The Logging-Panel
With the Logging tool you can understand and examine the execution of queries and the build of models. The Logging tool is a docking-panel which is shown in the lower edge of the Workbench.
Opening the Logging-Panel
To open the Logging-Panel you can either use the button "Show Log" from the tool bar of the Workbench or the use menu item "Tools/Show Log".
Within the tool all events are shown in a growing tree-list. This list is hierarchical and nested entries are encapsulated into each other and can be folded or unfolded within the tree.
Adjusting the log level
The most important control for the Panel is the adjustment of the log level, with which you can determine how detailed the messages will be. The following log levels are available:
- NONE: No messages are generated
- ERROR: Only error messages are shown
- WARN: Error messages and warnings are shown
- INFO: Beside the error messages and warnings all of your activities are reported, e.g the execution of a report
- DEBUG: Like INFO, but partial steps of the activities are also listed, each with their duration, the generated SQL statements etc. This level is the best setting for the debugging of reports.
- TRACE: In the TRACE level all steps of a report execution are shown, down to the loading of single values from Caches or data bases. This level is extremely detailed and can generate many thousand lines for a complex report.
Use the TRACE level only if you really need such a detailed log. Using this levels can generate a lot of data and take accordingly long. Usually the DEBUG level is sufficient enough for analyzing queries.
Unfolding and folding log entries
With the buttons "Expand all" and " Collapse all" you can open all entries (and make every single entry visible) or the collapse the complete tree again (then you see only uppermost level of the entries).
The log filter
If you activate the log control panel and set a suitable log level, you can only see the events of the operations which were execute by yourselves within the Workbench - e.g. the execution of reports etc.
However, it is also the possible to view the log outputs of all users who work at the moment with the system. This can be used to debug reports which are executed by other users or in the Web-Frontend.
To deactivate the log filter or to reactivate it later, you must use the button "Disable local session filter" from the tool bar of the tool.
Deleting the log
The entries logged up to now can be deleted with the button "Delete log". Deleted entries are lost and cannot be recreated.
Saving the log
If you want to save the logged entries as a text file on your local file system, you can do this with the button "Save log".
The context menu for log entries
Beside the tool bar there is also a context menu for the single entries of the log. You can be opening this menu with the right mouse button.
Beside the functions Collapse, Expand all and Clear described before, the menu offers an other menu item "Copy text to clipboard" with which you can transfer the text of a single entry to the Clipboard of your computer.
This function is useful if you like to copy generated SQL statements from the Log and execute them, e.g. to check the result of a single SQL query.
Closing the panel
To close the panel, you can use the button "Close log" from the tool bar of the tool. Alternatively you also can the use menu item "Tools/Show/Hide log" or the button from the tool bar of the Workbench with which you have opened the tool.
Closing the control panel does not quit the recording of log entries, i.e. a closed log control panel will show all events logged after the closing if you open it again. To switch off the logging you must change the log level on NONE before.
