SYSTEM LOG
([Link])
USER MANUAL
PREPARED BY: D. Hammond
APPROVED BY: R. Newnham
DOCUMENT REF: Syslog(08).doc
DATE: 07-Jan-2009
ISSUE: 08
SYSTEM LOG – USER MANUAL
CONTENTS
1 SYSTEM LOG 3
1.1 INTRODUCTION 3
1.2 PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION 3
1.2.1 ERRORS 3
1.2.2 GENERAL 4
1.3 ERROR CODE DECODER 4
1.4 FILE MENU OPTIONS (ALT+F) 5
1.4.1 OPEN LOG (CTRL+O) 5
1.4.2 REFRESH (F5) 5
1.4.3 SUPERVISOR MODE (ALT+F S) 5
1.4.4 EXIT (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+F4) 5
1.5 ACKNOWLEDGE (ALT+A) 5
1.6 SEARCH MENU OPTIONS (ALT+S) 5
1.6.1 FIND (F3) 6
1.6.2 GO TO TIME (F6) 6
1.6.3 FIRST ERROR (ALT+S F) 6
1.7 PRINT MENU OPTIONS (ALT+P) 6
1.7.1 SELECTED (CTRL+P) 6
1.7.2 NON-ACKNOWLEDGED (ALT+P N) 6
1.7.3 ALL (ALT+P A) 6
1.7.4 SPECIAL (ALT+P P) 7
1.8 CONFIG (ALT+C) 7
1.8.1 SOUND (ALT+C O) 7
1.8.2 FILTER (F4) 7
1.8.3 RE-BUILD INDEX (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C R) 8
1.8.4 OPTIONS (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C S) 8
1.8.5 SAVE SETTINGS (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C S) 8
1.9 HELP (ALT+H) 9
1.9.1 ABOUT SYSLOG 9
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SYSTEM LOG – USER MANUAL
1 SYSTEM LOG
1.1 INTRODUCTION
A System Log File is used to record all significant non-message events that occur within the
system. The System Log Viewer is used to view this file.
1.2 PRINCIPLES OF OPERATION
The System Log is presented as a scrolling list of events. Each Daily Log entry records the
event level, the time of the event, station / port / program that is reporting the event, error
codes, error type, and a description of the event.
The events are colour coded as to their severity: -
Category Diagnostics with Blue text,.
Category Information with Black text.
Category Warnings with Yellow background.
Category Errors with Red background.
On selection of the Diagnostics message the text in the Category Box on the Status Bar will be
Blue. For example, a Log entry showing when Router collected a message will be displayed
under the Diagnostics category. This level is only used by Engineering Staff to trace problems
in the operation of the System.
On selection of the Information message the text in the Category Box on the Status Bar will be
Black. For example, a Log entry showing when an executable file was started or stopped will
be displayed under the Information category. These indicate general information about the
system.
On selection of the Warning message the text in the Category Box on the Status Bar will be
yellow. For example, a Log entry showing a DSR dropped is a Warning. These are events,
which impact part of the System.
1.2.1 ERRORS
The indication of this option is shown by an entry on the Status Bar at the bottom of the screen
in the Errors box this box will list the number of Errors listed in the Log that have not been
Acknowledged. The Main System Log Viewer will then display System Errors, with the Log entry
starting with . For example, a Log entry showing a changeover from LEFT PRIMARY to RIGHT
PRIMARY will be displayed under the Errors category. These indicate significant events that
impact the operation of the whole System.
The User should check the System Log at frequent intervals, and Acknowledge each entry as
being seen and dealt with. Category Red background errors cause an audible alarm
indication, which requires User intervention to clear. The audible alarm functionality may be
disabled, but only after the password has been entered.
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1.2.2 GENERAL
Previous Daily System Log files can be accessed with the full System Log functionality
available.
Individual System Log entries may be found using the ‘go to’ facility, or by simply scrolling to
the required point.
The System Log Viewer Main List
may be filtered to show any
combination of the three categories
of events. This is a useful
screening process for the User, who
may only require seeing certain
categories of events.
A number of useful Print options
are also available, including
printing of just the Selected Log
entries, printing of Non-
Acknowledged Log entries, printing
of All the Log entries for that day
or the printing of a Special Log
sheet.
Every ten seconds the list will be
updated with new events, as long
as Auto Refresh is switched on.
A ‘Status’ bar at the foot of the Screen indicates which category the selected Log entry line
belongs to. In the case shown, an Information event is the selected Log event.
Operation of the individual facilities is described in detail in the following pages.
1.3 ERROR CODE DECODER
The System Log includes a facility to decode error
codes that may be listed. Double clicking the log entry
containing the error code will display the screen shown
to the left.
Selecting the question mark button will decode the
error code and display a result window similar to the
one below.
In the event of problems with the system a Copperchase
support engineer will ask the user to provide details of
any error codes listed in the log using this procedure.
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1.4 FILE MENU OPTIONS (ALT+F)
On selection of the File option from the main menu the following options are
presented.
1.4.1 OPEN LOG (CTRL+O)
Selecting File - Open Log from the menu will cause the Open Log dialog screen to appear as
shown. Previous daily log files may be loaded by selecting
from this list the Log for the day concerned this will be
displayed in a similar way to today’s System Log Viewer main
screen. All of the same features and functionality will be
available, but applicable to the day selected. In the example
the Daily Log displayed will be for the 18th of January 2000.
1.4.2 REFRESH (F5)
The system is automatically refreshed every ten seconds, but can be manually refreshed by
pressing the F5 key or by selecting File - Refresh.
