diff -r a74f2ff353b8 -r b376645315ab src/messageLog.cc
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/messageLog.cc	Sat Mar 29 05:26:10 2014 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,131 @@
+/*
+ *  LDForge: LDraw parts authoring CAD
+ *  Copyright (C) 2013, 2014 Santeri Piippo
+ *
+ *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *  (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *  GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *  along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+#include <QTimer>
+#include <QDate>
+#include "messageLog.h"
+#include "glRenderer.h"
+#include "mainWindow.h"
+
+static const int g_maxMessages = 5;
+static const int g_expiry = 5;
+static const int g_fadeTime = 500; // msecs
+
+// =============================================================================
+//
+MessageManager::MessageManager (QObject* parent) :
+			QObject (parent)
+{
+	m_ticker = new QTimer;
+	m_ticker->start (100);
+	connect (m_ticker, SIGNAL (timeout()), this, SLOT (tick()));
+}
+
+// =============================================================================
+//
+MessageManager::Line::Line (QString text) :
+			text (text),
+			alpha (1.0f),
+			expiry (QDateTime::currentDateTime().addSecs (g_expiry)) {}
+
+// =============================================================================
+//
+bool MessageManager::Line::update (bool& changed)
+{
+	changed = false;
+	QDateTime now = QDateTime::currentDateTime();
+	int msec = now.msecsTo (expiry);
+
+	if (now >= expiry)
+	{
+		// Message line has expired
+		changed = true;
+		return false;
+	}
+
+	if (msec <= g_fadeTime)
+	{
+		// Message line has not expired but is fading out
+		alpha = ( (float) msec) / g_fadeTime;
+		changed = true;
+	}
+
+	return true;
+}
+
+// =============================================================================
+// Add a line to the message manager.
+//
+void MessageManager::addLine (QString line)
+{
+	// If there's too many entries, pop the excess out
+	while (m_lines.size() >= g_maxMessages)
+		m_lines.removeFirst();
+
+	m_lines << Line (line);
+
+	// Update the renderer view
+	if (renderer())
+		renderer()->update();
+}
+
+// =============================================================================
+// Ticks the message manager. All lines are ticked and the renderer scene is
+// redrawn if something changed.
+//
+void MessageManager::tick()
+{
+	if (m_lines.isEmpty())
+		return;
+
+	bool changed = false;
+
+	for (int i = 0; i < m_lines.size(); ++i)
+	{
+		bool lineChanged;
+
+		if (!m_lines[i].update (lineChanged))
+			m_lines.removeAt (i--);
+
+		changed |= lineChanged;
+	}
+
+	if (changed && renderer())
+		renderer()->update();
+}
+
+// =============================================================================
+//
+const QList<MessageManager::Line>& MessageManager::getLines() const
+{
+	return m_lines;
+}
+
+// =============================================================================
+//
+void printToLog (const QString& msg)
+{
+	for (QString& a : msg.split ("\n", QString::SkipEmptyParts))
+	{
+		if (g_win != null)
+			g_win->addMessage (a);
+
+		// Also print it to stdout
+		fprint (stdout, "%1\n", a);
+	}
+}