Shell Programming and Scripting

Hello

For this future package for community, i'd like to know your preference on this presented 'issue'.

Writing some commands which will display some strings, using another command supporting 3 strings to be supplied, i wonder how the 'default output' should look like.

Let me use a picture to illustrate:


Refering to the "download"-lines..

Code:

# | Downloading...               pcbsd9.2_handbook_en_ver9.2.pdf (5.6M)                [  /   ] | #

Actualy is:
tui-printf "Downloading..." "$THIS ($tmp_size)" "[ $(tui-indi) ]" inside the command tui-status, which reports a visual interpreter for the return level of previous executed command.


Maybe too much details...
And i wonder if that either should be applied to the others as well, so:

Code:

# | Downloaded: /home/simon/net/dls/demo-4186/pcbsd9.2_handbook_en_ver9.2.pdf          [  ✔   ] | #

Which currently is:
tui-status $? "Downloaded: $(pwd)/$THIS"
would become:
tui-status $? "Downloaded:" "$(pwd)/$THIS"
Which would result/look like:

Code:

# | Downloaded:              /home/simon/pcbsd9.2_handbook_en_ver9.2.pdf               [  ✔   ] | #

So straighly asked:
1)

Code:

# | Downloaded:              /home/simon/pcbsd9.2_handbook_en_ver9.2.pdf               [  ✔   ] | #

2)

Code:

# | Downloaded: /home/simon/pcbsd9.2_handbook_en_ver9.2.pdf                            [  ✔   ] | #

Just imagine you'd be using it...
As default information output presented to you, which would you prefer?

Thank you

EDIT PS:
Oh, and if you would prefer 2 for the default output, would you like to have the 'processing information' aligend in the center (as in the screenshot) or lefthand side too?
Full script can be seen if you follow the image's link.

I think the specific format of a message is not as important to system administrator types. A key switch for an adminstrator is a verbose option where you can turn of extraneous information and check the status code. I generally don't want a command to tell me anything if all goes well.

Thank you, even as you didnt answer my question, it show's that i didnt properly "sell" it to the people yet...
Or its such a niche, that almost noone actualy could use.

I'm off the job for ~5 years now, but when i had started like 17 years ago (not Unix/Linux though), 'we' used to write scripts, wether those were batch or vbs, for either departement leaders or other 'special workforces'.

-- "Selling / Advertise" -- of its Purpose.
So its not ment for Admins to use for themself, as they dont need it. (as you stated)
Its ment for Admins/{Power,Super}Users writing scripts for 'Users' (wether they be CEO's, janitor, chef, office clark...) - as those usualy dont get along with the terminal.

Example:
Its ment for YOU, writing a script for your wife/husband who's not so skilled with *nix siystems - but you cant/dont want to write a full GTK application as a script does the job just fine.
All you'd need is a little presentation so (s)he doesnt run away just because its a 'shell-app'.

That is when TUI (could be) is used - and the scenario for the question of 'alignment' in the first place.