diff --git a/common/python/nomadcore/ActivateLogging.py b/common/python/nomadcore/ActivateLogging.py
index 09f666233bc9c0024aa455d5975121c586b0c89a..a3d419dac6d8ec30a9335f5fc8975d75cb33b9d7 100644
--- a/common/python/nomadcore/ActivateLogging.py
+++ b/common/python/nomadcore/ActivateLogging.py
@@ -5,16 +5,18 @@ ch = logging.StreamHandler()
 ch.setLevel(logging.INFO)
 
 logger=logging.getLogger("nomadcore")
-logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+logger.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 logger.addHandler(ch)
 
 logger2=logging.getLogger("nomad")
-logger2.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+logger2.setLevel(logging.WARNING)
 logger2.addHandler(ch)
 
 def debugToFile():
-  "makes a full log to a file named detailed.log"
-  fh = logging.FileHandler('detailed.log')
-  fh.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
-  logger.addHandler(fh)
-  logger2.addHandler(fh)
+    "makes a full log to a file named detailed.log"
+    fh = logging.FileHandler('detailed.log')
+    fh.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+    logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+    logger2.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
+    logger.addHandler(fh)
+    logger2.addHandler(fh)
diff --git a/common/python/nomadcore/simple_parser.py b/common/python/nomadcore/simple_parser.py
index 405fefa9ae7a9ef76880a7c8b86cfd8a96bc73c5..5cd49c826a748c9171577681276dddfaeda05ac0 100644
--- a/common/python/nomadcore/simple_parser.py
+++ b/common/python/nomadcore/simple_parser.py
@@ -674,6 +674,9 @@ class CompiledMatcher(object):
 
     def findNextWithRe(self, regex, possible, parser):
         # searching for match would be more efficient than doing line by line as here...
+        # catch empty regular expression
+        if regex.pattern == '':
+            return -3
         while True:
             line = parser.fIn.readline()
             if not line:
@@ -1026,7 +1029,7 @@ class SimpleParser(object):
                 cNames = self.contextDesc()
                 while self.context:
                     self.contextPop()
-                if nextI != -1:
+                if nextI != -1 and nextI != -3:
                     raise Exception("finished with error with parsing context %s" % (cNames))
             else:
                 index = nextI / 2
@@ -1092,12 +1095,13 @@ def mainFunction(mainFileDescription, metaInfoEnv, parserInfo,
                  defaultSectionCachingLevel = CachingLevel.Forward,
                  superContext = None,
                  onClose = {}):
-    usage = """{exeName} [--meta-info] [--help] [--specialize] [--stream] [--uri uri] [path/toFile]
+    usage = """{exeName} [--meta-info] [--help] [--specialize] [--stream] [--uri uri] [--verbose] [path/toFile]
 
     --meta-info outputs the meta info supported by this parser
     --help prints this message
     --specialize expects inclusion and exclusion of meta info to parse via a json dictionary on stdin
     --stream expects the files to parse via dictionary on stdin
+    --verbose writes metainfo to stderr and detailed debug info of parsing process to file detailed.log
 
     If a path to a file is given this is parsed
 """.format(exeName = os.path.basename(sys.argv[0] if len(sys.argv) > 0 else "simple_parser"))