6.14 System Log

By default, events and errors encountered in the system are saved in the System Log. The System Log handles duplicate events within a time frame. Therefore every event and error has a first and last occurred date, as well as information of how many times it was repeated. The System Log allows the user to browse and purge this log.

There are three types of categories:

  • System related log entries

  • Workflow related log

  • User related log entries

For instance, if a workflow aborts, the reason may be tracked through the System Log.

To open the System Log, click the Tools button in the upper left part of the Desktop window, and then select System Log from the menu.

The System Log

Initially, the dialog is empty and must be populated with data using the Search System Log dialog. For further information, see the section below, Searching the System Log.

Edit Menu

OptionDescription

Select All

Selects all entries in the group currently displayed. A group is selected from the Show Entries list.

Search...

Displays the Search System Log dialog where search criteria may be defined to limit the entries in the list. For further information, see the section below, Searching the System Log.

View menu Show Trace...

Displays the Stack Trace Viewer dialog. This information must always be included when contacting Support in cases involving error messages.


View Menu

OptionDescription
Stack Trace

Displays the Stack Trace Viewer dialog. This information must always be included when contacting Support in cases involving error messages.


Buttons and Fields

ItemDescription

Show Entries

Entries matching the search criteria are displayed in groups of 500. Show Entries contains a list of all groups of 500, from which one is selected. Note that the full content of the log messages for a group is fetched from the database once the group is selected. This to have as little impact as possible on the overall performance of the system.

Severity

The severity of the message, can be any of the following:

  • I (information) - An informative message which is logged, for instance, when a user logs in or a workflow is activated.

  • W (warning) - A warning message is also informative, but is considered to be slightly more serious than an information message. A warning message is logged, for instance, when a workflow sends data to ECS.

  • E (Error) - An error is logged when any part of the system fails, for instance, when a workflow aborts. Double-clicking an error message will display the Stack Trace Viewer. This information must always be included when contacting Support, in cases involving error messages.

  • D (Disaster) - Usually never used, other than possibly for user defined agents

Last Occurred

The date when this message last occurred.

Repeated

Shows how many times this message has occurred.

Area

Indicates which part of the system the message originates from; user, system or workflow.

Workflow/Agent

The name of the workflow/agent from which the message originates.

Message

The message. Note that selecting an entry from the list will display its full contents.

First Occurred

The date when this message first occurred.

Message Area

If an entry is selected from the list, further details about it is displayed in this area.

Searching the System Log

In order to more easily track down specific entries, the Search System Log dialog offers the possibility to constrain the entries that are displayed in the list.

The search result is restricted to a maximum of 500 000 entries. If you want to modify the maximum  number of entries, add the Platform property mz.systemlog.maxresults to the platform.conf and  modify the value. For further information, see 2.6.4 Platform Properties the in the System Administration user's guide.

The dialog is displayed by selecting Search... from the Edit menu.
 


Search System Log

For an entry to be displayed in the list, it has to pass all of the following filters.

ItemDescription

Log Area

Which part of the system that reported the entry. At least one must be enabled.

Severity Type

Type of severity. At least one type must be enabled.

Period

Within which period entries will be viewed. A few predefined options are available. If none are selected, all are considered. The default period is Today.


From

If User Defined is selected in the Period list, all entries reported after the selected date will match. If not, all entries before the To date will match.

To

If User Defined is selected in the Period list, all entries reported before the selected date will match. If not, all entries after the From date will match.

If neither From nor To is selected, all entries will match.

Workflow Group

Check to include log messages of the workflow group that you select from the drop-down list.

Workflow

Contains options to filter out specific workflows and/or agent names. If disabled, all workflows/agents will match.

Agent

Check to include log messages of the agent that you select from the drop-down list.

Note!

System log displays log messages according to your Log Area selection: User, System, and/or workflow. To have System Log present agent-related messages you need to configure an agent event from the Event Notification Configuration. For further information, see Add Event in 4.2 Event Notifications Configuration.

Username

If enabled, all activities performed by the selected user will match. If disabled, all user activities will match.

Note!

This only applies to events invoked by users, such as inserting, updating and deleting data in the system. Thus, it does not apply to workflow ownership and can therefore not be utilized to filter out a specific user's workflows.

Log Message

Log entries may be scanned for occurrences of specific messages. Using all lower case letters in the text field will result in case insensitive search. If upper case letters are used anywhere in the text field the search will be case sensitive.

Printing the System Log

Detailed information, or a brief description of one or many System Log entries may be printed from the Print System Log dialog. Select the entries of interest, before selecting Print . Selections are made in one of the following ways:

  • Single select - An individual row is selected by clicking on it.

  • Browse select - A continuous number of rows are selected by first clicking it, then while holding down the <Shift> key clicking the last row.

  • Extended select - Individual rows are selected by clicking them while the <Ctrl> key is held down.

To display the print dialog, select Print... from the File menu.


Print System Log

SettingDescription

Headers Only

Will print only a short summary of each selected entry. The printed information is the same as displayed on each row in the browser.

Full Details

Will print detailed information about each selected entry, one page for each. The information printed is the same as displayed in the Message Area of the System Log Inspector.

Include Stack Trace

Will include the stack trace for the log entries where available (that is, Error type messages).