Is there a LaTeX command that will log to the output/error console?

Question

I have created a LaTeX \todo{} command which outputs todo notes in the margin (following the [nice marginpars example here][1]):

\newcommand\todo[1]{\marginpar{#1}}

However, I'd really like to output a list of all my todo notes to the output console. I had written a trivial python script to parse .tex files to do so, but have since switched to using latexmk to handle recompilation. My script doesn't really handle using \includeonly either.

Can I write straight into the LaTeX console output from within latex?

Answer 1

Yes -- try \typeout{message}.

Answer 2

you should definitely give the todonote-package a try. it writes all your todos into the TOC (if desired) and writes a .tdo-file with all your todos into the directory of the root file.