Show some semi-verbose progress during run.

[NobbZ]

When compiling larger documents, It takes a while until the Running XeLaTeX... line changes to Running XeLaTeX... Success. I don't know during this time if actually some progress is made. I can't rely on the flickering hard-disc led, since my machine is doing something on the disc nearly 90% of the day.

So it would be nice if arara could show the currently processed page in the Running XeLaTeX... line.

So it starts with Running XeLaTeX... [1], changes to Running XeLaTeX... [2] etc until it reached Running XeLaTeX... Success.

[vermiculus]

:+1: This is a fantastic idea. I've often found that compilation is hung because I've got some sort of infinite recursion going on (I do evil, evil things in TeX). A feature like this would help identify those issues without compiling again with xelatex et al. It might be a little difficult to implement, but it can work.

Paulo, the usual approach for this is to write literal backspace characters (^H) to the console to overwrite the last value:

XeLaTeX [1]...
XeLaTeX [1]..
XeLaTeX [1].
XeLaTeX [1]
XeLaTeX [1
XeLaTeX [
XeLaTeX [2]...
; etc.

---

Would definitely be a 'future' enhancement if it's even desired, though -- I'm getting antsy for v4.0 :wink:

[cmhughes]

This was part of my idea when posting this: http://tex.stackexchange.com/questions/132642/arara-between-silent-and-verbose-mode

On Thu, Aug 6, 2015 at 2:47 PM, Sean Allred [email protected] wrote:

[image: :+1:] This is a fantastic idea. I've often found that compilation is hung because I've got some sort of infinite recursion going on (I do evil, evil things in TeX). A feature like this would help identify those issues without compiling again with xelatex et al. It might be a little difficult to implement, but it can work.

Paulo, the usual approach for this is to write literal backspace characters (^H) to the console to overwrite the last value:

XeLaTeX [1]... XeLaTeX [1].. XeLaTeX [1]. XeLaTeX [1] XeLaTeX [1 XeLaTeX [ XeLaTeX [2]... ; etc.

— Reply to this email directly or view it on GitHub https://github.com/cereda/arara/issues/72#issuecomment-128369945.

[cereda]

Oh my, I am very sorry for the delay in replying to this issue! I promise an answer today!

[cereda]

Dear Norbert,

First of all, please accept my sincere apologies for the delay in providing feedback to this open issue. My last weeks have been hectic. I found out that combining work, research and play is not an easy task. :wink:

I like this idea very much. As Sean and Chris mentioned, this feature would provide a very useful feedback to the user, not too concise as the silent mode and not too noisy and confusing as the verbose one. This new mode is surely somewhere in the middle between those two extremes (silent and verbose).

Ilhan jokingly said to me that this new mode would be called as something along the lines of sibose (which is a mix of silent + verbose). It so happens he is right, after all!

It would be interesting to think how this particular output would be handled, aesthetically. From version 4.0 on, arara now has an improved command line layout; it would be great if we could keep the layout with this new sibose mode as much as possible. :wink: I thought about replacing characters in the terminal, but it might be tricky. We cannot forget that one of arara's selling points is the cross-platform smooth execution; everything just looks the same, regardless of the underlying operating system.

That said, if we opt for changing the terminal output, for the sake of improvements and new features, by all means, let us do it. We are a community-driven project. I just believe we need to come up with a compromise solution, so we keep everybody happy (or not too angry). :smile:

I have no idea how to implement this yet, though. It might take some time until I realize a safe way of doing it (we also would need to monitor the system command output and take decisions based on such capture), but I believe we will figure out.

I also have something planned for the next version (5.0), which is concurrent execution of tasks and subtasks (gasp!). This new feature will also require a new output mode due to an arbitrary number of tasks and subtasks being executed at the very same time. The user interface (directives) for this feature will be very straightforward, what really worries me is the output and logging. :wink: Now, with the sibose mode, I think we have some other considerations to me made. Let us see how far we go.

Sadly, a feature like this would not be possible for version 4.0, the next major release, because it would envolve quite a few tricks. I think it is safer for all of us to postpone this feature to the next version, which gives us some oxygen. The new 4.0 version already has enough improvements and features to keep our users entertained for a long time. :wink:

Stay tuned, friends. As I soon go further on implementing this new feature, we will exchange ideas and implement suggestions on this very thread. For now, thank you very much for all of your ideas, kindness and patience. :heart:

All the best!