Michał Górny posted on Wed, 17 Feb 2016 07:47:06 +0100 as excerpted: > On Tue, 16 Feb 2016 22:48:08 -0600 Ryan Hill <rh...@gentoo.org> wrote: > >> On Mon, 15 Feb 2016 15:35:12 +0100 Michał Górny <mgo...@gentoo.org> >> wrote: >> > On Mon, 15 Feb 2016 14:37:41 +0100 "Justin Lecher (jlec)" >> > <j...@gentoo.org> wrote: >> > > On 15/02/16 13:59, Michał Górny wrote:
>> > > > Don't mix echo with ewarn. >> > > Why? >> > Because they won't go through the same output channels. >> >> That's kinda the point. You want a blank (unstarred) space to separate >> out the "important" messages from the generic spew put out by the >> package manager/eclasses/build system that you have no control over. > > This is not just that. Different output channels mean that: > - There is no guarantee of correct output order! The empty lines may > move randomly over the text. Good point! (Of course the others are too, but this one could be particularly damaging to the intended communication.) >> If you have several different messages you want a blank space in >> between them so you can use e* to create whitespace within the message >> to avoid the wall of text syndrome while still making it clear where it >> begins and ends. >> You're right that using echo means the whitespace doesn't get saved by >> the elog system. A while back someone proposed we add espace for >> exactly this reason but IIRC they were laughed down, which is a shame. > > So... to summarize your point. You shouldn't use the correct function > that is saved in elog which is primary way of getting info because you > find it more convenient to have empty non-'starred' lines that don't > actually get to elog and make elog a mess? > > If you really don't like empty 'starred' lines (and I actually like them > since they make separation between packages cleaner), why not submit a > patch for Portage and make 'elog' with no arguments output log line > without a star? That's a trivial solution that doesn't require extra > functions for the sake of inventing elogspace, ewarnspace, ... It is at least possible to use say blank ewarn between elog lines, or the reverse, so while there's no totally blank separator, there's at least a different color to the star on the starred-blank-line separator. Similarly, if there's more than one "topic" to the messages, and they're of different severity, the severities can be interspersed to get color separation. I believe I've seen both techniques used to good effect in a few packages in the past, but I can't name any off the top of my head. -- Duncan - List replies preferred. No HTML msgs. "Every nonfree program has a lord, a master -- and if you use the program, he is your master." Richard Stallman
