--- a/src/core/constants.py	Thu Feb 16 00:40:50 2017 +0100
+++ b/src/core/constants.py	Thu Feb 16 00:44:54 2017 +0100
@@ -313,17 +313,6 @@
     DEFAULT_MAX_AGE = 1209600 # default max age of cached files, in seconds
     HASH_SHA1_EMPTY = 'da39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709'
 
-
-    ## ANSI escape sequences ##
-    # XXX: used for logging
-    # XXX: they will be probably moved in a dedicated module in the future
-    ANSI_RESET = '\033[0m'
-    ANSI_NORMAL_WEIGHT = '\033[22m'
-    ANSI_FG_BLACK, ANSI_FG_RED, ANSI_FG_GREEN, ANSI_FG_YELLOW, ANSI_FG_BLUE, ANSI_FG_MAGENTA, ANSI_FG_CYAN, ANSI_FG_WHITE = ('\033[3%dm' % nb for nb in xrange(8))
-    ANSI_BOLD = '\033[1m'
-    ANSI_BLINK = '\033[5m'
-    ANSI_BLINK_OFF = '\033[25m'
-
     @classmethod
     def LOG_OPTIONS(cls):
         """Return options checked for logs"""

--- a/src/core/log.py	Thu Feb 16 00:40:50 2017 +0100
+++ b/src/core/log.py	Thu Feb 16 00:44:54 2017 +0100
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 # TODO: change formatting from "%s" style to "{}" when moved to Python 3
 
 from sat.core.constants import Const as C
+from sat.tools.common.ansi import ANSI as A
 from sat.core import exceptions
 
 backend = None
@@ -235,10 +236,10 @@
                 for elt in taint_list:
                     elt = elt.upper()
                     try:
-                        ansi = getattr(C, 'ANSI_FG_{}'.format(elt))
+                        ansi = getattr(A, 'FG_{}'.format(elt))
                     except AttributeError:
                         try:
-                            ansi = getattr(C, 'ANSI_{}'.format(elt))
+                            ansi = getattr(A, elt)
                         except AttributeError:
                             # we use raw string if element is unknown
                             ansi = elt
@@ -318,9 +319,9 @@
 
         if cls._color_location:
             return message % {'color_start': start,
-                              'color_end': C.ANSI_RESET}
+                              'color_end': A.RESET}
         else:
-            return '%s%s%s' % (start, message, C.ANSI_RESET)
+            return '%s%s%s' % (start, message, A.RESET)
 
     @staticmethod
     def getProfile():

--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/tools/common/ansi.py	Thu Feb 16 00:44:54 2017 +0100
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python2
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+# SàT: a XMPP client
+# Copyright (C) 2009-2016 Jérôme Poisson (goffi@goffi.org)
+
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as published by
+# the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+
+# This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Affero General Public License for more details.
+
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Affero General Public License
+# along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+import sys
+
+class ANSI(object):
+
+    ## ANSI escape sequences ##
+    RESET = '\033[0m'
+    NORMAL_WEIGHT = '\033[22m'
+    FG_BLACK, FG_RED, FG_GREEN, FG_YELLOW, FG_BLUE, FG_MAGENTA, FG_CYAN, FG_WHITE = ('\033[3%dm' % nb for nb in xrange(8))
+    BOLD = '\033[1m'
+    BLINK = '\033[5m'
+    BLINK_OFF = '\033[25m'
+
+    @classmethod
+    def color(cls, *args):
+        """output text using ANSI codes
+
+        this method simply merge arguments, and add RESET if is not the last arguments
+        """
+        # XXX: we expect to have at least on argument
+        if args[-1] != cls.RESET:
+            args = list(args)
+            args.append(cls.RESET)
+        return u''.join(args)
+
+
+if not sys.stdout.isatty():
+    # we don't want ANSI escape codes if we are not outputing to a tty!
+    for attr in dir(ANSI):
+        if isinstance(getattr(ANSI, attr), basestring):
+            setattr(ANSI, attr, u'')