set local a = 123
if $(a) == 123 then
  npp_console local off // the Console becomes hidden
endif
strfind // produces an error "about to start a child process: "strfind""
sleep 2000
// the Console becomes visible

I’m using the NppEventExec plugin to trigger a NppExec script. The basic script runs fine, it and any subordinate scripts all start with npp_console ? to keep/preserve the current console state. I discovered that any time ‘NppEventExec’ invoked the script it also forced the ‘NppExec’ console to be visible. I chocked that up to a side effect of message passing between plugins. (I did open an issue in the NppEventExec github.) The workaround was to create a two line wrapper script that starts with npp_console local off and the second line uses NPP_EXEC to call the original script. It works great, but this is also where it gets interesting…

I modified the main (now second) script to add a feature and incorrectly called the strfind function. The odd thing was the console opened and displayed the output from the background echos in the code and the pertinent error messages for the incorrect strfind call. I like the behavior, but did not expect it. Was I just lucky, or is it that Vitaliy Dovgan is a genius?

During the development, I also noticed that trying to use npp_console local off inside an if/then block had no effect (I included an audible output inside the same block to verify it was being entered). I expected that the local console off version would go into effect and shut the console off until the end of the script (instead it seems to have been ignored). Perhaps this was ineffective given the on triggered state from NppEventExec? (This was prior to using the two line wrapper solution.) I have to do more testing to better understand the ‘corner cases’ but if anyone can shed some light on this, I’d appreciate it, as it would speed things up.

Thank you.