[RkWard-devel] Command log / Console

[Thomas Friedrichsmeier]

Hi all,

a while ago Ralf Tautenhahn pointed out the following problem in private mail: 
When running a script file (using F8/F9), the output is always sent to the 
command log. If at the same time you're running some commands in the R 
console, this means you'll have to switch back and forth between command log 
and console.

Also, of course, the command log does not have any syntax highlighting, 
altough it also shows R syntax.

Now, my idea is to actually get rid of the command log as a separate entity, 
and combine it with the console. Rather, there would be a "Main console", and 
this main console would also act as a log, in that all commands (also those 
from plugins, etc.) would be shown in exactly the order in which they were 
executed. At the same time, of course, you could still use it interactively.

There might be secondary consoles, which you can open in additional windows, 
if needed. Those would only display the direct interaction done in that 
console. A copy of all the interaction would also go to the "Main console", 
however - just like now commands entered in the console also show up in the 
command log.

One usability problem might be, that it might be confusing to have logged 
command inserted intermittently, while interacting with the main console (I 
hope you get what I'm trying to say, I don't find a better wording right 
now). Do you think this is a serious problem?

Also, can you think of further problems? Other ideas on how improve the 
current situation?

I'm asking, since this change will not be entirely easy to code, so instead of 
going ahead and trying it out (and then it might turn out to be worse than 
before), I'd like to ask you for some input on this.

All of this will be *after* 0.4.1, of course, which I plan to release on 
Sunday.

Regards
Thomas
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