how to use an interrupt to print strings in color in assembly 8086

Question

I'm writing a NIM game in assembly 8086. It's almost finished, but there's a problem I'm facing.

I have a procedure which prints piles (each pile contains some stick(s)). It runs perfectly, except for one thing. I want to color sticks for better look. So I searched and found an interrupt for doing so: INT 10h / AH = 09h

In the description it suggests that this interrupt is used for "writing character and attribute at cursor position". However, I don't use to it to write characters, I use to set color for another interrupt. It works fine to some extent, but not always. So I wanted to know how it works, and if I'm using it the right way.

Also I found that usage here: How to print text in color with interrupts?

Here is my code for those parts:

set_color macro par ;macro to set a color for printing
   pusha
   mov bl, par  
   mov ah, 9 
   mov al, 0 
   int 10h
   popa 
endm

And this is where I print:

print_pile  proc ;print the piles. this is where my problem lies.
pusha

mov al, nl ; print a new line
call print_ch
lea dx, top ;print top of border
call print_msg 
xor si, si
mov cx, piles
xor bl, bl

pile_loop: ;print pile number
lea dx, pile_num1
call print_msg
call set_cursor
lea dx, pile_num2
call print_msg
mov temp, si
mov al, b. temp
inc al
add al, 30h
call print_ch

mov al, ' ' ;print sticks in each pile in numbers
call print_ch
mov al, '('
call print_ch
mov al, pile1[si]
add al, 30h
call print_ch
mov al, ')'
call print_ch
mov al, ' '
call print_ch

lea dx, shape 
mov bl, pile1[si]
cmp bl, 0
jz no_print
    print_loop: ;prints sticks in each pile using an ascii character
    set_color light_red ; here i want to print abovesaid shapes in a color
    call print_msg
    dec bl
    cmp bl, 0

    jnz print_loop

no_print:

call set_cursor

inc si    
dec cx
or cx, cx
jnz pile_loop
lea dx, star2
call print_msg
lea dx, top
call print_msg
popa
ret
print_pile endp

And here is an illustration of my problem:

As you can see the last pile is in two colors.

thank for your help.

PS. My complete code can be found HERE -- easier to read.

PS. I'm using emu8086, and sorry for my English.

Answer 1

print_msg (DX=shape) prints two characters via Int 21h/09 . Therefore you have to set the attributes for two characters in set_color via Int 10h/09h . So insert a mov cx, 2 :

set_color macro par ;macro to set a color for printing
       pusha
       mov bl, par
       mov ah, 9
       mov al, 0
       mov cx, 2   ; number of times to write character
       int 10h
       popa
endm