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mailto(karel@icce.rug.nl)
report(\
XWatch nl() \
The Logfiles Watcher)
(Karel Kubat (karel@icce.rug.nl) nl() \
State University of Groningen nl() \
Westerhaven 16, 9718 AW Groningen nl() \
The Netherlands)
(1996)
chapter(Introduction)
tt(XWatch) is a small program that I wrote to monitor logfiles and to see
any changes bf(directly) (instead of having to read all the logs after a
breakin or a crash). tt(XWatch) is simply started with a few file
arguments, and any information that appears on the files is displayed.
With a slider you can see past information; i.e., lines that scroll in
tt(xwatch)'s window. That's all there is to it. The appearance of the
tt(xwatch) window can furthermore be modified via command line flags or
via an application defaults file. (Older versions of tt(XWatch) had a
button to activate an `options' window. I removed this code, almost no-one
uses it.)
tt(XWatch) is incidentally my first applications with the XForms GUI
library for X, which I can highly recommend for developers who want to
start `X programming' but who don't want to go through the hassle of
having to learn about intrinsics. XForms is really excellent. Congrats,
T.C. Zhao and Mark Overmars (the latter is rumored to bootleg at a soccer
club in his free time ;). Instructions on where and how to get the XForms
library are in the tt(Makefile), contained in tt(xwatch)'s distribution.
chapter(Using xwatch)
You typically start tt(xwatch) when activating an X session; e.g.,
from the file which xdm uses to fire up a user's session (this file is
normally tt(/usr/X11/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession)). The command that starts
tt(xwatch) is something like
verb(\
xwatch [options] files &
)
where `options' are optional flags, files are the files to watch, and
the ampersand character is used to start tt(xwatch) in the background. The
files to watch are typically in the directory tt(/var/adm/): files which
are created by the syslog daemon (see the file tt(syslogd.conf.SAMPLE) in
the distribution for an example). tt(XWatch) accepts only filenames which
are:
startit()
it() ordinary files, no sockets, directory names,
it() which are not binary files.
endit()
Other files as stated on the commandline are not monitored. When any
`non-proper' file is given on the commandline, tt(xwatch) warns about the
file not being acceptable and deletes it from its list of names.
sect(Options to the xwatch program)
The options are many, start tt(xwatch) without arguments to see what is
supported. All options can also be stated in the file
tt(/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch) as X resources (see the file
tt(XWatch.ap) as an example). In the following enumeration, a em(nr)
denotes a number:
startit()
it() tt(-border) em(nr): Specifies whether tt(xwatch) should start
with a border. The em(nr) must be 0 or 1. When you start tt(xwatch)
without a border, your window manager may not be able to resize or
even recognize it. Incidentally, this may be what you want -- I use it
to `hide' the presence of tt(xwatch) from my window manager tt(fvwm).
it() tt(-geometry) em(geom): Specifies the display geometry, \'a-la
other X programs. You can express the geometry in terms of em(WxH)
(width by height), optionally postfixed by em(+X+Y) (x and y offset)
or em(-X-Y) (offsets relative to the lower right corner) and other
combinations.
Note that previous switches that emulated the geometry specification,
such as tt(-xpos) and tt(-height), are now obsolete. Use the geometry
setting.
it() tt(-fg) em(color) and tt(-bg) em(color): These options define the
default foreground and background of the watch window.
Note that previous switches, such as tt(-bred) and tt(-bblue), are now
obsolete.
it() tt(-printtime) em(nr): Defines whether tt(xwatch) should prefix
any info on the watched files with a timestamp. The tt(nr) can be 0 or
zero; the timestamp is printed when em(nr) is 1.
it() tt(-printname) em(nr): Defines whether tt(xwatch) should prefix
any info on the watched files with the filename. The em(nr) is again a
flag, 0 or 1.
it() tt(-newline) em(nr): Defines whether tt(xwatch) should let a
newline follow the time and/or filename stamp, so that the actual
information is displayed on its own line.
it() tt(-interval) em(nr): Defines the scanning interval. Each em(nr)
seconds, tt(xwatch) will check if new information has arrived on the
watched files. The em(nr) may be between 1 and 30 seconds.
it() tt(-fontsize) em(nr): Defines the initial size of the display
font. The em(nr) may range from 1 to 4; 1 being the smallest font and
4 being the largest.
it() tt(-fontstyle) em(nr): Defines the style of the used font. The
em(nr) is a number between 0 and 15 (0 being the default). Start
tt(xwatch) without arguments or read the application defaults file to
see what fonts the numbers choose.
it() tt(-firstwarnings) em(nr): Defines whether tt(xwatch) should
print initial warnings into the watch window. E.g., you might like to
set tt(firstwarnings) to zero, and then start tt(xwatch) with the file
argument tt(/var/adm/*). Warnings about, e.g., tt(utmp) being a
binary file would then be suppressed.
it() tt(-printversion) em(nr): Controls whether tt(xwatch) prints its
version number and copyright notice upon startup in the watch window.
it() tt(-gag) em(text): This option, when present, prevents all lines
with em(text) in them from being shown in the display window. You can
specify more than one string to `gag', in that case, separate the
strings with tt(|).
it() tt(-colorstring) em(col:string): This option causes lines that
contain tt(string) to be displayed using the specified color.
The string is matched literally.
E.g., if you use the option tt(-colorstring blue:connection) then
all lines containing tt(connection) are displayed in pure blue.
