---
title: "Setting Text Color Dynamically in Java"
---
You can set a font color for text contents dynamically using `textColor` tags. Syntax of a `textColor` tag is defined as follows.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
<>
content_to_be_colored
<>
{{< /highlight >}}
**Note** – A `textColor` tag can be used anywhere in a template document except charts.
An expression declared within an opening `textColor` tag defines a text font color to be applied during runtime. The expression must return a value of one of the following types:
- A string containing the name of a known color, that is, the case-insensitive name of a member of the [KnownColor](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.drawing.knowncolor?view=net-6.0) enumeration like in the following example.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
<>text with red font<>
{{< /highlight >}}
- A string containing an HTML color code like in the following example.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
<>text with light coral font<>
{{< /highlight >}}
- An integer value defining RGB (red, green, blue) components of the color like in the following example.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
<>text with yellow font<>
{{< /highlight >}}
- A value of the [Color](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.drawing.color?view=net-6.0) type.
While building a report, an expression declared within an opening `textColor` tag is evaluated and text content between the tag and its corresponding closing tag is colored accordingly. The opening and closing `textColor` tags are removed then.
**Note** – Within a text block to be colored using a `textColor` tag, elements having a text font color already applied are not affected during runtime.
You can use `textColor` tags nested into each other. Also, you can normally use `textColor` tags within data bands and conditional blocks like in the following example.
Assume that you have the `ColoredItem` class defined in your application as follows.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
public class ColoredItem
{
public String getName() { ... }
public String getDescription() { ... }
public Color getColor() { ... }
...
}
{{< /highlight >}}
Given that `items` is an enumeration of `ColoredItem` instances, you can use the following template to output every item into a separate paragraph, which text is colored dynamically.
{{< highlight csharp >}}
<><><<[item.getName()]>><>
<>
{{< /highlight >}}
To output every item into a separate table row, which text is colored dynamically, you can use the following template.
<<foreach [item in items]>><<textColor [item.getColor()]>><<[item.getName()]>>
**Note** – Start and end `textColor` tags can be located either in paragraphs of a single story (or table cell) or in rows of a single document table in the same way as `foreach` tags.
------
## FAQ
1. **Q:** How can I specify a color using a hexadecimal HTML code in a `textColor` tag?
**A:** Place the hex code as a string inside the tag’s expression, e.g., `<>`. The engine parses the string and applies the corresponding RGB color at runtime.
2. **Q:** Is it possible to pass a `java.awt.Color` object returned from a method to the `textColor` tag?
**A:** Yes. The expression can return a `Color` instance, such as `<>`. The tag will use the exact RGB values of the returned `Color` object.
3. **Q:** What happens if the text already has a color applied before the `textColor` tag is evaluated?
**A:** The existing color is preserved; the `textColor` tag only affects text that does **not** already have a color defined. This prevents overriding manually set colors.
4. **Q:** Can I nest `textColor` tags or use them inside a `foreach` loop?
**A:** Both are supported. Nested tags allow hierarchical coloring, and using `textColor` inside `foreach` lets you apply a different color for each iteration based on the data source.
5. **Q:** I receive a “Tag end is unexpected” error when using `textColor`. What could be wrong?
**A:** The error usually indicates a mismatched opening/closing tag or an invalid expression. Ensure the opening tag is `<>` and the closing tag is exactly `<>`, with no extra characters or missing brackets.