textBuffer.hpp

@@ -271,6 +271,8 @@ class TextBuffer final
 
  std::wstring GetPlainText(const CopyRequest& req) const;
 
+ std::wstring GetWithControlSequences(const CopyRequest& req) const;
+
  std::string GenHTML(const CopyRequest& req,
  const int fontHeightPoints,
  const std::wstring_view fontFaceName,

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/AppActionHandlers.cpp

@@ -548,7 +548,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
  {
  if (const auto& realArgs = args.ActionArgs().try_as<CopyTextArgs>())
  {
- const auto handled = _CopyText(realArgs.DismissSelection(), realArgs.SingleLine(), realArgs.CopyFormatting());
+ const auto handled = _CopyText(realArgs.DismissSelection(), realArgs.SingleLine(), realArgs.WithControlSequences(), realArgs.CopyFormatting());
  args.Handled(handled);
  }
  }

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TerminalPage.cpp

@@ -2856,14 +2856,15 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
  // Arguments:
  // - dismissSelection: if not enabled, copying text doesn't dismiss the selection
  // - singleLine: if enabled, copy contents as a single line of text
+ // - withControlSequences: if enabled, the copied plain text contains color/style ANSI escape codes from the selection
  // - formats: dictate which formats need to be copied
  // Return Value:
  // - true iff we we able to copy text (if a selection was active)
- bool TerminalPage::_CopyText(const bool dismissSelection, const bool singleLine, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
+ bool TerminalPage::_CopyText(const bool dismissSelection, const bool singleLine, const bool withControlSequences, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
  {
  if (const auto& control{ _GetActiveControl() })
  {
- return control.CopySelectionToClipboard(dismissSelection, singleLine, formats);
+ return control.CopySelectionToClipboard(dismissSelection, singleLine, withControlSequences, formats);
  }
  return false;
  }

src/cascadia/TerminalApp/TerminalPage.h

@@ -401,7 +401,7 @@ namespace winrt::TerminalApp::implementation
  bool _IsUriSupported(const winrt::Windows::Foundation::Uri& parsedUri);
 
  void _ShowCouldNotOpenDialog(winrt::hstring reason, winrt::hstring uri);
- bool _CopyText(const bool dismissSelection, const bool singleLine, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<Microsoft::Terminal::Control::CopyFormat>& formats);
+ bool _CopyText(const bool dismissSelection, const bool singleLine, const bool withControlSequences, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<Microsoft::Terminal::Control::CopyFormat>& formats);
 
  winrt::fire_and_forget _SetTaskbarProgressHandler(const IInspectable sender, const IInspectable eventArgs);
 

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/ControlCore.cpp

@@ -568,7 +568,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  else if (vkey == VK_RETURN && !mods.IsCtrlPressed() && !mods.IsAltPressed())
  {
  // [Shift +] Enter --> copy text
- CopySelectionToClipboard(mods.IsShiftPressed(), nullptr);
+ CopySelectionToClipboard(mods.IsShiftPressed(), false, nullptr);
  _terminal->ClearSelection();
  _updateSelectionUI();
  return true;
@@ -1307,9 +1307,11 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  // Windows Clipboard (CascadiaWin32:main.cpp).
  // Arguments:
  // - singleLine: collapse all of the text to one line
+ // - withControlSequences: if enabled, the copied plain text contains color/style ANSI escape codes from the selection
  // - formats: which formats to copy (defined by action's CopyFormatting arg). nullptr
  // if we should defer which formats are copied to the global setting
  bool ControlCore::CopySelectionToClipboard(bool singleLine,
+ bool withControlSequences,
  const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
  {
  ::Microsoft::Terminal::Core::Terminal::TextCopyData payload;
@@ -1331,7 +1333,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
 
  // extract text from buffer
  // RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer will lock while it's reading
- payload = _terminal->RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(singleLine, copyHtml, copyRtf);
+ payload = _terminal->RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(singleLine, withControlSequences, copyHtml, copyRtf);
  }
 
  copyToClipboard(payload.plainText, payload.html, payload.rtf);

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/ControlCore.h

@@ -121,7 +121,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
 
  void SendInput(const winrt::hstring& wstr);
  void PasteText(const winrt::hstring& hstr);
- bool CopySelectionToClipboard(bool singleLine, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats);
+ bool CopySelectionToClipboard(bool singleLine, bool withControlSequences, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats);
  void SelectAll();
  void ClearSelection();
  bool ToggleBlockSelection();

