LogDoor User's Guide

Input & Output Log Files

This chapter presents details of the log files used by LogDoor. File formats are covered in Appendix 2.

Input Log Files

The input file for a LogDoor task can be any valid WebSTAR, AppleShare IP or other WebSTAR-compatible log file, or a HomeDoor log file. WebSTAR log files should begin with the standard format line written by WebSTAR when it starts a new log file or changes its log file format. If a LogDoor input file does not begin with a format line, the LogDoor task will derive the format of that file based on the first entry in the file.

A LogDoor task can also use another task's output log file as its input log file. This is part of obtaining detailed site information, which is covered in Detailed Site Information.

To select a log file to be used as a task's input file, choose "Input File..." from the Task menu. Whenever a new input file is selected for a LogDoor task, the task will automatically configure itself to start processing at the beginning of that input file. If a task has already processed some of the current input file, but you wish to have the task restart processing at the beginning of that file, simply re-select the input file using the Input Log File button or Input File menu item.

A LogDoor task will process its input file until it has reached the end of that file. Once it has reached the file's end, the task will continue scanning that file for any new data which may be added, and it will automatically process that data. In this way LogDoor can serve as a real-time monitor of your server's activity.

• NOTE: LogDoor's input file name is stored within a task as an alias to that file. If you change the name of the file itself, or move that file, the task should still be able to locate the file. If you delete the file, however, and create another one with the same name, you will need to reselect the file.
  
  
• NOTE: With AppleShare IP, LogDoor will automatically find the input log file when a task is first created. This is possible because AppleShare IP creates a log file with a specific name in a specific location, while other servers do not.

Output Log Files

When writing output logs, the LogDoor task echoes any input log format line to each output log file, so that log post-processing applications will be able to correctly process LogDoor output logs. Site logs are always appended to and are never reset by a LogDoor task.

• NOTE: A LogDoor task opens one output log file for each site it encounters in the input log file, and keeps that file open until task processing is terminated. LogDoor will not, however, ever open more than 200 log files at any one time, so as to ensure that the Macintosh does not approach the MacOS's open file limit.
  
  
• NOTE: LogDoor produces output log files only for sites (folders), not for root-level files. This is true even if individual processing of root-level files is turned on (see Task Options).

Site logs, like all three of LogDoor's output file types, are named based on the site name. LogDoor appends a user-specified suffix to the site name to form the output file name. You can specify the suffix in the Output Files dialog. The default suffix used for log files is ".log", so the name of a log file will generally have the format <site-name>.log.

Task Default Output Options

Task output defaults can be changed through the Output Files dialog. Select "Output Files..." from the Task menu. The "Output Files" dialog appears as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Output Files Dialog

This dialog contains four sections:

• Output Folder - To change this task's output folder, click the Choose button in this section and choose or create a new output folder.
  
  
• Reporting AppleScript - This section applies to summary reports and is covered in that chapter.
  
  
• Overall Report Options - This section applies to summary reports and is covered in that chapter.
  
  
• Default Site Options - This is where you specify the default output options for all sites processed by this task. The defaults that you choose here can be overridden on a site-by-site basis (see Site-by-site Output Options below). Unchecking the "Log lines" checkbox means the task's default is to not write log files. In this section you can also change the suffix used for log files in the adjoining text box. The default suffix for log files is ".log". The other controls in this section apply to summary reports and are covered in that chapter.

Site-by-Site Output Options

The outputting of log files can also be controlled on a site-by-site basis. By default, every site processed by a task will use the options set in the "Output Files" dialog, but these options can be overridden for specific sites. To override a task's output options for a given site, select that site in the site list within the task's status window. Then choose Items from the Task menu, and then choose "Site Item Options...". The "Site Item Options" window appears as shown below in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Site Item Options Dialog

The default is to use the task default options. If you select "Use these options", you can choose whether or not to output log files for this specific site.

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