How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

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Marth8880
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How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by Marth8880 »

So lately I've been wondering if there was a way to view the contents of the debug log in real-time, similar to how modern game engine output logs are, and it turns out there is!

First off, by "real-time", I mean "playing the game in the debugger on one monitor while simultaneously seeing the contents of BFront2.log being updated". With that said, only those who have two or more monitors are going to find this to be very useful, but still!

Anywho, so the way you can do this is by downloading this tiny (and free) little program called Tail. It's literally just a standalone exe file that you can run from any folder (not that the directory from which you run it matters). So all you do is run the program, and once inside, browse to BFront2.log, and it'll open it and start updating it as the debugger writes to it!

What's even better is there's a feature (which I haven't tried yet) that allows you to set certain keywords that the program will highlight in the log – such as, say for example, "Message Severity: 3" or "Memory pool". What's more is there's a "Tally Window" (as the program calls it) that you can open that displays every single matched keyword, including the number of matches and the last match. Again, I haven't actually tried this feature out yet, but it sure sounds useful!

So yeah! Go ahead and give this nifty little program a shot! Once I get more of a chance to use it and play with it, I'll probably go ahead and upload a video of it in action while utilizing the keywords feature and everything.

*productivity intensifies*

http://tailforwin32.sourceforge.net/


EDIT:

There's a much better tool for this, called "glogg". Download it HERE!
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Last edited by Marth8880 on Sun Apr 29, 2018 2:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.
thelegend
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Re: How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by thelegend »

This sounds very useful. I no longer can use two monitors at once...well...wait a moment. Are two monitors really required? The debugger of BF2 has a minimized window already. So if the monitor is large enough it should also be possible to work with this method by only using one monitor?
Marth8880
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Re: How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by Marth8880 »

thelegend wrote:Are two monitors really required? The debugger of BF2 has a minimized window already. So if the monitor is large enough it should also be possible to work with this method by only using one monitor?
I mean technically no, two monitors aren't required, but it's undoubtedly much more convenient if you do have two (or more). With that said, yes, if you're willing to have the actual debugger run at a small enough resolution that you can also see at least a good portion of the bottom of the log, then sure, that'd definitely work.
thelegend
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Re: How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by thelegend »

Yeah it does. I am just testing it and it looks pretty interesting to see how it's being updated while playing. Thanks for the tip.
Samee3
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Re: How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by Samee3 »

Now this is a mighty useful program! Just tried it out; the keywords feature works like a charm.

Great find Marth!
Marth8880
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Re: How to monitor the contents of BFront2.log in real-time!

Post by Marth8880 »

UPDATE: There's actually a much better tool for this, called "glogg". Download it HERE!
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(I've updated the original post with this information as well)
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