Using Log Viewer to view connector messages

Log Viewer allows you to see messages contained in the log file and the trace file for the connector. You can sort and filter the output display as well as print, save, and email copies of the file. Logging and tracing options, as well as the location of the generated files, are specified as a properties in the connector's configuration file.

Note:
Log Viewer runs only on a Windows 2000 machine. To configure or view a UNIX log file using Log Viewer, copy the log file from the UNIX machine to a Windows machine and view it from there.

To start Log Viewer, use the Run command from the Start menu and browse for the LogViewer.exe file. Use the Open option of the File menu to browse for the log file. Alternatively, you can create and use a Windows shortuct to LogViewer.exe

Using the Log Viewer menu options, you can perform the following tasks:

Log Viewer, displaying a sample log file is shown in Figure 20.

Figure 20. Log Viewer with sample log.


Setting Log Viewer preferences

  1. To set Log Viewer preferences, select Edit >Preferences from the menu bar.

    The User Configuration Options, General properties dialog box displays (see Figure 21).

    Figure 21. Log Viewer User Configuration Options, General Properties screen.


    This dialog lets you specify how to display the log file when you open it. The available choices are:

  2. To change the background color and font of the Log Viewer messages, click the Format tab.

    The User Configuration Options, Format properties dialog box displays (see Figure 22).

    Figure 22. Log Viewer User Configuration Options, Format Properties screen.


    This dialog lets you specify how to display the log messages. The available choices are:

    Note:
    Flow trace messages are not generated for connectors using WebSphere Application Server.
  3. To change the Log Viewer columns that are displayed, click the Columns tab.

    The User Configuration Options, Columns properties dialog box displays (see Figure 23).

    Figure 23. Log Viewer User Configuration Options, Columns Properties screen.


    This dialog lets you specify which columns display in Log Viewer as follows:

Note:
The column, Flow Initiator ID, is not relevant for connectors using WebSphere Application Server.

Changing how messages are viewed

The View menu contains additional options to change Log Viewer displays. From that menu, you can:

Note:
The tab, FlowInitiator ID, is not relevant for connectors using WebSphere Application Server.

Controlling the Log Viewer display output

Several options are available for controlling Log Viewer output. In the File menu, there are options for print previewing, printing, saving, refreshing the display, sending to an email recipient, and determining the style for page setup, headers and footers. The variables for header and footers are:

Variable name Description
$F Name of file
$A Application name
$P Page number
$N Total number of pages
$D Date (can be followed by additional parameters (for example $D{%y:%h:%m})

Filtering messages

To filter the messages that will be displayed in Log Viewer, choose View->Filter->Use Filterfrom the Log Viewer menu bar. The Filter Settings dialog displays categories that correspond to the parameters of the logging message format. Message format parameters are listed in Table 9.

Table 9. Message format parameters for log file.

Variable Description
Time Timestamp: the date of logging in the format year/month/date time.
System For connectors using the WMQI integration broker, system is the application-specific component of the connector.
Thread Thread name and thread ID.
Name The name of the component, such as ClarifyConnector.
MsgType Indicates the severity of the message. See Table 10.
MsgID The message number.
SubSystem The connector name.
BO The business object name.
MsgText The associated text for the message number.
BOD Business object dump. The data contained in the business object.

In the Filter Settings dialog, you first choose the filtering categories that you want to use, then select the specific items that you want to display from each category, and then choose which filters you want to activate for your current Log Viewer display.

Follow these steps:

  1. In the Filter Settings dialog, choose a tab under Set up Filters to display the items that you want to use for filtering messages. For example, choose Time if you want to filter according to the timestamp of the message. You can set up multiple filters, and use them either separately or together.
  2. In the displayed list of items, select each item for which you want to view messages in Log Viewer. For example, if you want to view only messages that are timestamped between 5 March 2002 at 9:00 AM and 6 March 2002 at 5:00 PM, select the range for those times under the Time tab.

    You can use the buttons below the list box to select all the displayed items, or to deselect all the displayed items, or to invert your current selection choices.

  3. Under Activate Filters, check the box for each filter type that you want to activate. For example, if you want to see only those messages with a particular message ID that have a particular timestamp, activate both the MsgID filter and the Time filter.
  4. Click OK. The Filter Settings dialog closes, and the Log Viewer display refreshes to show only those messages that you have allowed through the filters.

Note that in addition to filtering according to the categories, you can also display only those messages that contain a specific text string. To do so, select Messages under Set up Filters, enter the specific text for which you want to show messages, and check the box for Message under Activate Filters.

Message types

Table 10 describes the types of messages issued by WebSphere Business Integration Adapters.


Table 10. Message types.

Message type Description
Info Informational only. You do not need to take action.
Warning A default condition chosen by InterChange Server.
Error A serious problem that you should investigate.
Fatal Error An error that stops operation and should be reported.
Trace Tracing information for the trace level specified.
Flow Trace Flow tracing information for business objects.
Internal Error A serious internal problem that should be investigated.
Internal Fatal Error An internal error that stops operation. It should be reported.

Note:
If a message type of Internal Error or Internal Fatal Error appears, record the circumstances surrounding the problem, and then contact IBM Technical Support.

Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2003