# Update variable in logged message without printing a new line?
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755
**Category:** General Usage
**Created:** [December 28, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755 "2019-12-28T14:23:00Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@mthelm85](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mthelm85)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/1 "2019-12-28T14:23:00Z")
I’m wondering if it’s possible to update a logged message without printing a new line. I’d like to log some information to the console on each iteration of a loop but, rather than printing a new `@info` statement on each iteration, I’d like to simply update the existing message to reflect the new value of the variable.
For example, instead of this:
```julia
function testlog()
i = 1
for n in 1:5
@info "Processing file number $i"
i += 1
end
end
julia> testlog()
[ Info: Processing file number 1
[ Info: Processing file number 2
[ Info: Processing file number 3
[ Info: Processing file number 4
[ Info: Processing file number 5
```
I’d like to be able to do something like this:
```julia
function testlog()
i = 1
@info "Processing file number $i"
for n in 1:5
i += 1
end
end
julia> testlog()
[ Info: Processing file number 1 # This updates on each iteration
```
Is this possible? If not, is it possible to have the “processing file number #” print as part of the same `Info` statement? What I mean is, instead of the word “Info” showing up, can I just append the message to an existing `@info` event? It would look something like this:
```julia
[ Info: Processing file number 1
| Processing file number 2
| Processing file number 3
....
```
---
### Author:  [@juliohm](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/juliohm)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2019, 2:50pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/2 "2019-12-28T14:50:29Z")
Aware of [ProgressMeter.jl](https://github.com/timholy/ProgressMeter.jl)? It supports updating the message in place with arbitrary number of variables, nested loops, asynchronously.
---
### Author:  [@swissr](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/swissr)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2019, 10:31pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/3 "2019-12-28T22:31:28Z")
For a quick and dirty alternative you could use an [ANSI escape code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansi_escape_codes#Escape_sequences) to move the cursor back 1000 positions after printing the string (we are at the start of the line again).
```julia
function testlog()
i = 1
for n in 1:5
print("Processing file number $i\u001b[1000D")
sleep(0.3) # simulate some work
i += 1
end
end
testlog()
```
---
### Author:  [@mthelm85](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mthelm85)
#### Post date: [December 28, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/4 "2019-12-28T23:39:21Z")
> Aware of [ProgressMeter.jl](https://github.com/timholy/ProgressMeter.jl)?
I was not aware, thanks!
> For a quick and dirty alternative you could use an [ANSI escape code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ansi_escape_codes#Escape_sequences) to move the cursor back 1000 positions after printing the string (we are at the start of the line again).
This is clever, thank you 😉
---
### Author:  [@essenciary](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/essenciary)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/5 "2019-12-29T15:55:51Z")
In Genie I successfully made use of the `REPL.Terminals` API to provide a status for loading the different parts of an app.
The functionality is wrapped in a helper function which prints to screen:
```julia
function replprint(output::String, terminal;
newline::Int = 0, clearline::Int = 1, color::Symbol = :white, bold::Bool = false, sleep_time::Float64 = 0.2,
prefix::String = "", prefix_color::Symbol = :green, prefix_bold::Bool = true)
if clearline > 0
for i in 1:(clearline+1)
REPL.Terminals.clear_line(terminal)
end
end
isempty(prefix) || printstyled(prefix, color = prefix_color, bold = prefix_bold)
printstyled(output, color = color, bold = bold)
if newline > 0
for i in 1:newline
println()
end
end
sleep(sleep_time)
end
```
The function is used like this:
```julia
function load(; context::Union{Module,Nothing} = nothing) :: Nothing
t = Terminals.TTYTerminal("", stdin, stdout, stderr)
replprint("initializers", t, clearline = 0, prefix = "Loading ")
load_initializers(context = context)
replprint("helpers", t, prefix = "Loading ")
load_helpers()
replprint("lib", t, prefix = "Loading ")
load_libs()
replprint("resources", t, prefix = "Loading ")
load_resources()
replprint("plugins", t, prefix = "Loading ")
load_plugins(context = context)
replprint("routes", t, prefix = "Loading ")
load_routes_definitions(context = context)
replprint("Ready! ", t, clearline = 2, color = :green, bold = :true)
println()
nothing
end
```
---
### Author:  [@mthelm85](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/mthelm85)
#### Post date: [December 30, 2019, 12:49am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/update-variable-in-logged-message-without-printing-a-new-line/32755/6 "2019-12-30T00:49:43Z")
Thanks so much for sharing! I love Genie.jl, by the way 😍