Hello,

I love logview plus, I use it to monitor json formatted logs generated by serilog.
I generally open a folder with thousands files, but I only want to look into the merged file, and time to times, double click on the line to open the source log.

Having all source files opened is really annoying. Sometimes when I have too much files, I prefer to merge the files myself on the command line to open a single file in logviewplus.

it would be largely better to only open the merged file, and then open the source file only when needed.

Do you agree or did I miss something ?`

Hi Sylvain,

Thanks for the feedback.  Glad to hear you are finding LogViewPlus helpful.  :-)

Your suggestion makes sense, and I can see where it would be useful.  The problem is usability.  Adding a 'show log files' parameter to the directory monitor configuration adds a little bit of additional complexity.  In this case, I am not sure this feature would be widely used enough to justify the cost.  Hope that makes sense.

What I would suggest instead is using a category.  You could set a category on the directory monitor to 'Hidden'.  Once all the files are opened, you can move the merged file out of the Hidden category.  This would isolate all of the 'unused' files, but you would still be able to access them if needed.

Hope that helps,

Toby

Th issue is that the UI does not scale well when there are a few thousand files in the left treeview.

I think the default should be to hide the base files when we specified a merged file at the directory opening

I see - thanks for the clarification.

Maybe we could prompt the user if it looks like more than 100 files are being opened.  The user could then specify if they wanted to open all files, or just the merge.  Would this help?

This approach would take some work on our end.  Currently, log files must be 'open' to be merged and there is no concept of a hidden log file.

Toby

I think that the base files are not needed when our goal is to work on the merged file.
I don't like the prompt (blocking dialog box), I would prefer a soft warning when we open a folder, if there is no merge file.
In the global preference, we could set this behavior, to hide the files when a merge file is specified, or to open the base files even so a merged file is specified.

I think it could be implemented by using a hidden node in your treeview by placing all base files (given the setting) and then move the file to be visible if we double click on a line in the merge file. (I understand it needs some work on your end)

It is difficult to assess how widespread this problem is.  Directory Monitors are an old feature and this is the first time I have seen this suggestion, so I suspect this is a niche issue.  That's why I am trying to think of a simple solution (low user impact / low development time).  

Your suggestion seems like a new workflow.  I like it.  I think it's interesting and I appreciate the new perspective.  However, I wouldn't want to commit to anything without significant user interest.

The performance issue you have identified is a separate problem to the workflow issue, but it would be great to come up with a solution that addresses both problems.  I think prompting does this in a way that is lightweight while also encouraging users to ask for something better (if demand exists).  It adds complexity only for users who run into the performance problem.

A setting that avoids the prompt is possible, but I am not sure where this setting would go as it is Directory Monitor specific.  Also, application settings require documentation and understanding - even this adds complexity for all users.

I could add a 'remember this setting' option to the prompt.  That might help a little, but it implies there is a way to change your mind later (an application setting - see above).

It's a tricky one.  Let me have a think and see if I can come up with something better.

Thanks,

Toby

I understand,

By experience, I have never seen a UI that scales well with thousand of items, it is neither a good experience when we have to deal with so much items.

I also think that people generally don't provide feedback to the vendor, they prefer to wait for new versions and/or find a better tool. In my case I did wait for few months, until I decided to give you a suggestion. (my colleagues are all suffering the same way, the base files are damn annoying).

Your tools is the best tool that I could find, this thing is the only negative point.

As a workaround, I think I will build myself the merged file, but I will loose the ability to drill down to the base log file, that's an annoying side effect,

Thank you very much for listening to us, continue the good work.

(another issue that I have, but I will not open any suggestion, is to have a mac version ... didn't you ever think of a mac version ?)

Thanks for letting me know. 

If I cannot think of a better idea, I will go ahead with the prompt idea anyway.  I think this is helpful and the performance issue needs to be addressed.  Also, I think this feature would be a good step toward the optimal solution (whatever that is) as it requires generating a merge from files which are not in the view.  Something which is not currently possible in LogViewPlus.

Sometimes building features like this inspires better ideas.  This might be something that gets implemented over multiple releases.

We considered a Mac version, but unfortunately this will not be possible in the near term.

I really appreciate the feedback Sylvain.  As I say, I will keep thinking about this and hopefully come up with a solution that is a better fit for you.

Thanks,

Toby