[gmx-users] making maxwarn a hidden option

[ms]

On 30/12/10 01:07, Justin A. Lemkul wrote:
> It sounds very much like your systems are in the minority - those for
> which -maxwarn is essential :)

Oh yes. But... you don't want to discriminate minorities!! :D

> What I meant was that -maxwarn allows a user to casually bypass that
> which grompp is already printing, something that has caused problems at
> least 2 or 3 times now in the last week, I believe.
>
> I know of at least one commonly-used tutorial supplies example grompp
> commands with -maxwarn and no explanation as to what it's doing or why
> it's being invoked. What we need to do is avoid this blind practice. I
> think grompp has a sufficient level of verbosity for most cases. In most
> (if not all) instances, the lines in the .mdp and/or .top are clearly
> indicated.

Well, you will *never* change user's practice unless you change the head 
of your users. You can put all the hoops and loops but never 
underestimate the potential of your users to ignore the obvious and take 
the most direct, even if dangerous, road. All hoops and loops you put 
just annoy the people that know and don't need such difficulties. :)

I think that, simply, users should be warned and informed in full. After 
that, it's their choice and their responsibility. Software is a tool. It 
should be made to make things *possible*, not to make things *right* 
from the start. The beauty of tools is that they're used for things that 
their creators didn't think at start.

This:

>>> "The -maxwarn option can be used to override warnings printed by grompp
>>> that otherwise halt output. In some cases, warnings are harmless, but
>>> usually are not. The user is advised to carefully interpret the output
>>> messages before attempting to bypass them with this option."
>>>
>>> If that sounds agreeable, I'll put in an enhancement request.

is good because it *tells* the user that something serious is happening. 
But removing or hiding, is a no-no. More information, the better.

But it seems we agree, so thanks a lot!

m.

-- 
Massimo Sandal, Ph.D.
http://devicerandom.org