Log Messages Viewer Introduction

An explorer view of all the categories used by log messages in the current session.  Each log message is related to a category in the category hierarchy.  The categories explorer is hidden by default and must be selected at the lower left to become active.  By checking or unchecking the box next to a category you can hide all of the related log messages.  The messages related to the selected node are highlighted in blue.

For more information on filtering with the Categories Explorer, see Filtering Messages.

An explorer view of all the classes that recorded log messages in the current session.  The hierarchy is determined by the namespace of each class.  By checking or unchecking the box next to a namespace or class you can hide all of the related log messages.  The messages related to the selected node are highlighted in blue.

For more information on filtering with the Classes Explorer, see Filtering Messages.

A graph that summarizes up to four key performance metrics over the life of the process:  Disk, Memory, Network, and Processor usage.  Memory and Processor usage are shown by default.  To display Disk and Network usage, right click on the Resource Graph and select the metric you want to add or remove from the graph.  Sessions that run for a very short period of time (less than two minutes) may not have any metric data to show.

A graphical tool for creating log message filters.  As you edit the filter clause it is applied to the log message grid.  The Dynamic Filter Editor can be hidden by clicking a button on the tool bar.  Once hidden it won't be displayed automatically for future sessions, but can be displayed at any time.  Hiding the filter editor does not affect the filtering of the grid.

For more information on using the dynamic filter editor, see Filtering Messages.

Dragging column headers from the Log Message Grid into this box will group the log messages by that column, in order.  Clicking on columns in the group by box will change the sort order.  Grouping is a very quick tool for analyzing the contents of a log.  For example, grouping by Severity and Caption can quickly show all of the unique errors with a count of how many times each occurred.  To stop grouping by a column, drag it out of the box.

The Group-by Box can be hidden by clicking a button on the tool bar.  Once hidden it won't be displayed automatically for future sessions, but can be displayed at any time.  Hiding the Group-by Box does not affect the grouping of the grid.

For more information on grouping and sorting columns, see Grouping and Sorting.

The Log Messages Grid displays the individual log messages in a flexible grid format that supports:

• Dynamic Filtering:  You can filter by a columns values or combinations of values to hide rows.
• Grouping and Sorting:  You can sort by any column and apply up to three groups to perform cascading column sorts (like Severity, Caption, TimeStamp to show messages ordered by their severity then message caption and finally time order)
• Data Copy:  The contents of the grid can be easily copied and pasted into Excel or other applications. 
• Reconfiguration:  You can show and hide columns, change column order and column width dynamically.
• Message Counts and Timing: Keep track of the number of messages available and displayed, as well as measuring the time span between messages.