Log View and Search

Creating a log for backups and restores is important for evaluating their success. You can create a separate log for each backup or restore session, or you can create one log for all sessions.  (With one log for all sessions, the record of each backup or restore appends to the record created for the previous backup or restore.)

By specifying log options or log preferences, you can create a detailed or summarized log for each Double Image session.

Log File Names

Log files have the same names as the profiles created for backups or restores; the file extension for log files is .BUL.

Different Profiles With Same Log File Names

Because Double Image creates a log file name when you save a modified profile, one or more profiles might refer to the same log file name.  And, if multiple instances of Double Image run using those profiles, Double Image recognizes the duplicate log file names and assigns them unique numbers.

The Log Window

To view the Double Image log window, do one of the following:

• Click the Log icon

• From the Tools menu, click LOG...

• In Windows Explorer, select the name of a log file, then double-click its icon.

NOTE: You can view multiple logs concurrently; however, you cannot view a log that Double Image is writing to.

Example of a log window

Organizing Information in the Log Window

You can organize the information in the log window in the following ways:

• Delete a column by clicking its heading and dragging the heading out of the window.
• Sort the contents of a column by clicking its heading to display the up or down arrow.  (The up arrow indicates an ascending sort, and the down arrow indicates a descending sort. You can sort log entries by event type (file, errors, and warnings), entry date/time, source file name, source file timestamp, target file name, and target file timestamp.
• Add a column by right clicking any column heading and then clicking the name of any column not selected (checked)
• Detailed information includes events and entries for each log entry.
• The content of the detail can differ depending on the type of log entry.
• Double click any line to see the details of a log entry.

Log entries can be copied and pasted into text pages, HTML pages or spreadsheets

An 'information' log entry, viewed in detail
 

The 2nd to the last entry in the log -- 'Memory Used for Directories'

The last log entry -- 'Summary Record'
 

In the log window menu, select Edit, Find to create Find conditions.

Searching for Information in the Log Window

Select 'More' to create multiple 'Find' conditions in the log

For large backup sessions, detail logs can contain a large number of entries. Let's say a log contains more than 250,000 entries and you need to find log entries related to '.doc' files that were modified in a certain time range. By creating multiple conditions, the search is minimized to fewer and better results. Here is how this might be done.

Log Find Event Type

The second entry of the Find dialog provides for locating conditions that are equal, greater than, or event type.

Log Capacity

When millions of files are backed up in a single session the log could get very large, that is if you chose to have a detail log produced showing every file reference.  Double Image allows for these situations. When the log reaches a defined maximum a log cut-off automatically occurs. The current log is closed and a new log file is created -- the log file names have a bracketed number appended to the log file names as shown in the example below.

D:\Double Image\Profiles and Logs\DR C to E

D:\Double Image\Profiles and Logs\DR C to E[1].bul

D:\Double Image\Profiles and Logs\DR C to E[2].bul

D:\Double Image\Profiles and Logs\DR C to E[3].bul

Changing Colors of Log Entries

To change the colors of log entries,

• From the Edit menu, choose Preferences.
• Select Log Colors.
• In the Log Colors window, select the type of information whose color you want to change.
• Click the Set Colors button.
• Click the new color.
• Click OK, OK.

Log Tips and Special Features

• Sort individual columns within the log
• Use your mouse to drag columns off log window
• Right-mouse to add log columns to the log window
• Use your mouse and highlight all or part of the log, copy and paste into a TEXT file.
• Use your mouse and highlight parts of the log, copy and paste into a spreadsheet, such as Microsoft Excel spreadsheet file.

Email log summary to someone, after a backup is complete, even when just a detail log has been created.

• Ensure that the log is in event time order (default)
• {CTRL} {END}
• Highlight the last record
• Copy and paste to an email screen, and send

Create an HTML report of the log.

• Create a TEXT report file from an existing log.

Logs other than backup and restore entries

The log can be used for other purposes than detail or summary backup and restore activity. Reports may be created and outputted to the log.

See Reporting Options for the ability to produce special output to the Log:

• Comparison of Backup and Restore files

• List of files selected in the Backup Tree