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/ControlInteractivity.cpp

@@ -194,9 +194,11 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  // Windows Clipboard (CascadiaWin32:main.cpp).
  // Arguments:
  // - singleLine: collapse all of the text to one line
+ // - withControlSequences: if enabled, the copied plain text contains color/style ANSI escape codes from the selection
  // - formats: which formats to copy (defined by action's CopyFormatting arg). nullptr
  // if we should defer which formats are copied to the global setting
  bool ControlInteractivity::CopySelectionToClipboard(bool singleLine,
+ bool withControlSequences,
  const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
  {
  if (_core)
@@ -213,7 +215,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  // Mark the current selection as copied
  _selectionNeedsToBeCopied = false;
 
- return _core->CopySelectionToClipboard(singleLine, formats);
+ return _core->CopySelectionToClipboard(singleLine, withControlSequences, formats);
  }
 
  return false;
@@ -312,7 +314,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  else
  {
  // Try to copy the text and clear the selection
- const auto successfulCopy = CopySelectionToClipboard(shiftEnabled, nullptr);
+ const auto successfulCopy = CopySelectionToClipboard(shiftEnabled, false, nullptr);
  _core->ClearSelection();
  if (_core->CopyOnSelect() || !successfulCopy)
  {
@@ -441,7 +443,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  // IMPORTANT!
  // DO NOT clear the selection here!
  // Otherwise, the selection will be cleared immediately after you make it.
- CopySelectionToClipboard(false, nullptr);
+ CopySelectionToClipboard(false, false, nullptr);
  }
 
  _singleClickTouchdownPos = std::nullopt;

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/ControlInteractivity.h

@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
 #pragma endregion
 
  bool CopySelectionToClipboard(bool singleLine,
+ bool withControlSequences,
  const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats);
  void RequestPasteTextFromClipboard();
  void SetEndSelectionPoint(const Core::Point pixelPosition);

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/ControlInteractivity.idl

@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.Terminal.Control
 
  InteractivityAutomationPeer OnCreateAutomationPeer();
 
- Boolean CopySelectionToClipboard(Boolean singleLine, Windows.Foundation.IReference<CopyFormat> formats);
+ Boolean CopySelectionToClipboard(Boolean singleLine, Boolean withControlSequences, Windows.Foundation.IReference<CopyFormat> formats);
  void RequestPasteTextFromClipboard();
  void SetEndSelectionPoint(Microsoft.Terminal.Core.Point point);
 

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/HwndTerminal.cpp

@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ try
  const auto lock = publicTerminal->_terminal->LockForWriting();
  if (publicTerminal->_terminal->IsSelectionActive())
  {
- const auto bufferData = publicTerminal->_terminal->RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(false, true, true);
+ const auto bufferData = publicTerminal->_terminal->RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(false, false, true, true);
  LOG_IF_FAILED(publicTerminal->_CopyTextToSystemClipboard(bufferData.plainText, bufferData.html, bufferData.rtf));
  publicTerminal->_ClearSelection();
  return 0;

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/TermControl.cpp

@@ -2217,16 +2217,17 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  // Arguments:
  // - dismissSelection: dismiss the text selection after copy
  // - singleLine: collapse all of the text to one line
+ // - withControlSequences: if enabled, the copied plain text contains color/style ANSI escape codes from the selection
  // - formats: which formats to copy (defined by action's CopyFormatting arg). nullptr
  // if we should defer which formats are copied to the global setting
- bool TermControl::CopySelectionToClipboard(bool dismissSelection, bool singleLine, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
+ bool TermControl::CopySelectionToClipboard(bool dismissSelection, bool singleLine, bool withControlSequences, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats)
  {
  if (_IsClosing())
  {
  return false;
  }
 
- const auto successfulCopy = _interactivity.CopySelectionToClipboard(singleLine, formats);
+ const auto successfulCopy = _interactivity.CopySelectionToClipboard(singleLine, withControlSequences, formats);
 
  if (dismissSelection)
  {
@@ -3697,7 +3698,8 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
  const IInspectable& /*args*/)
  {
  // formats = nullptr -> copy all formats
- _interactivity.CopySelectionToClipboard(false, nullptr);
+ // TODO - Maybe use args here???
+ _interactivity.CopySelectionToClipboard(false, false, nullptr);
  ContextMenu().Hide();
  SelectionContextMenu().Hide();
  }

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/TermControl.h

@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Control::implementation
 
  hstring GetProfileName() const;
 
