Reading Logs
  • 05 Jul 2022
  • 4 Minutes to read
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Reading Logs

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Article Summary

Logs are records of various events that occur within the Service Host Manager as well as the Decisions Studio/User Portal. In their default state, logs are configured to report any errors that occur within the environment or installation.

Logs exist in two primary forms; as either Client Logs or Back-End Logs

These in turn can be used used by Admins to help identify and correct issues that affect System performance, by reviewing the log's identifiers, such as its Time Stamp, Level, and Category, as well as its accompanying Message content.


Log Types

There are two main varieties of Logs; Client Logs and Back-End Logs, each pertaining to specific parts of a Decisions environment. Their respective functions and locations are detailed in the chart below.

TypeFunctionLocation
Client LogsLists Warnings and Errors that originate from client-side processes. These can be saved for troubleshooting performance issues.

Additional levels such as Info and Debug, must be manually enabled. 
Via the Client Log Viewer in the Studio at System > Administration > System Tools > Logging
Back-End LogsRecords information regarding Service Host Manager and the File System.

These are stored separately as Primary, DecisionsServiceHost.exe, Usage, UsageDetail, Installer, and SHMcc log files. 
In the File System under C:\Program Files\Decisions\Decisions Server\Logs



Log Composition

A log is composed of different sections with each recording specific data. This screenshot shows an example of a log divided into these sections.

Log Section NameDescription
Log NumberThe unique GUID assigned to a Log. It allows users to quickly reference a particular Log message.
Time StampThis shows the time and date when the error occurred.
Log Level
By default, Decisions generate Logs with five distinct levels; Warn, Info, Debug, Error, and Fatal. These levels help to indicate the severity of an issue.
CategoryThis identifies which tool or part of Decisions is generating the issue. This is extremely helpful if the administrator is unsure of the origin of the issue.
Example categories may involve Rule Engine, Server, System, Security, AbstractDebugEntity, API Profiling, FlowStep, Database, and more.
Message
This shows the message for the error that occurred, stating what would appear for the error message in the Decisions environment if the problem were encountered there.
Thread IdThis shows which thread the Log occurred on. Threads are used to trace the execution of a series of Log events, although it cannot be inferred that previous Log messages in the file occur in the same execution context. 
CallTrackingIDIf the error involves an API call, captures the ID of the call that produced the log.
ClientSessionIDCaptures the Client Session ID of the user when the issue occurred.
Session IDThis shows the Session ID for the user session where this issue occurred. 
Exception DetailsThis shows the exception message for the error that occurred providing precise details of what happened when the occurrence triggered. 


Server Log Categories

The following represents each of the Server Log Categories that are pre-built into every Decisions instance:

Log Category NameDescription
Job Schedule WorkerLogging related to Scheduled Jobs.
Flow EngineLogging related to information on the Flow Engine. 
DecimalTypeConverterLogging related to Decimal type converter flows.
Service LayerLogging related to the Service Layer of the ORM.
DateTimeArrayEditorAttributeLogging related to the DateTime display format.
CssServiceLogging related to CSS Documents
FolderLogging related to Folders within the studio. Includes actions and subfolders retrieved.
TypeExtensionsLogging information for extensions method for System.Type
FormsLogging related to Form issues.
Service Layer (OData)Logging related to getting the related data from associated types.
ReportsLogging related to information on reports that have been run
ClientEventsLogging related to events based on the session.
ClusterLogging related to information on servers in a cluster.
DoubleConnectionStringConnectionLogging related to information on having a dual connection string setup
Rule EngineLogging related to information on the Rule Engine.
DocumentLogging related to imported documents.
ActionsLogging related to user actions.
PageLogging related to pages.
RepositoryProxyHelperLogging related to connecting to a Repository when looking for revisions.
License PolicyLogging related to information on licenses level and what they provide - ie Personal Licenses not allowing remote connections.
CodeBucketHelperLogging related to errors when compiling generated code.
AuditServiceLogging related to information on the audit listener.
ORMLogging related to the ORM Layer process.
AppStoreHelperLogging related to the Decisions Appstore endpoint.
GeneralLogging on starting sessions
ProcessorUtilitiesLogging regarding the Windows Server information.
Data UtilitiesLogging related to data objects.
ProfilerServiceLogging related to the Profiler.
Thread JobsLogging information on for Thread Jobs.
ReportHelperLogging information on Report changes.
BootInitializationLogging related to information when the system starts up.
LogCallEndAttributeLogging information on the end of calling a process. Shows the total time
AccountLogging related to Account information
RemoteRepositoryServiceLogging related to information on communication with a repository
JobScheduleLogging related to job schedule settings
InstanceDataLogging related to an instance of a multi-tenant server.
ModuleResourceLogging related to ModuleResource type.
TypeUtilitiesLogging related to information on datatype assemblies.
Configuration StorageLogging related to configuration data.
EntitiesLogging related to Entities
FlowStepLogging related to flow steps that ran over the time set in the settings.xml file
AgentLogging information on agent related items
ServerLogging information on service host manager and port binding
CreateDataLogging information on the create data step
Unit TestsLogging information on Unit Tests.
AOPInformation about everything that happens within the portal. If this is on, it will bloat the logging section.
SecurityInformation on the current user context and verifying that the IP is local
ObjectsImporterLogging related to code buckets not compiling during the import process.
ApiThreadCleanerLogging related to cleaning up API threads.
RuleLogging related to the rule designer.
API ProfilingLogging related to API Call information
SystemLogging information related to system startup
DatabaseLogging related to the database connection and loading tables.
Decisions.CoreLogging related to the Decisions.Core module

For further information on Settings, visit the Decisions Forum.

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