[http://sourceforge.net/p/ufoai/bugs/3267 Item 3267] imported from sourceforge.net tracker on 2013-01-28 20:05:19

If using ufo2map out of the cmd command line in Windows, verbosity of the mapcompiler is zero. It is working, but gives no output to the screen. That way I can not use -check, wich is pretty bad.
===== Comments Ported from Sourceforge =====

====== tlh2000 (2012-05-06 10:23:31) ======

you should get stdout.txt in the ufoai dir.

there is an environment variable called SDL_STDIO_REDIRECT that could get set to print the output to stdout and not to a file called stdout.txt

SDL_STDIO_REDIRECT=0
====== shipit (2012-05-06 11:18:30) ======

The stdout.txt file only contains the help text for ufo2map.

Sorry, but I have no idea what I am supposed to do now.
====== techtonik (2012-11-30 22:11:13.535000) ======

No stdout.txt is generated with latest build of ufo2map. It doesn't seem to work at all. Vista.
====== shipit (2012-12-01 08:34:40.917000) ======

Everything works fine with today´s build here.
====== techtonik (2012-12-01 11:15:48.242000) ======

Still doesn't work. Downloaded latest binaries from http://ufoai.org/wiki/Download
====== aduke1 (2012-12-02 12:35:21.893000) ======

anatoly,
- open a command window,
- type "set SDL_STDIO_REDIRECT=0"
- type "ufo2map"

====== techtonik (2012-12-02 13:40:11.313000) ======

That's the first thing I've tried. Still doesn't work with new nightly under Vista 32.
====== aduke1 (2012-12-03 13:26:16.561000) ======

I suppose you have already searched the whole HDD for stdout.txt ?
Then my only idea left is that it's some permission thing. Is there some stderr.txt ?
====== techtonik (2012-12-03 13:49:42.466000) ======

Just searched outside of UFOAI dir on all local drives. No traces. If there is a permission problem, why can't it unsilence itself? Why it is silenced in the first place? If an environment variable is required to get help from command line tool - that's a serious usability bug, not a verbosity option.

Silencing exceptions is a bad practice in code, so why it is good for this command line tool here?
====== tlh2000 (2012-12-03 14:18:37.333000) ======

this is done by SDL - not by ufo2map
====== aduke1 (2012-12-03 14:28:31.228000) ======

Hmm...we should be able to set that env var at the start of ufo2map ourselves, right ?
Or are there situations where we want it silenced ??
(I'm thinking of make maps)
====== techtonik (2012-12-03 15:14:51.235000) ======

Why SDL is used in console tool? This page - http://sdl.beuc.net/sdl.wiki/FAQ_Console - says SDL_Init() sets the redirect, but it is not referenced in src/tools/ufo2map at all. Could missing init be the reason that the output is not redirected?
====== tlh2000 (2012-12-03 15:37:10.046000) ======

we are using SDL in ufo2map because we are using the threads and other system dependent stuff from the library.
====== techtonik (2012-12-03 16:39:30.078000) ======

`make maps` can use standard /dev/null redirection or standard verbosity option. Why not to use Intel TBB or tinythread++ for threads with less complicated dependencies? IMHO specialized thread library will be more polished and optimized than a small custom brick in a generic and big game library.
====== aduke1 (2012-12-03 16:43:17.218000) ======

Afaik we are using SDL for a multitude of reasons, not just threads.
And ufo2map *shares* code with ufo.exe and others.
====== techtonik (2012-12-03 18:44:48.562000) ======

I see..

I mean I can't see anything in this C++ code. I don't understand how SDL can do its magic if main() function is not calling it? The first Verb_printf() should display ufo2map version right after U2M_Parameter() is called. Perhaps there is some trigger in U2M_Parameter?
====== techtonik (2012-12-12 23:14:01.267000) ======

So, what to do? I can't compile maps on Linux and can't compile them on Windows. =(
====== techtonik (2012-12-18 20:16:23.798000) ======

Any hints? The system is Vista 32.