[SVN] REQ: commands choosing output

[Chris Thomas]

On Feb 19, 2005, at 11:38 PM, Allan Odgaard wrote:

> On Feb 19, 2005, at 19:02, Eric Hsu wrote:
>
>> Perhaps a future TM could let commands set $TM_COMMAND_OUTPUT and 
>> tell TM how it prefers to be seen?
>
> Unfortunately I do not think that I can read variables from the 
> process after having launched it.
>
>> This might in general be the slickest way for commands to talk to 
>> TM, making special shell variables a two-way street.
>
> I would like to introduce something that would allow the command to 
> select output, so far I've considered using escape codes similar to a 
> real terminal, so e.g. you'd do:
>
>    printf '\033[O:HTML]'
>
> Or similar to set the output to HTML. Though it would require some 
> thought before I venture into this -- maybe this could also reduce 
> the current clutter I think exists in the “output” popup menu (i.e. 
> too many choices IMHO).

I agree there's some clutter in that menu, but -- even as much as I 
desire callbacks -- I'd prefer to see a callback method via scripting 
(presumably AppleScript) worked out before this sort of solution is 
implemented. Partly because escape codes do not make scripts more 
readable; partly because you'd be implementing yet another syntax 
inside those brackets, a small one, perhaps, but the temptation to 
implement more over time might be difficult to resist given the 
constant demands from us ungrateful bundle developers; partly because 
this sort of mechanism strikes me as really kludgy, on a purely 
aesthetic level; partly because I can also see bugs in scripts causing 
serious havoc. If a script inadvertently writes a binary to the output 
-- perhaps because the script didn't validate the user's input 
carefully -- what happens? Etc.

For what it's worth,
Chris