essage: 4
Date: Tue, 2 Feb 2016 05:42:37 +0000 (UTC)
From: Stub<address@hidden>
To:"address@hidden" <address@hidden>
Subject: Windows octave-4.0.0_0.zip: octave.bat anomaly?
Message-ID:
<address@hidden>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Hi,
I want to use Octave as a batch script on a Windows 7 PC, so that the standard
output is shown in the calling terminal and optionally can be redirected to a
file.
(In fact, I want to use Octave for a Matlab script on a HTCondor network, where
the Matlab script is executed on a remote PC without Matlab installed. HTCondor
first upzips the Octave zipped-package, and then calls octave with the Matlab
script. HTCondor collects the standard output and sends it back as a file.
Therefore Octave should work as a simple terminal command.)
It is most convenient to use the "octave-4.0.0\octave.bat", because this batch
sets all necessary stuff to run the binary octave-cli.exe program.
However, Octave without GUI is still configured to open in a separate window,
which I find odd when no GUI is requested. See the implementation in the
octave.bat file:
============ octave-4.0.0\octave.bat ===========
[...cut...]
Rem Start Octave (this detaches and immediately returns):
if %GUI_MODE%==1 (
start octave-gui.exe %*
) else (
start octave-cli.exe %*
)
Rem Close the batch file's cmd.exe window
exit
============ octave-4.0.0\octave.bat ===========
I have two objections here:
1) The batch script executes the "start octave-cli.exe" line when given the "--no-gui"
option, but "start" opens octave in a new window! I'd say, no GUI means: stay in the same
terminal/window as the calling batch.
2) The last line of the batch has "exit", but that will then also close the cmd.exe that
calls the octave.bat ("exit" implodes the call to octave).
Therefore I suggest following modifications as more sensible:
============ octave-4.0.0\octave.bat ===========
[...cut...]
Rem Start Octave (this detaches and immediately returns):
if %GUI_MODE%==1 (
start octave-gui.exe %*
Rem Close the batch file's cmd.exe windowexit
) else (
call octave-cli.exe %*
Rem Close the current batch scriptexit /b
)
============ octave-4.0.0\octave.bat ===========
Oh, another little thing: the Octave website talks about the --no-gui-libs
option, but the octave scripts/executables do not mention this option, nor do
they seem to recognize it.
Regards,
R.