1.4.3 SUPERVISOR MODE (ALT+F S)
Under the File menu option a Supervisor Mode facility is provided. Selecting the Supervisor
Mode function prompts the User for a password. Only on correct entry of the Password is the
User given the additional privileges. These include under
the File menu Exit, and from the Config menu Re-Build
Index and Save Settings.
1.4.4 EXIT (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+F4)
Selecting File from the main menu bar while in Supervisor Mode allows the User to select the
Exit command, which will terminate the System Log Viewer application.
1.5 ACKNOWLEDGE (ALT+A)
Acknowledgement of an entry is achieved by first selecting an entry line or lines, and then
selecting Acknowledge from the main menu bar. When highlighted the line changes to black.
The selected Log entry line will then turn grey in colour, to indicate the entry has been
acknowledged. For convenience, the cursor automatically moves onto the next Log entry,
although acknowledgement can be performed in any sequence.
1.6 SEARCH MENU OPTIONS (ALT+S)
On selection of the Search option from the main menu the
following options are presented.
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1.6.1 FIND (F3)
Selecting the Find sub-menu from the Search menu allows
the User to search for any string of text in the System Log
list.
1.6.2 GO TO TIME (F6)
By selecting Go To Time from the Search menu, the User is able to
enter a time in hhmmss format, into the Go To Time window as
displayed. A search will then be made of the System Log, for the
nearest time in the list.
1.6.3 FIRST ERROR (ALT+S F)
By selecting First Error from the Search menu the first unacknowledged error in the Log will
be highlighted.
1.7 PRINT MENU OPTIONS (ALT+P)
On selection of the Print option from the main menu the
following options are presented.
1.7.1 SELECTED (CTRL+P)
Selected entries in the System Log Viewer Screen are shown in black. The entries required for
printing are selected, line-by-line by clicking on them with the Control key pressed, or a block
can be selected by holding the shift key down during selection of the first and last entry
required. Once the selection(s) has been made, choosing Selected from the pull down menu
will print only those lines.
1.7.2 NON-ACKNOWLEDGED (ALT+P N)
Selecting Non-Acknowledged from the Print menu allows the user to print all Non-
Acknowledged entries in the System Log Viewer main screen. Log entries that are grey in
colour will not be printed, as the User has previously acknowledged them.
1.7.3 ALL (ALT+P A)
All of the System Log entries for the day required can be printed. This is achieved by selecting
All from the sub-menu. The User should be aware that this command might cause very long
printouts. Selection of one of the other print options may be more desirable in most cases.
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1.7.4 SPECIAL (ALT+P P)
Selecting Special from the Print menu, displays a dialog box, as
shown whereby the User may select the type of message(s) to
include and the status of the message before printing.
1.8 CONFIG (ALT+C)
On selection of the Config option from the main menu the
following options are presented.
1.8.1 SOUND (ALT+C O)
Category System Errors, as displayed in the Status Bar of the System Log Viewer main
screen and by a Red Log entry, are also accompanied by a sound signal. This forces the User to
note and acknowledge the Log Entry, which in turn disables the sound signal and changes the
Log entry to a ‘grey’ shade. This Sound facility can, if desired, be disabled for future Category
System Errors - but only under Supervisor Mode, if not in
Supervisor Mode a screen prompt will be presented after
selecting the sub-menu Sound requiring password entry.
If an incorrect Password is entered, the User is informed.
However, by entering the correct Password, the Sound signal will from now on be disabled, and
the ‘tick’ beside the Sound sub-menu will no longer be present. To reinstate the Sound option,
simply select the Sound sub-menu (no password is required in this case) and the ‘tick’ returning
indicates the reinstatement of the facility.
1.8.2 FILTER (F4)
Three levels of Filtering are provided to restrict the amount of
information. These are Warnings, Information, or
Diagnostics. The required options are selected from the sub-menu
under the Config main menu. Selecting Filter from the sub-menu menu
will display the Filter Out screen as shown.
The User may select to show any combination of the three categories of events. By clicking on
any of the options the User may exclude it from the System Log Viewer main screen. When the
option has been deselected from the main screen, a warning symbol appears in the main Status
Bar as shown. The application defaults with all of the Filters on.
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[Link] WARNINGS (ALT+W)
Selecting to display Warnings only from the Filter Out Screen will result in the display of
System Warnings, with the Log entries starting with .
[Link] INFORMATION (ALT+I)
Selecting to display Information only from the Filter Out Screen, will result in the display of
System Information, with the Log entries starting with .
[Link] DIAGNOSTICS (ALT+D)
Selecting to display Diagnostics only from the Filter Out Screen, will result in the display of
System Diagnostics, with the Log entries starting with. .
1.8.3 RE-BUILD INDEX (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C R)
In the System Log the context of the files are indexed, so
should the files become corrupt due to Power Failure, or a
System Crash it is possible to rebuild it manually using this
option. From the main menu item select Config, Re-build
Index.
1.8.4 OPTIONS (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C S)
Selecting File and Supervisor Mode then Config,
Options from the sub-menu provides the user with
an interface for changing the configuration settings
for the System Log.
1.8.5 SAVE SETTINGS (SUPERVISOR MODE FUNCTION) (ALT+C S)
Selecting File and Supervisor Mode then Config, Save Settings from the sub-menu will save
the Filter, Status Bar on/off, Sound on/off the current window size and position for the next
time that the System Log is started.
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1.9 HELP (ALT+H)
1.9.1 ABOUT SYSLOG
Selecting Help from the main menu bar and
then About Syslog from the sub-menu will
display the Copperchase logo with the
current version number as displayed.
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