Logging Options

Go Up to Configuring Feature Options

After opening the Options editor (see Specifying Application Preferences and Feature Options), you can make changes to the Logging tab. The Logging tab lets you set defaults that specify the behavior and placement of SQL, output and trace file logging.

SQL logging provides an audit trail. You can examine this log to determine the SQL executed to complete a task. The table below describes the SQL Logging options and functionality on the Logging tab:

Option	Description
Log all SQL Statements to a File	Indicates that the application should log all of the SQL that it executes to a file. SQL logging provides an audit trail. You can examine this log to determine the SQL executed to complete a task.
Logfile Path	If you choose to log the SQL generated by the application, specify the drive, directory, and file name.
Max File Size	Specifies the maximum size for the logfile. When the logfile reaches this threshold, it automatically starts deleting lines in the logfile (starting with the oldest statements) to remain within the specified size limit.
Truncate	Empties the entire contents of the logfile.

Output logging lets you monitor only messages issued by the server versus all SQL logged by the application. You can examine this log to determine all messages the server issued. The table below describes the output logging options and functionality on the Logging tab:

Option	Description
Log all Output Messages to a File	Indicates that the application should log all server messages sent to the Output window. This type of logging lets you monitor only messages issued by the server versus all SQL logged by the application. You can examine this log to determine all messages the server issued.
Logfile Path	If you choose to log the server messages generated in the Output window, specify the drive, directory, and file name.
Max File Size	Specifies the maximum size for the output logfile. When the output logfile reaches this threshold, it automatically starts deleting lines in the file (starting with the oldest statements) to remain within the specified size limit.
Truncate	Empties the entire contents of the output logfile.

Tracing is typically disabled (Trace Level set to Off) unless you are trying to diagnose a problem. When enabled, the sequence of trace messages generated by the application, severity specified, is written to a .log file. THe file name includes a date stamp.

A trace file is created on each run, one per day. If multiple instances of the same application are running, each instance will also have its own trace file for that day. The trace file will be written to until the OS denies writing to it due to the file being too big or not enough disk space. Unless the Trace Level is set to the higher levels such as Trace or Max, there won't be much in this file normally, so space should not be a problem. Up to 10 days of trace files are kept.

If tracing is turned on in the application (any Trace Level other than Off is set) the trace file will be locked until the application exits or the Trace Level is set to Off . The table below describes the Trace File options:

Option	Description
Trace Path	Fully specify the directory where trace files are to be stored.
Trace Level	In descending order of severity (and ascending order of total messages logged), Trace Level options are Fatal Errors, Errors, Warning, Info, Debug, Trace, and Max.
Truncate	Empties the entire contents of the current trace file.	Not available