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I have spent time coding a nice console App for windows users. It is 'console-based' so I wanted to make sure it looks professional when displaying messages to the user. I have seen many exploit code or linux codes displaying console information in this manner:

[+] Found 5 Wireless Networks!
[+] Now Commencing Attack...
[-] Couldn't load the dictionary file
....
[i] Your wifi has weak security

This is just an example. I wanted to know if there's a convention in using this [+] etc symbols while displaying messages or taking input in console applications.

I hope this is not silly, I just want my code to look professional coz I have worked hard writing the code.

learnerX
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    Not a convention I've ever seen before. I agree with TheCodeArtist about the apparent intent, since that sort of division is used by the logging conventions I *am* familiar with. I guess my own recommendation is simply to pick something clear and use it consistently. – keshlam Feb 09 '14 at 05:21
  • Yes I know that and I wouldn't put that in my code. By the way, your comment is totally non constructive and unrelated to my original question. – learnerX Feb 09 '14 at 05:59

2 Answers2

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Not sure if it is a convention as such. But in the example above :

  • [+] seems to be for expected progress indicator logs,

  • [-] for error logs,

  • [i] for informative logs.

Take a look at this answer for detailed description of the standard log-levels. You may want to map additional descriptive characters to each log-level as was done in the above example..

Community
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TheCodeArtist
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  • Yea I gathered as much that the apparent intent is to show progress/error/info. I just wanted to know if there are some unsaid rules that the community follows while coding such console apps. I guess not. – learnerX Feb 09 '14 at 05:25
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I think this (or other suitable replacement characters) will not (or at least should not) greatly influence how people perceive the level of professionalism of your code.

jduck
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