drush up improvements

[ghost]

Here's the output of updating 4 modules in Backdrop (drush up comment_notify font_awesome simple_mailsystem xmlsitemap):

                Current comment_notify Version: 1.x-1.1
                Proposed comment_notify Version:        1.x-1.3.1

        WARNING:

          Updating comment_notify will discard anymodifications made to
          comment_notify files.  If you have made any modifications to
          these files, please back them up before updating so that you can
          re-create your modifications in the updated version of the file.


        Note: Updating modules can potentially break your site.
        It is NOT recommended to update production sites without prior testing.


        Do you wish to continue? (y or n): y
         Backing up current comment_notify folder to
            /[SNIP]/modules/comment_notify-1.x-1.1
No database updates required                                                                                                               [success]
Finished performing updates.                                                                                                               [ok]

        You can retrieve your old comment_notify files, should you need
            to, from: /[SNIP]/modules/comment_notify-1.x-1.1
        Success: Project comment_notify updated to 1.x-1.3.1.

                Current font_awesome Version:   1.x-1.2.4   
                Proposed font_awesome Version:  1.x-1.2.5   

        WARNING:

          Updating font_awesome will discard anymodifications made to
          font_awesome files.  If you have made any modifications to
          these files, please back them up before updating so that you can
          re-create your modifications in the updated version of the file.


        Note: Updating modules can potentially break your site.
        It is NOT recommended to update production sites without prior testing.


        Do you wish to continue? (y or n): y
         Backing up current font_awesome folder to
            /[SNIP]/modules/font_awesome-1.x-1.2.4
No database updates required                                                                                                               [success]
Finished performing updates.                                                                                                               [ok]

        You can retrieve your old font_awesome files, should you need
            to, from: /[SNIP]/modules/font_awesome-1.x-1.2.4
        Success: Project font_awesome updated to 1.x-1.2.5.

                Current simple_mailsystem Version:      1.x-1.0.1
                Proposed simple_mailsystem Version:     1.x-1.0.2

        WARNING:

          Updating simple_mailsystem will discard anymodifications made to
          simple_mailsystem files.  If you have made any modifications to
          these files, please back them up before updating so that you can
          re-create your modifications in the updated version of the file.


        Note: Updating modules can potentially break your site.
        It is NOT recommended to update production sites without prior testing.


        Do you wish to continue? (y or n): y
         Backing up current simple_mailsystem folder to
            /[SNIP]/modules/simple_mailsystem-1.x-1.0.1
No database updates required                                                                                                               [success]
Finished performing updates.                                                                                                               [ok]

        You can retrieve your old simple_mailsystem files, should you need
            to, from: /[SNIP]/modules/simple_mailsystem-1.x-1.0.1
        Success: Project simple_mailsystem updated to 1.x-1.0.2.

                Current xmlsitemap Version:     1.x-1.0.3
                Proposed xmlsitemap Version:    1.x-1.0.4

        WARNING:

          Updating xmlsitemap will discard anymodifications made to
          xmlsitemap files.  If you have made any modifications to
          these files, please back them up before updating so that you can
          re-create your modifications in the updated version of the file.


        Note: Updating modules can potentially break your site.
        It is NOT recommended to update production sites without prior testing.


        Do you wish to continue? (y or n): y
         Backing up current xmlsitemap folder to
            /[SNIP]/modules/xmlsitemap-1.x-1.0.3
No database updates required                                                                                                               [success]
Finished performing updates.                                                                                                               [ok]

        You can retrieve your old xmlsitemap files, should you need
            to, from: /[SNIP]/modules/xmlsitemap-1.x-1.0.3
        Success: Project xmlsitemap updated to 1.x-1.0.4.

And here's the output of updating 4 modules in Drupal (drush up ctools devel module_filter views):

Update information last refreshed: Mon, 13/08/2018 - 5:58pm
 Name                           Installed Version  Proposed version  Message
 Chaos tools (ctools)           7.x-1.12           7.x-1.14          Update available
 Devel (devel)                  7.x-1.5            7.x-1.6           Update available
 Module filter (module_filter)  7.x-2.0            7.x-2.1           Update available
 Views (views)                  7.x-3.17           7.x-3.20          Update available


Code updates will be made to the following projects: Chaos tool suite (ctools) [ctools-7.x-1.14], Devel [devel-7.x-1.6], Module Filter [module_filter-7.x-2.1], Views [views-7.x-3.20]

Note: A backup of your project will be stored to backups directory if it is not managed by a supported version control system.
Note: If you have made any modifications to any file that belongs to one of these projects, you will have to migrate those modifications after updating.
Do you really want to continue with the update process? (y/n): y
Project ctools was updated successfully. Installed version is now 7.x-1.14.
Backups were saved into the directory /[SNIP]/modules/ctools.                               [ok]
Project devel was updated successfully. Installed version is now 7.x-1.6.
Backups were saved into the directory /[SNIP]/modules/devel.                                [ok]
Project module_filter was updated successfully. Installed version is now 7.x-2.1.
Backups were saved into the directory /[SNIP]/modules/module_filter.                        [ok]
Project views was updated successfully. Installed version is now 7.x-3.20.
Backups were saved into the directory /[SNIP]/modules/views.                                [ok]
 Ctools  7002  Increase the length of the ctools_object_cache.name column to 255.
 Ctools  7003  Revert the length of the ctools_object_cache.name column back to 128.
 Devel   7007  Delete 'devel_xhprof_' variables as they were removed from code.
 Devel   7008  Change variable "dev_timer" to "devel_timer".
Do you wish to run all pending updates? (y/n): y
Performed update: devel_update_7007                                                                                                        [ok]
Performed update: ctools_update_7002                                                                                                       [ok]
Performed update: devel_update_7008                                                                                                        [ok]
Performed update: ctools_update_7003                                                                                                       [ok]
'all' cache was cleared.                                                                                                                   [success]
Finished performing updates.                                                                                                               [ok]

Notes:

• Drupal's output is much more concise (a lot less text output for the same number of modules, and Drupal's even had database updates)
• Backdrop requires confirmation for each module update, Drupal only requires confirmation once for all updates
• Backdrop's output is all over the place regarding indentation and line breaks (Drupal's isn't perfect though)

Recommendations:

• Perform all updates at once - only require one confirmation, reduce duplication of warning text, etc.
• Clean up output - remove or reduce indentation and line breaks

[ghost]

Also, I just noticed that two of the Backdrop modules I updated actually have database updates, but that didn't happen automatically, got to do it from the UI... Marking as a bug also.

[serundeputy]

Yeah; output could be better; definitely agreed.

Which modules needed the DB updates? All four have output of No datbase updates required, so stating which modules required the updates will help us fix this bug.

I'd prefer if you open a separate issue for the DB updates not being detected and run. So that this ticket can stay focused on one purpose.

[ghost]

I think the modules with updates were https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/font_awesome/releases/tag/1.x-1.2.5 and https://github.com/backdrop-contrib/simple_mailsystem/releases/tag/1.x-1.0.2. I've created a separate issue for the bug (link above).