New Tools for Color Coding SAS BI Log Files
posted: January 1, 2007One day, SAS Technical Support Consultant David Shinn was investigating a problem that occurred during a SAS BI installation. After the problem was solved, he realized that the answer was in the Object Spawner log file. However, because that log file tends to fill up rapidly, the clue to fixing that problem was difficult to find. To help analyze log files more easily, he created two tools:
- the SAS BI Color Coding Application
- the Object Spawner Request Summary Report Application
These tools are available for use by SAS employees and customers who run SAS 9.1 or higher on Windows. The Color Coding Application requires only Foundation SAS; the Summary Report Application requires Foundation SAS and SAS/GRAPH. You can download these tools from the SAS Customer Support Center Web site.
- The SAS BI Color Coding Application color codes SAS BI log files and highlights important information. This application makes it easier to read and understand the log files. For example: by default, ERROR messages in the log file are hyperlinked. You can click any ERROR message in the log and search for all the SAS Notes that are associated with that error message. In addition, you can display those SAS Notes in a new Web page.
This application is not limited to being used on SAS Object Spawner log files, SAS log files, or log files in general. You can use this application to color code any text file. You can specify your own keywords and phrases with corresponding colors, either in addition to or in place of the default keywords and phrases.
- The Object Spawner Request Summary Report Application reads SAS Object Spawner log files and produces:
- a summary report of Stored Process Server requests that were processed by the Object Spawner
- a graph that summarizes the activity
- a detailed report that contains information about each request.
