diff --git a/lib/tdm_ripper.cpp b/lib/tdm_ripper.cpp
index d5ec3fc..1e6e495 100644
--- a/lib/tdm_ripper.cpp
+++ b/lib/tdm_ripper.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 
 #include "tdm_ripper.hpp"
 
-tdm_ripper::tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile, bool neglect_empty_groups):
-  tdmfile_(tdmfile), tdxfile_(tdxfile),
+tdm_ripper::tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile,
+                       bool suppress_status, bool neglect_empty_groups):
+  tdmfile_(tdmfile), tdxfile_(tdxfile), suppress_status_(suppress_status),
   neglect_empty_groups_(neglect_empty_groups), num_empty_groups_(0),
   num_channels_(0), num_groups_(0), channel_id_(0), inc_id_(0), units_(0),
   channel_name_(0), group_id_(0), group_name_(0),
@@ -31,13 +32,19 @@ tdm_ripper::tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile, bool neglect_em
 
   // setup of xml-parser
   xml_result_ = xml_doc_.load_file(tdmfile_.c_str());
-  std::cout<<"\nloading and parsing file: "<<xml_result_.description()<<"\n";
-  std::cout<<"\nencoding: "<<(pugi::xml_encoding)xml_result_.encoding<<"\n\n";
+  if ( !suppress_status_ )
+  {
+    std::cout<<"\nloading and parsing file: "<<xml_result_.description()<<"\n";
+    std::cout<<"\nencoding: "<<(pugi::xml_encoding)xml_result_.encoding<<"\n\n";
+  }
 
   pugi::xml_node subtreeincl = xml_doc_.child("usi:tdm").child("usi:include");
 
-  std::cout<<"file modified: "<<xml_doc_.child("usi:tdm").child("usi:data")
-                        .child("tdm_root").child_value("datetime")<<"\n\n";
+  if ( !suppress_status_ )
+  {
+    std::cout<<"file modified: "<<xml_doc_.child("usi:tdm").child("usi:data")
+                          .child("tdm_root").child_value("datetime")<<"\n\n";
+  }
 
   // obtain corresponding .tdx filename given in .tdm file
   if ( tdxfile_.compare("") == 0 )
@@ -55,7 +62,10 @@ tdm_ripper::tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile, bool neglect_em
   machine_endianness_ = ( *(char*)&num == 1 );
   assert( machine_endianness_ == endianness_ );
 
-  std::cout<<"required .tdx-file is '"<<tdxfile_<<"'\n\n";
+  if ( !suppress_status_ )
+  {
+    std::cout<<"required .tdx-file is '"<<tdxfile_<<"'\n\n";
+  }
 
   parse_structure();
 
@@ -69,7 +79,10 @@ tdm_ripper::tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile, bool neglect_em
                                     (std::istreambuf_iterator<char>()));
   tdxbuf_ = tdxbuf;
 
-  std::cout<<"number of bytes in binary file: "<<tdxbuf_.size()<<"\n\n";
+  if ( !suppress_status_ )
+  {
+    std::cout<<"number of bytes in binary file: "<<tdxbuf_.size()<<"\n\n";
+  }
 }
 
 void tdm_ripper::parse_structure()
@@ -162,11 +175,15 @@ void tdm_ripper::parse_structure()
       xml_double_sequence_.insert(std::pair<std::string,std::string>(id,val));
     }
   }
-  std::cout<<"number of pairs in\n";
-  std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_local_columns_:"<<xml_local_columns_.size()<<"\n";
-  std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_values_:"<<xml_values_.size()<<"\n";
-  std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_double_sequence_:"<<xml_double_sequence_.size()<<"\n";
-  std::cout<<std::right<<"\n\n";
+
+  if ( !suppress_status_ )
+  {
+    std::cout<<"number of pairs in\n";
+    std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_local_columns_:"<<xml_local_columns_.size()<<"\n";
+    std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_values_:"<<xml_values_.size()<<"\n";
+    std::cout<<std::setw(25)<<std::left<<"xml_double_sequence_:"<<xml_double_sequence_.size()<<"\n";
+    std::cout<<std::right<<"\n\n";
+  }
 
   // extract basic information about available channels
   // int prog = 0;
diff --git a/lib/tdm_ripper.hpp b/lib/tdm_ripper.hpp
index c9abe7d..0521b21 100644
--- a/lib/tdm_ripper.hpp
+++ b/lib/tdm_ripper.hpp
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ class tdm_ripper
   // .tdm and .tdx filenames
   std::string tdmfile_;
   std::string tdxfile_;
+  bool suppress_status_;
 
   // endianness (true = little, false = big)
   bool endianness_, machine_endianness_;
@@ -61,7 +62,8 @@ class tdm_ripper
 
 public:
 
-  tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile = "", bool neglect_empty_groups = true);
+  tdm_ripper(std::string tdmfile, std::string tdxfile = "",
+             bool suppress_status = true, bool neglect_empty_groups = true);
 
   void parse_structure();
 
diff --git a/main.cpp b/main.cpp
index 5f389a2..eb47811 100644
--- a/main.cpp
+++ b/main.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ int main(int argc, char* argv[])
   assert( argc > 1 && "please provide a filename and path" );
 
   // declare and initialize tdm_ripper
-  tdm_ripper ripper(argv[1]);
+  tdm_ripper ripper(argv[1]); //,"samples/SineData.tdx",false);
 
   // ripper.list_datatypes();
   // ripper.show_structure();