You can specify several colorstrings by separating all options with a
| character, as in tt(-colorstring blue:connection|red:error). Note
that, for reasons of shell expansion, you should quote such options on
the commandline.
it() tt(-title) em(name): This option sets the window title of the
watch window. Note that the title will only be visible when tt(border)
is not 0. This option may be useful if you have several XWatch
windows, monitoring different things.
it() tt(-ignore) em(fileA|fileB|fileC|...): This option is handy if
you start XWatch with a wildcard file argument, but when you want
XWatch bf(not) to process some files. The tt(-ignore) flag removes
the stated files from the watchlist. Note that, for reasons of shell
commandline expansion, you must quote the file specification (or the
shell will interpret the | characters as pipes). (Thanks, Frank
Brokken, tt(frank@icce.rug.nl) for the code).
endit()
Before you extensively use the options, create an application defaults
file tt(/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch). You can do so by copying the
file tt(XWatch.ap), extracted from the archive, to
tt(/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch). The comments in the distributed
application defaults file explain what you can configure and show
examples.
Some systems do not have the directory tt(/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults). In
that case, you should create the following links:
startit()
it() tt(/usr/X11) should point to your X11 distribution; e.g. to
tt(/usr/X11R6). That way, you always have e.g. tt(/usr/X11/bin), even
after upgrading your X11 distribution. All that is needed is one new
link.
it() tt(/usr/lib/X11) should point to tt(/usr/X11/lib/X11).
endit()
Then edit the file tt(XWatch) in the application defaults directory, and
follow the instructions therein to define your favorite settings. If you
need to start tt(xwatch) incidentally with another setting, use a flag.
sect(File arguments)
The filename arguments can optionally be followed by a color
specification that applies only to that particular file. E.g., say you
want to see all the files in tt(/var/adm) normally in blue text; but you
want to see tt(/var/adm/critical) (critical messages from applications) in
yellow and tt(/var/adm/auth) (authentification messages) in red. In that
case, the course to follow would be:
startit()
it() The default foreground color would be blue. You could set this
with the flags tt(-fg blue), or in the application
defaults file.
it() The color for tt(/var/adm/critical) should be yellow. Hence, the
first file argument would be tt(/var/adm/critical:yellow).
it() The color for file tt(/var/adm/auth) should be red, hence the
second file argument would be tt(/var/adm/auth:red).
it() The following arguments would be the files, using the standard
foreground (blue): tt(/var/adm/*), without any extra color
specifications.
endit()
Such a commandline would cause tt(xwatch) to complain about the multiple
presence of tt(/var/adm/critical) (once from the separate argument, and
once from the wildcard argument) and similarly about tt(/var/adm/auth). If
this bothers you, turn off the initial warnings (e.g., using
tt(-firstwarnings 0) or in the application defaults file).
Note that besides the color specifications for filenames, you can
also specify coloring for lines that match a given string in all files.
See the above description of the switch tt(-colorstring) for more
information.
COMMENT(**** Leave this tag in place, it's used to generate the INSTALL
file:
STARTINSTALL )
IFDEF(INSTALL)
(report(XWatch: short installation guide)()())
()
chapter(Obtaining xwatch)
tt(XWatch) can be obtained at the ftp site url(tt(ftp.icce.rug.nl))
(ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl), in the directory url(tt(/pub/unix))
(ftp://ftp.icce.rug.nl/pub/unix), as the file tt(xwatch-X.YY.tar.gz).
tt(X.YY) is the version number, e.g., 1.00. This site is the primary site,
so check here for new versions.
To unpack the archive, change-dir to your `sources' directory (e.g.,
tt(/usr/local/src)) and type
verb(\
tar xvzf /where/ever/you/put/it/xwatch-X.YY.tar.gz
)
Next, change-dir to the unpacked subdirectory tt(xwatch) and check there.
You will find a subdirectory tt(src) with the full sources.
chapter(Compiling xwatch)
IFDEF(INSTALL)(\
This file is automatically generated from tt(doc/xwatch.yo). Please
also read the full docs in HTML format as tt(doc/xwatch.html) or in LaTeX
format as tt(doc/xwatch.tex). A poor-mans document is tt(doc/xwatch.txt),
that's plain ASCII for those who can't handle HTML or LaTeX.
)
()
Follow these steps.
startit()
it() You will need the XForms library and include files to compile
tt(xwatch). Check the tt(Makefile) in the tt(src) subdirectory for
two ftp sites that carry XForms for Linux. Obtain the library and
install it. XWatch will happily run with XForms version 0.81 or 0.88.
it() In the tt(src) subdirectory, edit the tt(Makefile) and adjust
some defines at the top. E.g., a tt(make install) copies the binary by
default to tt(/usr/local/X11/bin); adjust that if you don't like this
behavior.
it() Next, do a tt(make install), followed by a tt(make clean).
it() Copy the file tt(XWatch.ap) from the source directory to
tt(/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch). Edit the file and state your
favorite settings.
it() Next, start the program tt(xwatch) with some file arguments in
your logfiles directory. If you're satisfied with the appearance and
workings of tt(xwatch), add the invocation to your script that starts
an X session.
endit()
chapter(Copyright)
XWatch - a tool to monitor logfiles and display new logs in an X window.
Copyright (C) 1995 Karel Kubat. All rights reserved.
This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your
option) any later version.
You may link this software with XForms (Copyright (C) by T.C. Zhao and
Mark Overmars) and distribute the resulting binary, under the
restrictions in clause 3 of the GPL, even though the resulting binary is
not, as a whole, covered by the GPL. (You still need a separate license
to do so from the owner(s) of the copyright for XForms, however). If a
derivative no longer requires XForms, you may use the unsupplemented GPL
as its license by deleting this paragraph and therefore removing this
exemption for XForms.
This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
GNU General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
|
