[texworks] SCRIPTING: Getting Take Aways (sending out) - TW.system() and \write18

[Stefan Löffler]

Hi,

On 2011-08-04 12:30, Paul A Norman wrote:
> On 4 August 2011 06:10, Stefan Löffler <st.loeffler at gmail.com> wrote:
>> -) I would add something about the dangers of allowing execution of
>> system commands, that it shouldn't be done lightly, and that script
>> authors should inform the users about the risks (and benefits) involved.
>> Only if they do that security measures can really work (otherwise, the
>> click on "run system command" is just one more click that everybody
>> carries out to get the script XY to work).
>
> Haven't got time to absorb all the detail in your comments just right
> now,  but on the following point for some reason I had in the back of
> my mind as I wrote the introduction area, that there was going to be
> something appropriate actually written directly into the preferences
> dialogue box in TeXworks?

No, there's no mention of it in the preferences dialog. It is mentioned
in the manual of course, and we could add a tooltip to the option, but I
don't see a way to add a general warning note that accurately describes
the problem to the present list of options (without breaking/cluttering
the layout).

Anyway, I still think that this point should be emphasized again for
script authors. They are the ones that have to decide whether to use
this function, and if so, how to explain it in the documentation.

Cheers,
Stefan