- bool CopySelectionToClipboard(bool dismissSelection, bool singleLine, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats);
+ bool CopySelectionToClipboard(bool dismissSelection, bool singleLine, bool withControlSequences, const Windows::Foundation::IReference<CopyFormat>& formats);
  void PasteTextFromClipboard();
  void SelectAll();
  bool ToggleBlockSelection();

src/cascadia/TerminalControl/TermControl.idl

@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.Terminal.Control
  event Windows.Foundation.TypedEventHandler<Object, Object> CloseTerminalRequested;
  event Windows.Foundation.TypedEventHandler<Object, Object> RestartTerminalRequested;
 
- Boolean CopySelectionToClipboard(Boolean dismissSelection, Boolean singleLine, Windows.Foundation.IReference<CopyFormat> formats);
+ Boolean CopySelectionToClipboard(Boolean dismissSelection, Boolean singleLine, Boolean withControlSequences, Windows.Foundation.IReference<CopyFormat> formats);
  void PasteTextFromClipboard();
  void SelectAll();
  Boolean ToggleBlockSelection();

src/cascadia/TerminalCore/Terminal.hpp

@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ class Microsoft::Terminal::Core::Terminal final :
  til::point SelectionEndForRendering() const;
  const SelectionEndpoint SelectionEndpointTarget() const noexcept;
 
- TextCopyData RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(const bool singleLine, const bool html = false, const bool rtf = false) const;
+ TextCopyData RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(const bool singleLine, const bool withControlSequences = false, const bool html = false, const bool rtf = false) const;
 #pragma endregion
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG

src/cascadia/TerminalCore/TerminalSelection.cpp

@@ -871,12 +871,13 @@ void Terminal::ClearSelection()
 // - Optionally, get the highlighted text in HTML and RTF formats
 // Arguments:
 // - singleLine: collapse all of the text to one line. (Turns off trailing whitespace trimming)
+// - withControlSequences: if enabled, the copied plain text contains color/style ANSI escape codes from the selection
 // - html: also get text in HTML format
 // - rtf: also get text in RTF format
 // Return Value:
 // - Plain and formatted selected text from buffer. Empty string represents no data for that format.
 // - If extended to multiple lines, each line is separated by \r\n
-Terminal::TextCopyData Terminal::RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(const bool singleLine, const bool html, const bool rtf) const
+Terminal::TextCopyData Terminal::RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(const bool singleLine, const bool withControlSequences, const bool html, const bool rtf) const
 {
  TextCopyData data;
 
@@ -894,7 +895,14 @@ Terminal::TextCopyData Terminal::RetrieveSelectedTextFromBuffer(const bool singl
  const auto& textBuffer = _activeBuffer();
 
  const auto req = TextBuffer::CopyRequest::FromConfig(textBuffer, _selection->start, _selection->end, singleLine, _blockSelection, _trimBlockSelection);
- data.plainText = textBuffer.GetPlainText(req);
+ if (withControlSequences)
+ {
+ data.plainText = textBuffer.GetWithControlSequences(req);
+ }
+ else
+ {
+ data.plainText = textBuffer.GetPlainText(req);
+ }
 
  if (html || rtf)
  {

src/cascadia/TerminalSettingsModel/ActionArgs.cpp

@@ -206,6 +206,12 @@ namespace winrt::Microsoft::Terminal::Settings::Model::implementation
  ss << RS_(L"CopyTextCommandKey").c_str();
  }
 
+ // TODO - better names if WithControlSequences() is true?
+ if (WithControlSequences())
+ {
+ ss << L", withControlSequences: true";
+ }
+
  if (!DismissSelection())
  {
  ss << L", dismissSelection: false";

src/cascadia/TerminalSettingsModel/ActionArgs.h

@@ -102,9 +102,10 @@ protected: \
 // false, if we don't really care if the parameter is required or not.
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
-#define COPY_TEXT_ARGS(X) \
- X(bool, DismissSelection, "dismissSelection", false, true) \
- X(bool, SingleLine, "singleLine", false, false) \
+#define COPY_TEXT_ARGS(X) \
+ X(bool, DismissSelection, "dismissSelection", false, true) \
+ X(bool, SingleLine, "singleLine", false, false) \
+ X(bool, WithControlSequences, "withControlSequences", false, false) \
  X(Windows::Foundation::IReference<Control::CopyFormat>, CopyFormatting, "copyFormatting", false, nullptr)
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////