EnemySpy wrote:
a) I agree that having an interface to the server where you have a
dedicated input line which doesn't get overwritten by the server
output is very desireable. I've been wishing for this for quite
some time now.
I redirect my console to a pipe, which is read from (and processed) by a perl script and then sent to a logfile. Having extra control chars to repositon the cursor and rewrite the input line for each new log line would would ruin this very efficient method of adding extra features to HL servers.
b) I also agree with this view. There are other very useful tools
like halfd which might break, too. So care must be taken not to
break this possible use.
I would say that such an interface does not necessarily have to be
an integral part of the dedicated server process/program itself.
Instead the usual Unix model of 'one task, one tool' could be applied.
Thus, my suggestion would be to have the hlds_xxx binaries use
simple, regular, unfiltered input/output as before. The now
obsoleted hlds binary could be used to implement a frontend
calling the respective hlds_xxx binary. This hlds frontend could
then provide such an input line, command history and even more
features. It would be extensible over time without having to fear
to break anything in the server proper. Other coders could even
decide to replace it with an improved version (as was the original
intension for the old hlds, too AFAIK). Tools could use the
hlds_xxx files directly. The overhead of the extra process would
be minimal since it doesn't do anything but wait for input from
either side most of the time.
My $0.02,
Florian.
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