Exploring eFORMz Logs

Overview

This article is meant to assist users on how to effectively navigate logs to help with their own troubleshooting.

Requirements

1. Notepad++ or any advanced text editor alternative.

Procedure

Types of Logs

1. Web.log
   1. Holds most webserver related logs.
   2. Ship/FX related logs will likely be found here.
2. Director.log
   1. Holds print out of settings for the Director and Webserver.
   2. Will state which .cfg files are being loaded to the Director.
3. Run.log
   1. Will shows which services have been loaded.
4. LocalPM [Might be renamed based off implementation]
   1. Contains information about files being processed.
   2. Contains information about projects processing previously mentioned files.
   3. Contains errors/exceptions within queues of the configuration file.

Searching Logs

To effectively find information within the log folder, an advanced text editor such as Notepad++ is recommended. This way, we can use the advanced search utilities built into the application.

An example of scenario:

A file containing order information is being processed by eFORMz but for some reason the order is not being printed out to the printer.

If the order number or file name is known:

1. We can quickly do a “Search in Files” search to find the order in question.
   
   
2. In the Find in Files window above it will search through all of the files in a chosen directory.
3. In eFORMz we would want to search within the log folder of eFORMz.
4. The default windows path for the logs would be:

   1. C:\Minisoft\eFORMz_6\logs

5. Once the order or input file in question is found, we would see the following section.

Typical Log Entries for a File Being Processed

1. Processing input file:
   1. Displays the file that’s being processed with extension.
2. Using Project:
   1. The project name that is going to process the input file.
3. Processing with eDIRECT:
   1. The project was processed with eDIRECT Plus outputs. More details of what else was output would follow shortly after, or can be viewed within the project.
4. Pages Printed:
   1. Will display the format (PCL, ZPL, PDF, ETC) that was sent to the defined printer output.
   2. i.e. PCL would signify a typical LaserJet printer, ZPL would be a Zebra printer. 

Immediately after this section, an error message or error trace will be displayed related to the file mentioned above. These error messages can help provide a hint of the root cause of the issue.

Opening a ticket with these error messages, would greatly assist our support team in helping determine the best course of action to resolve the issue.

Assistance

If any further assistance is needed, please contact our Support team.

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