How to use SetConsoleTextAttribute C++ - winapi

Question

I have searched countless forums and websites but I can't seem to find the answer. I'm trying to use SetConsoleTextAttribute but it only affects the text. How can I affect the whole screen like the command color 1f would? My code is:
#include <iostream>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <windows.h>
#include <wincon.h>
using namespace std;
int main()
{
SetConsoleTitle("C++ CALCULATOR"); // Title of window
int x; // Decision
int a; // First Number
int b; // Second Number
int c; // Answer
HANDLE Con;
Con = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
SetConsoleTextAttribute(Con, BACKGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_RED);
cout << "CALCULATOR" << endl << endl;
cout << "1:ADDITION" << endl << "2:SUBTRACTION" << endl << "3:MULTIPLICATION";
cout << endl << "4:DIVISION" << endl << "5:EXIT" << endl;
cin >> x;
switch (x)
{
case 1: // Addition code
cout << endl << "ADDITION" << endl << "FIRST NUMBER:";
cin >> a;
cout << endl << "SECOND NUMBER:";
cin >> b;
c = a + b;
cout << endl << "ANSWER:" << c;
break;
case 2: // Subtraction code
cout << endl << "SUBTRACTION" << endl << "FIRST NUMBER:";
cin >> a;
cout << endl << "SECOND NUMBER:";
cin >> b;
c = a - b;
cout << endl << "ANSWER:" << c;
break;
case 3: // Multiplication code
cout << endl << "MULTIPLICATION" << endl << "FIRST NUMBER:";
cin >> a;
cout << endl << "SECOND NUMBER:";
cin >> b;
c = a * b;
cout << endl << "ANSWER:" << c;
break;
case 4: // Division code
cout << endl << "DIVISION" << endl << "FIRST NUMBER:";
cin >> a;
cout << endl << "SECOND NUMBER:";
cin >> b;
c = a / b;
cout << endl << "ANSWER:" << c;
break;
case 5: // Exit code
return 0;
}
}

Answer 1

This solution relies on these WinAPI functions and structures:
GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo to get screen dimensions
FillConsoleOutputAttribute to fill screen with an attribute
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO structure to store screen information
The code is as follows:
HANDLE hCon;
CONSOLE_SCREEN_BUFFER_INFO csbiScreenInfo;
COORD coordStart = { 0, 0 }; // Screen coordinate for upper left
DWORD dwNumWritten = 0; // Holds # of cells written to
// by FillConsoleOutputAttribute
DWORD dwScrSize;
WORD wAttributes = BACKGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_BLUE | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_RED;
hCon = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
// Get the screen buffer information including size and position of window
if (!GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo(hCon, &csbiScreenInfo))
{
// Put error handling here
return 1;
}
// Calculate number of cells on screen from screen size
dwScrSize = csbiScreenInfo.dwMaximumWindowSize.X * csbiScreenInfo.dwMaximumWindowSize.Y;
// Fill the screen with the specified attribute
FillConsoleOutputAttribute(hCon, wAttributes, dwScrSize, coordStart, &dwNumWritten);
// Set attribute for newly written text
SetConsoleTextAttribute(hCon, wAttributes);
The inline comments should be enough to understand the basics of what is going with the supplied documentation links. We get the screen size with GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo and use that to determine the number of cells on the screen to update with a new attribute using FillConsoleOutputAttribute . We then use SetConsoleTextAttribute to ensure that all new text that gets printed matches the attribute we used to color the entire console screen.
For brevity I have left off the error check for the calls to FillConsoleOutputAttribute and SetConsoleTextAttribute. I put a stub for the error handling for GetConsoleScreenBufferInfo . I leave it as an exercise for the original poster to add appropriate error handling if they so choose.

Answer 2

SetConsoleTextAttribute changes the attribute for new characters that you write to the console, but doesn't affect existing contents of the console.
If you want to change the attributes for existing characters already being displayed on the console, use WriteConsoleOutputAttribute instead.