Write notifications to stdout, and way to write errors to stderr.

6 files changed, 35 insertions, 8 deletions

diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 9a1cb40..5832380 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,12 @@
 NEWS file for ttystatus
 =======================
 
+Version 0.14, released XXXXXXXXXX
+---------------------------------
+
+* Notifications are written to the standard output, not the terminal.
+* A method for printing error messages is provided. They are printed to
+  the standard error.
 
 Version 0.13, released 2011-08-18
 ---------------------------------
diff --git a/example.py b/example.py
index ddb5500..909ce46 100644
--- a/example.py
+++ b/example.py
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ def main():
         if os.path.islink(pathname):
             ts['symlink'] = pathname
             ts.notify('Symlink! %s' % pathname)
+        elif 'error' in pathname:
+            ts.error('Error in pathname: %s' % pathname)
         ts['done'] += 1
 
     ts.finish()
diff --git a/ttystatus/messager.py b/ttystatus/messager.py
index bcbceca..43a04cf 100644
--- a/ttystatus/messager.py
+++ b/ttystatus/messager.py
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ class Messager(object):
         '''Remove current message from terminal.'''
         self._overwrite('')
         
-    def notify(self, string):
+    def notify(self, string, f):
         '''Show a notification message string to the user.
         
         Notifications are meant for error messages and other things
@@ -133,10 +133,11 @@ class Messager(object):
             old = self._last_msg
             self.clear()
             try:
-                self.output.write('%s\n' % string)
-            except IOError: # pragma: no cover
+                f.write('%s\n' % string)
+                f.flush()
+            except IOError:
                 # We ignore these. No point in crashing if terminal is bad.
-                self.output.flush()
+                pass
             self._overwrite(old)
         
     def finish(self):
diff --git a/ttystatus/messager_tests.py b/ttystatus/messager_tests.py
index 6f9bc8a..3ce889e 100644
--- a/ttystatus/messager_tests.py
+++ b/ttystatus/messager_tests.py
@@ -93,9 +93,18 @@ class MessagerTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(self.output.getvalue(), 'foo\r   \r')
 
     def test_notify_removes_message_and_puts_it_back_afterwards(self):
+        f = StringIO.StringIO()
         self.messager.write('foo')
-        self.messager.notify('bar')
-        self.assertEqual(self.output.getvalue(), 'foo\r   \rbar\nfoo')
+        self.messager.notify('bar', f)
+        self.assertEqual(self.output.getvalue(), 'foo\r   \rfoo')
+        self.assertEqual(f.getvalue(), 'bar\n')
+
+    def test_notify_does_not_mind_ioerror(self):
+        f = open('/dev/full', 'w')
+        self.messager.write('foo')
+        self.messager.notify('bar', f)
+        self.assertEqual(self.output.getvalue(), 'foo\r   \rfoo')
+        f.close()
 
     def test_finish_flushes_unwritten_message(self):
         self.messager._now = lambda: 0
diff --git a/ttystatus/status.py b/ttystatus/status.py
index 63bf438..b5d743a 100644
--- a/ttystatus/status.py
+++ b/ttystatus/status.py
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
 # along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 
 
+import sys
+
 import ttystatus
 
 
@@ -80,7 +82,11 @@ class TerminalStatus(object):
     
     def notify(self, msg):
         '''Show a message.'''
-        self._m.notify(msg)
+        self._m.notify(msg, sys.stdout)
+
+    def error(self, msg):
+        '''Write an error message.'''
+        self._m.notify(msg, sys.stderr)
     
     def finish(self):
         '''Finish status display.'''
diff --git a/ttystatus/status_tests.py b/ttystatus/status_tests.py
index 068212a..9e6d0ac 100644
--- a/ttystatus/status_tests.py
+++ b/ttystatus/status_tests.py
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class DummyMessager(object):
     def write(self, string):
         self.written.write(string)
         
-    def notify(self, string):
+    def notify(self, string, f):
         pass
         
     def finish(self):
@@ -117,6 +117,9 @@ class TerminalStatusTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_has_notify_method(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.ts.notify('foo'), None)
         
+    def test_has_error_method(self):
+        self.assertEqual(self.ts.error('foo'), None)
+        
     def test_has_finish_method(self):
         self.assertEqual(self.ts.finish(), None)