ISSEL Log Companion Pro 4.1.2 Release Notes

This document describes installation notes, known issues, and miscellaneous engineering notes for the ISSEL Log Companion Pro 4.1.2.

For a description of the functionality of ISSEL Log Companion Pro 4.1.2, see the ISSEL Log Companion User Guide.

This document describes the following:

Added function to Exclude/Include web sites (domains) based on either Server or Hosts field.
Added Exclude/Include option for Robots.
Added Disable option for all exclusion lists.
Can now parse User fields in NCSA logs either with or without surrounding double quotes. Useful for Domino logs.
Directory paths in the Event log and Activity window now uses long names for increased readability.
If the LogEngine crashes it is now more likely that there will be traces in the event log.
Added Special 6 log file types for custom log file formats.
Max line length increased from 2400 to 4000 characters.
Made the loading of the config file more resistant to misconfigured config lines.

For previous changes and fixes please see the Revision History.

At present the above are the only supported OSes. No problems are forseen with operations on Windows XP, Windows 98 or Win ME, though this is not tested.

The ISSEL Log Companion Pro has very limited system requirements. When running it will use less then 10 MB of RAM, irrespective of the size of the log files being processed. Clearly, if the programme is set to call other programs (such as Hit List) then requirements will increase accordingly. The Log Companion Pro itself uses less then 2 MB of disk space however the log files it processes can use any amount of disk space so the disk drives should be dimensioned accordingly.

The installer backs up the ISSEL directory (C:\Issel) to the Temp directory before it installs any new files. The backed up directory is called "issel_org". Note: If the Log Companion is ever installed again this directory will be overwritten.

If you are already using an earlier version of the ISSEL Log Companion you can un-install the old Log Companion before or after installing the new version according to the descriptions below. However, do not delete the ISSEL directory if you want the installer to automatically re-use your previous settings.

Installation procedure is as follows:

1. Download the installer application from the ISSEL web site.
2. Double click the installer file to run the installation program.
3. The installer consists of three parts:
   • A self-extracting executable. When it opens select Setup. This extracts all the files from the archive to the temp directory and runs a batch file.
   • The batch file creates the directories, backups the ISSEL directory and copies the files to the correct places and then starts the installer for the VB program.
   • The VB installer shows a splash screen. Select Setup. This installs the VB program and its associated files.

After installing the new software the Log Companion Pro should still be pointing to any customised exclusion- or inclusion-files you were using previously. However, any exclusion/inclusion files you had modified in the ISSEL directory will have been replaced with fresh new files. If you kept your files in the ISSEL directory your old exclusion/inclusion files can now be found in the backup of the ISSEL directory (C:\Temp\Issel_org). For this reason it is a very good idea to move your custom exclusion/inclusion files to separate directories instead of using the ISSEL direcory.

Every new version of Log Companion Pro comes with the latest Robot Exclusions file from ABC. After installing an upgrade you should change your Log Companion Pro setting to point to the latest version of this exclusion file which can be found under C:\Issel\Exclusions\.

When a release adds support for a new log file type you should make sure the right log file type is selected in your old configurations. You may need to open every configuration and re-select the Log File Type setting.

Release 3.2.0 introduced wild cards for IP-exclusions. If you are upgrading from an earlier version of Log Companion Pro you have to edit all your IP-exclusion/inclusion files. Entries which previously did NOT have any trailing wild cards must have the trailing wild cards ADDED to represent the same exclusion/inclusion as before. Without the wild cards they will be taken to mean exact matches. Also note that 3.2.0 offers new combinations for wild cards and IP-ranges, examples of which can be seen in the included default exclusion/inclusion files.

The installation is now complete and the programme can now be started from the Start menu under Programs/Issel. When you start up the new release of the Log Companion Pro for the first time make sure you examine any new features and select the settings you prefer. Typically any new features will be disabled by default so they should not affect processing unless you want them to.

To remove the ISSEL Log Companion Pro from your machine follow these steps:

1. Open the "Add/Remove" control panel, select the ISSEL Log Companion Pro and remove it.
2. Delete the directory C:\Issel and all its content. Do not delete the ISSEL directory if you are doing an upgrade.

On some systems the installer (the CMD window) halts asking for permission to overwrite certain installation files. If this happens you can select ALL to overwite all the necessary files. Only files in the Issel directory are over written. This issue is probably based on the security settings for the account used to install the software.

If you are not sure what type of log files you have, select the Auto Detect setting which will detect the log file format for you. However, if the log file is a totally unknown format the Log Companion may still treat it as an NCSA log so please check that the output seems valid.

There is a small problem with handling extra Header fields in IIS log files such as those that shows up when the web server is restarted or the logging configuration is changed. When the Log Companion runs into such a field in the middle of a log file (instead of in the beginning) it will simply exclude such lines. As long as the actual field definitions does not change (for example when a web server is re-started) there are no further problems. If the definition is changed then the rest of the output will probably be garbage since the fields will be parsed according to the original header in the file. To avoid this the log file has to be split where the definition occurs and the different sections of the log be processed separately.
Note: From version 3.2.0 the Log Companion can handle IIS5 logs which does not start with a proper Web Header if the Log Companion is set to auto detect the log file format (as long as there is a Web Header available somewhere in the log) but will still not detect extra Web Headers after the first has been detected.

There is an issue with the function converting cookies to parameters. Entered Cookie names which matches the beginning of another cookie name will be parsed if they appear before the intended cookie in the cookie field in the log file.

The function to load log files into Hit List one at a time does not work properly and should not be used. It is therefore disabled at the moment.

To purchase the ISSEL Log Companion Pro contact ISSEL at sales@issel.co.uk sending the Log Companion Pro ID which can be found under the System tab after you have started the programme. On receipt of your payment you will be sent a License Key. This key can be entered into the Log Companion Pro under the System tab, directly below where the ID is found. On entering a correct license key a confirmation message will appear and the text at the top of the screen will now show that it is a licensed version.

This is complex software and as such there may be issues that you will encounter. Please report these to support@issel.co.uk for us to investigate.

We also welcome suggestions for improvements and new features. These should also be sent to support@issel.co.uk.

For our contact information please go to: www.issel.co.uk