Read Text Log

The Read Text Log object will read lines in a structured text log file. If you have log files that change names, you can configure the Read Text Log object to read from the newest file in a folder that matches a file name pattern.

Note: For the Read Text Log object to work correctly, every line in the text log file must begin with a timestamp.

How it is used

The Read Text Log object can be used to check a log for errors and then take corrective action on the server that is creating the log or send an email to an administrator to escalate the issue.

Configuration

To configure the Read Text Log object you will need to the name of the log file that you are reading. You will also need to know the format of the timestamps in the log.

Details Tab

 

File	Select and type the name of the log file that will be read. You can also use the ellipsis (...) button to browse for the file.
The most recent file in the folder	Select and type the folder where the most recent file that matches the pattern that you specify will be read. You can also use the ellipsis (...) button to browse for the folder.
Matching this pattern	Type the file name pattern that will be used to find the log file that will be read. You can use the '*' and '?' wildcards to specify the pattern. These wildcards behave in the same way as the Windows Command Prompt.
Read	Select and specify the dates that the lines you are reading are from: • lines between the dates - Select and specify the begin date and end date that make up the range that will be read. The dates that you specify must match the Timestamp format. • lines more recent than - Select and specify the oldest date of the logs that will be read. The date that you specify must match the Timestamp format. • new lines - Select to read all the logs that have not previously been read by the Read Text Log object.
Timestamp format	Specify the format of the timestamp of the logs. For more information on how to specify the timestamp format, see Timestamp Format Codes.

Timestamp Format Codes

To specify a timestamp format, you will need to enter the codes that represent each part of the timestamp in the same pattern that they appear in the text log.

 

Code	Description
%y	Year in two digits. For example, in this format '2005' would be represented as '05'.
%Y	Year in four digits.
%m	Month in two digits. For example, in this format 'September' would be represented as '09'.
%d	Day in two digits.
%H	Hour in two digits in the 24 hour format. For example, in this format '1 pm' would be represented as '13'
%M	Minutes in two digits.
%S	Seconds in two digits.
%s	Milliseconds in three digits.

Here are some examples of dates and their corresponding timestamp format.

 

Date	Format
03/26/2001 14:07:46	%m/%d/%Y %H:%M:%S
[03/26/2001] [14:07:46]	[%m/%d/%Y] [%H:%M:%S]
15-11-01 02:09:45:056	%d-%m-%y %H:%M:%S:%s

Note: Dates with words describing the day or month are not supported. For example, 'May 9, 2005' or 'Wednesday September 20, 2006'.

Available Published Data

 

Name	Description
Full path and name of the log file	The full path of the log file that is being read.
Number of lines matching the condition	The number of lines that were read.
For each line read
Full line matching the filter, including timestamp	The entire line as it appears in the log file.
Timestamp of matching line	The timestamp of the line that was read.
Message of matching line	The log message of the line that was read.

Common Published Data