Re: [patch #5524] Error file command line option

[Ben Pfaff]

John Darrington <address@hidden> writes:

> We're dealing with two questions here:
>
> 1. What should the default stream for log messages be?
>
> 2. Should we allow the user to overide the default?
>
>
> To deal with question 1, I personally would prefer the default to be
> stdout.   Many of the log messages are clearly not errors, and thus
> don't belong on stderr.  Even those which are 'error messages', eg: 
> "All characters in field must be digits.", are not the result of
> errors in PSPP; they are the correct output that should be
> produced, given that particular input.  I think that stderr should be
> reserved for drastic errors, like those provoking
> request_bug_report_and_abort.  Having said that, I'm aware that other
> GNU software doesn't behave that way, (notably GCC).
>
> Now onto question 2: I can't see a good reason not to allow this
> option.  Admittedly, my patch isn't the most elegent, especially as it
> introduces another global variable.
>
> In sofar as solving the immediate problem is concerned, changing
> stdout to stderr, may not be sufficient, because some of the tests
> currently redirect them to different places.

OK.  You've convinced me.

As for the patch, I'd prefer seeing a public function
msg_ui_set_error_file and a static variable.  Just call the
function when you see the command-line option.
-- 
Aim to please, shoot to kill.