First, make sure that your logging application is configured to write log messages using log4net. If you just want to test LOG4VIEW, you can use the application LogEmiter.exe which is installed together with LOG4VIEW. Then, just drag your application exe file from the file explorer to LOG4VIEW. Confirm the settings in the receiver configuration form and press OK. Now, LOG4VIEW is configured to receive messages from your application.

You created a File Extension Schema for log files with a specific extension. For further information on how to use and deactivate this feature, please refer to the corresponding chapter in our documentation.

Log4View is capable of including user generated plugins. There are visual plugins you may add to the GUI of Log4View and receiver plugins that allow you to receive messages from your own appenders. When installing Log4View, include the Sample Receiver and Sample Dashboard to install code examples of plugins in your Log4View main directory. Your plugins will have access to our powerful API documented at “<Log4ViewDirectory >\Help\Log4ViewAPI.chm”.

Your plugins must follow the name pattern Log4View.*.dll and have to be copied in Log4View’s main directory to be included.

There are two ways for debugging your own plugins. The first one is to debug via Visual Studio. Go to “Debug” -> “Attach to Process…” and select Log4View. You should now be able to use the Visual Studio Debugger within the code of your own plugin.

Another way is to send log messages at critical sections of your plugin's code. Log4View already features an integrated a status logger you may call via

LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger().Info("Example");

This way a message “Example“ with the Loglevel Info will be logged via TCP-, file- or Traceappender, depending on your entries in the Log4View.exe.config (in the main directory of Log4View) in the section of log4net.

To supervise these messages in real time, you can use Log4View again. The easiest way is to copy the whole directory of Log4View and to change the file path of its log file in its Log4View.exe.config (else you would receive the status messages of both the logging and the receiving instance of Log4View). Start the copied Log4View and attach the logging one’s file via a file receiver.

If you get an error when installing the latest version of Log4View because the old version can not be removed, please extract Log4ViewSetup_12.5.X.0.exe to a folder (e.g. using 7zip) and run Setup.exe from there.

Log4View activates itself, when a valid license key has been registered.

To perform an offline installation, follow these steps: 

1. Before installing Log4View, install the .NET Framework 4.71 or higher on the computer

2. In Log4View go to Help/License Activation, click and press the button "Offline Activation" in the upper right corner of the license dialog and enter your license key.

3. Create an activation file via our licensing page license.prosa.biz/CustomerArea/Index in the area "Offline Activation". For this you need your Log4View license key.
You can use this activation file for all installations in your company.

4. After the installation of Log4View you can activate the software with the command
Log4View.exe RegisterLicense /ActivationFile=MyActivationFile.txt

The installer of Log4View supports a silent installation without any user interaction needed. Just use the cmd argument -silent

Example:
C:\Users\<User>\Downloads>Log4ViewSetup.exe -silent

You can also register your license key while installing. Here use the cmd parameter LicenseKey=

Example:
C:\Users\<User>\Downloads>Log4ViewSetup.exe LicenseKey=abcde-fghij-klmop-qrstuvw
C:\Users\<User>\Downloads>Log4ViewSetup.exe -silent LicenseKey= abcde-fghij-klmop-qrstuvw

You can activate an already installed instance of Log4View using the command prompt with the command
    RegisterLicense /Key=xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

Example:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Log4View V2>Log4View.exe RegisterLicense /Key=abcde-fghij-klmop-qrstuvw

If you want to do an offline activation using an activation file, use the command 
    RegisterLicense /ActivationFile=Filename.xxx 

Example:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Log4View V2>Log4View.exe RegisterLicense /ActivationFile=MyActivationFile.txt

With the development of Log4View V2 we have changed our license management. When you now purchase Log4View, you receive a license key in the form: xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx

This key allows you to activate Log4View V2.

When you still use Log4View V1, you can use the following link to create a Log4View V1 license file with your Log4View V2 license key.

https://prolic.prosa.biz/CustomerArea/LegacyLicenseDowngrade

Technically, there is no difference. You register the same license key in both cases.

• The default case is the machine-bound license: Every installation of Log4View needs its own license. Typical cases are Servers, Control-PCs, Test-Machines and other computers, which are not assigned to a special person.
• Developers and technicians often use multiple Computers, e.g. a work desktop, an additional notebook and the PC at home. In our oppinion, it wouldn't be fair to require a user purchasing three licenses if he wants to install Log4View on all of his three computers. Therefore, a user who owns a Log4View license has the right to install Log4View on up to three of his PCs. We call this a person-bound license. Yet he may only run Log4View on one of his devices at a time.

You decide on your own if you assigns a Log4View license to a machine or to a person. You can even change this assignment once a quarter. For this purpose you do not need to get a new license or inform us. We trust in your own responsibility to comply with the License Agreement. Log4View only checks if the license count is met.

Example:

You want to equip 5 developers and 3 technicians with Log4View. Additionaly you want to install Log4View on two servers and 4 PCs in the test lab which are used by five testers. This scenario requires 14 licenses. You assign eight of them to the five developers and three technicians. Each of them can install Log4View on up to three of his machines. These eight licenses are person-bound. The other six licenses are used for the two servers and four test machines. These computers can be used by many different persons who don't need an own Log4View license. These six licenses are machine-bound.

Make sure, that your application is configured to write log messages. Examine the settings of the log4net root logger. Make sure, that no Log4Net filter prevents the reception or display of log messages.

LOG4VIEW works with the standard UDP appender, with file and rolling file appenders and with a special LOG4VIEW TCP appender. If the log messages shouldn't be persisted, use the TCP appender. It works on the local machine as well as with remote applications. All you need is an open TCP port. If you need to store your logging information, use the RollingFileAppender. LOG4VIEW can read consecutive rolled files at once and reads the current log file as it is written without locking the file so that it can be rolled over by log4net.

Use XML layout whenever possible. It is best suited to be read by LOG4VIEW. LOG4VIEW can also read pattern formatted log files but it can't be ensured that LOG4VIEW can read every log pattern, because some patterns are ambiguous.

Log4View can receive network messages via TCP or UDP. For TCP, just start your logging application/appender and add a new network receiver in Log4View. Select the TCP protocol radio button, enter the server's hostname or IP adress as hostname and make sure you use the same port as the appender.

For UDP, select the UDP protocol. Again use the server's hostname or IP as hostname and the same port as the appender. Be aware that you have to set the receiver's IP or the network's broadcast IP in the appender's remote adress configuration, else you will not receive any messages.

Log4net has a bug in the UDP appender so that you can't send messages to the local IP address 127.0.0.1 in Windows 7. A workaround is to use the local address "127.0.0.2".

In Log4View 1.6 we have revised the XML parser to parse log files faster and more efficiently. The new XML parser reacts much more sensitive to files that do not comply with the XML standard. You should ensure that your log files are XML compliant.

Make sure, that the file prosa.LogAppender.dll is in the same directory as your logging application.

Log4View has an internal message buffer which holds all received messages. This buffer has a size limit (default 500.000 messages), configurable in the receiver settings. It is organized as a ring buffer, i.e. the oldest messages are removed when the size limit is reached.

To make sure that you read all log files, increase the message buffer size to 5.000.000 messages in the log receiver settings.