Designing and Managing Behavior Models - Alarm Actions - Log to File -
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Log to File

The Log to File alarm action writes information about an alarm transition to an ASCII text file.

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   Over use of Log to File may slow down NerveCenter's performance.

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  To add a Log to File action to a transition:

1. From the Transition Definition window, select the New Action button.

   A pop-up menu listing all the alarm actions is displayed.

2. Select Log to File from the pop-up menu.

   The Log to File Action dialog is displayed.

   

3. In the File Name text field, type in either a filename or a full pathname for your log file.

   If you enter a filename, the log file is written to the directory install_directory/Log (Windows) or install_directory/userfiles/logs (UNIX). If you enter a full pathname, the log file is written to the directory you specify.

4. To log particular information instead of NerveCenter's default data, do the following:
   1. Deselect the Default Data checkbox.
   2. In the Custom Data field, type or paste the variables you want included in the log, separating each variable with a space.

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      You can also select a variable from the Special Symbol drop-down listbox and then click the red arrow.

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5. Select either the On or Off radio button in the Enable frame.

   This option gives you the ability to disable logging without disabling the alarm of which the logging action is a part.

6. Select either the On or Off radio button in the Verbose Output frame.

   If you turn Verbose Output on, NerveCenter labels each value it writes to the log file. Otherwise, NerveCenter writes only the values, separated by commas, to the log file. This may be what you want if you are using the log file only as the basis for reports.

7. Select the OK button in the Log to File Action dialog.
8. Select the OK button in the Transition Definition window.
9. Select the Save button in the Alarm Definition window.

See the table Fields in Log Entry or Mail Message for a list of the values that constitute a log file entry. And remember that if you create your log file in non-verbose mode, the values in an entry are not labeled; they are separated by commas. You may need to refer to the table mentioned above to interpret the contents of a log entry.