<samp>: The Sample Output element

The <samp> HTML element is used to enclose inline text which represents sample (or quoted) output from a computer program. Its contents are typically rendered using the browser's default monospaced font (such as Courier or Lucida Console).

This element only includes the global attributes.

You can use a CSS rule to override the browser's default font face for the <samp> element; however, it's possible that the browser's preferences may take precedence over any CSS you specify.

The CSS to override the default font face would look like this:

samp {
  font-family: "Courier";
}

In this simple example, a paragraph includes an example of the output of a program.

<p>
  When the process is complete, the utility will output the text
  <samp>Scan complete. Found <em>N</em> results.</samp> You can then proceed to
  the next step.
</p>

Result

You can nest the <kbd> element within a <samp> block to present an example that includes text entered by the user. For example, consider this text presenting a transcript of a Linux (or macOS) console session:

HTML

<pre>
<samp><span class="prompt">mike@interwebz:~$</span> <kbd>md5 -s "Hello world"</kbd>
MD5 ("Hello world") = 3e25960a79dbc69b674cd4ec67a72c62

<span class="prompt">mike@interwebz:~$</span> <span class="cursor">█</span></samp></pre>

Note the use of <span> to allow customization of the appearance of specific portions of the sample text such as the shell prompts and the cursor. Note also the use of <kbd> to represent the command the user entered at the prompt in the sample text.

CSS

The CSS that achieves the appearance we want is:

.prompt {
  color: #b00;
}

samp > kbd {
  font-weight: bold;
}

.cursor {
  color: #00b;
}

This gives the prompt and cursor fairly subtle colorization and emboldens the keyboard input within the sample text.

Result

The resulting output is this:

• Related elements: <kbd>, <code>, <pre>
• The <output> element: a container for script-generated output