src/site/apt/viewing-log-events.apt

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Viewing Log Events

  When viewing a lot of information, the main viewing screen looks as follows:

[images/chainsaw-log-panel.png]

  There are three main parts of the screen that we will go over now.

Logger Pane

  On the left side of the screen, we have the logger pane:

[images/logger-pane.png]

  This pane displays all of the loggers that we have seen messages from.
  The loggers that have been seen can be interacted with.  For example, right-clicking
  on a logger brings up a context menu that will allow you to do different operations,
  such as:

  * Focusing/ignoring a specified logger

  * Adding a color rule for a logger

  * Adding information to the 'find' field

  []

Log Messages

  In the center of the screen we have the main log viewing area. 

[images/log-pane.png]

  This contains all of the log messages that we have seen from this receiver.
  Each log event is a separate row in this table, and each field in the log event
  corresponds to a column.

  Right-clicking in this area brings up a context menu.  From this context menu,
  you may perform several actions.  You can perform several actions on the data,
  some of which overlap with the logger pane.  Note that these actions are not
  based off of the entire log message, but rather what column you have clicked on.
  For example, making a color rule when you right-click on the LOGGER column will
  create a rule based off of the currently selected logger name.  If you instead
  click on the LEVEL column, the rule will be based off of the curren level.

  Some of the actions that you can perform on the table are:

  * Add value under cursor to 'Refine Focus' field

  * Add value under cursor to 'Find' field

  * Change how the relative times are displayed

  * Define a color rule 

  * Copy an entry to the clipboard(column or log event)

  * Show/hide different panes

  * Undock into a new window

  * Best-fit the column for the given data

  []

  At the top of the pane are two text boxes that are used for searching/filtering.
  The one on the left, 'Refine Focus', lets you focus on different parts of the
  information.  For example, you can refine focus on a logger by using an {{{./expression-rules.html}expression rule}}.
  This allows you to quickly filter messages based off of their attributes.
  When using the 'Refine Focus' box, log messages that do not match are automatically
  hidden so as to not clutter the screen.

  The 'Find' field on the other hand is a traditional search bar.  It will
  search through the messages for interesting data without hiding log events
  that don't match.  An expression rule can also be defined here to search
  for information.

Detail Pane

  At the very bottom of the screen, we have the detail pane:

[images/details-pane.png]

  This pane shows information about the currently selected log message.
  The exact details shown in this pane can be customized by right-clicking
  and bringing up a context menu.