Hi Toby,

as a typical scenario I have several log files from system A that I merge, and the several log files from system B. Then I notice that the clock of both systems is out of sync and I want to correct.

First problem is, that I want to figure out how much time difference is there between the systems. For this I have a log entry that appears roughly at the same time and that I can compare. However to compare minutes, seconds and milliseconds this is very tedious to do by hand. Here I would like a feature to select the first log entry from system A, for example with context menu "select as time reference" and then select the corresponding log entry from system B and select from context menu "calculate time difference".

Then I would like to copy the time difference and correct the time offset for each or multiple log files of system B. However till now I have not found a way to select multiple log files and simultaneously apply time offset. Alternatively would be nice to apply a time offset to a merged view (or all of the source files from a merged view).

Regards
Andreas

Hi Andreas,

Thanks for the feedback.

I understand the issue you are having and I can see why it is tedious.  The time offset feature in LogViewPlus is basic and has not received much attention lately.  I can definitely see the need for something a little more advanced.

My concern with adding enhancements like this is increasing application complexity for new users.  The suggested approach sounds good, but it would require new menu items which will only really make sense once users understand the workflow.  They might be a bit confusing for new users who are not in a "time offset" frame of mind.

I would like to think about it, but I wonder if we could use bookmarks to mark the target log entries and then create an enhanced version of the current time offset form that allows you to calculate the difference between bookmarks and select multiple files (including merge files).  I am not 100% sure what this form would look like yet (a Wizard maybe?), but I think keeping the time offset workflow within a single application area makes sense. 

Would something like that work for you?

Thanks again,

Toby

Hi Toby,

bookmarks I didn't use till now. But should be a good option to use bookmarks to mark the relevant log entries. Maybe I will use bookmarks more often.

Also using a separate dialog seems fine to me. I would allow to exist more than two bookmarks and then select the relevant ones in the dialog.
There could also be a copy of the "Log Files & filters" view (maybe without filters), where I could select multiple logs to apply the time offset to.

Regards
Andreas

PS: When testing the bookmarks feature I created two bookmarks in a filtered view. However when selecting "Find" on the bookmarks, the view jumped to the parent view. Is this behavior intended? Why not stay in the last active filtered view that contained the log entry? (This does only seem to happen when changing between bookmarks of different merged log views.)

Thanks for confirming Andreas.  I will have a look and get back to you.  Probably a bit late for this release window, but I will hopefully have something for you in 2-3 months.

Bookmark lookup should occur in the current view if found, otherwise LogViewPlus will navigate to the root (the log file).  There may be an issue with merge files as bookmarks are associated with the log entry in the target file.  I will take a look at this issue as well.  Thanks for pointing it out.

Toby

Hi Toby,

I again have the case that I have multiple (100) log files opened and merged and applied several (about 20) filters to the merged log. And now I noticed that I have to apply a time offset to all log files.

Leaving aside how to calculate the offset, how do I apply the offset to the 100 log files without opening and merging all log files again and then again creating all filters?

Regards
Andreas

Hi Andreas,

It is currently not possible to apply an offset to multiple files. 

As we were in the middle of a release cycle, I was hoping to get back to you with good news.  We had planned to update the offset feature, but unfortunately, these changes did not make it into the release.  What we need is a way to tie the Calculate Elapsed feature into the Time Offset feature in such a way the the results can be applied to multiple files.  This is unfortunately a larger change then we were able to fit into the available time.

We have abandoned our first attempt at this as it was not user friendly.  We are now considering alternative approaches and the result may be a multi-step process.  We need to think about it, but I am hopeful that we can have something for the next release. 

I will post back here when we have determined a valid approach.

Toby

Hi Andreas,

We have now released LogViewPlus v2.5.41 as a beta release.  This release revisits the Time Offset feature based on the feedback above.

We have made two key changes.  The first change modifies the 'Elapsed' window:



We added a small command to the lower left of the window.  When selected, the Time Offset window will be opened with the elapsed time value shown.

The second change modifies the Time Offset workflow to manage multiple file offsets at the same time. 



Before applying an offset, simply select the target log files.  When the dialog is reopened for a log file with an offset already set, all log files with the same offset will be automatically checked as well.  This makes it easier to update multiple files at the same time.  These log files will also be shown in bold for easier tracking.

Hope that helps.  Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention.

Toby

Hi Toby,

thanks for the info. I had a look at the new two functions.

Calculating time offsets works for me in combination with the bookmarks function. Also applying to multiple files works as described.

The only unexpected side effect I observed was, that the order of log files gets inverted in the "Log Files & Filters" view each time I change/apply the time offset. I believe this is unintended.

Thanks and kind regards
Andreas

Hi Andreas,

I took at look at this issue and it has been corrected in the latest beta release - v2.5.49.

Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention.

Toby