ANSI.SYS

ANSI.SYS

A DOS device driver that was used to provide additional control of text screens such as changing colors and setting different text modes. It was also employed as a keyboard macro processor to assign commands to a function key or reassign awkwardly placed keys. Some DOS applications, most notably games and bulletin board (BBS) software, used ANSI.SYS, which was invoked by referencing it in the CONFIG.SYS or CONFIG.NT files.

The ANSI.SYS system file name refers to the escape codes (commands preceded by an esc character) defined by the American National Standards Institute (see ANSI). See CONFIG.SYS and escape character.