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\documentclass{report}
\usepackage[T1]{fontenc}
\hfuzz=4pt % don't fuss when less than 4pt
\input{/usr/share/yodl/xlatin1.tex}
\setlength{\parskip}{3mm} % height between par
\setlength{\parindent}{0mm} % no par indent
\title{XWatch \ \\ The Logfiles Watcher}
\author{Karel Kubat (karel@icce.rug.nl) \ \\ State University of Groningen \ \\ Westerhaven 16, 9718 AW Groningen \ \\ The Netherlands}
\date{1996}
\begin{document}
\maketitle
\clearpage\tableofcontents
\clearpage
\chapter{Introduction}
\texttt{XWatch} is a small program that I wrote to monitor logfiles and to see
any changes \textbf{directly} (instead of having to read all the logs after a
breakin or a crash). \texttt{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
\texttt{xwatch}'s window. That's all there is to it. The appearance of the
\texttt{xwatch} window can furthermore be modified via command line flags or
via an application defaults file. (Older versions of \texttt{XWatch} had a
button to activate an `options' window. I removed this code, almost no-one
uses it.)
\texttt{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 \texttt{Makefile}, contained in \texttt{xwatch}'s distribution.
\chapter{Using xwatch}
You typically start \texttt{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 \texttt{/usr/X11/lib/X11/xdm/Xsession}). The command that starts
\texttt{xwatch} is something like
\begin{verbatim}
xwatch [options] files &
\end{verbatim}
where `options' are optional flags, files are the files to watch, and
the ampersand character is used to start \texttt{xwatch} in the background. The
files to watch are typically in the directory \texttt{/var/adm/}: files which
are created by the syslog daemon (see the file \texttt{syslogd.conf.SAMPLE} in
the distribution for an example). \texttt{XWatch} accepts only filenames which
are:
\begin{itemize}
\item ordinary files, no sockets, directory names,
\item which are not binary files.
\end{itemize}
Other files as stated on the commandline are not monitored. When any
`non-proper' file is given on the commandline, \texttt{xwatch} warns about the
file not being acceptable and deletes it from its list of names.
\section{Options to the xwatch program}
The options are many, start \texttt{xwatch} without arguments to see what is
supported. All options can also be stated in the file
\texttt{/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch} as X resources (see the file
\texttt{XWatch.ap} as an example). In the following enumeration, a \emph{nr}
denotes a number:
\begin{itemize}
\item \texttt{-border} \emph{nr}: Specifies whether \texttt{xwatch} should start
with a border. The \emph{nr} must be 0 or 1. When you start \texttt{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 \texttt{xwatch} from my window manager \texttt{fvwm}.
\item \texttt{-geometry} \emph{geom}: Specifies the display geometry, \'{a}-la
other X programs. You can express the geometry in terms of \emph{WxH}
(width by height), optionally postfixed by \emph{+X+Y} (x and y offset)
or \emph{-X-Y} (offsets relative to the lower right corner) and other
combinations.
Note that previous switches that emulated the geometry specification,
such as \texttt{-xpos} and \texttt{-height}, are now obsolete. Use the geometry
setting.
\item \texttt{-fg} \emph{color} and \texttt{-bg} \emph{color}: These options define the
default foreground and background of the watch window.
Note that previous switches, such as \texttt{-bred} and \texttt{-bblue}, are now
obsolete.
\item \texttt{-printtime} \emph{nr}: Defines whether \texttt{xwatch} should prefix
any info on the watched files with a timestamp. The \texttt{nr} can be 0 or
zero; the timestamp is printed when \emph{nr} is 1.
\item \texttt{-printname} \emph{nr}: Defines whether \texttt{xwatch} should prefix
any info on the watched files with the filename. The \emph{nr} is again a
flag, 0 or 1.
\item \texttt{-newline} \emph{nr}: Defines whether \texttt{xwatch} should let a
newline follow the time and/or filename stamp, so that the actual
information is displayed on its own line.
\item \texttt{-interval} \emph{nr}: Defines the scanning interval. Each \emph{nr}
seconds, \texttt{xwatch} will check if new information has arrived on the
watched files. The \emph{nr} may be between 1 and 30 seconds.
\item \texttt{-fontsize} \emph{nr}: Defines the initial size of the display
font. The \emph{nr} may range from 1 to 4; 1 being the smallest font and
4 being the largest.
\item \texttt{-fontstyle} \emph{nr}: Defines the style of the used font. The
\emph{nr} is a number between 0 and 15 (0 being the default). Start
\texttt{xwatch} without arguments or read the application defaults file to
see what fonts the numbers choose.
\item \texttt{-firstwarnings} \emph{nr}: Defines whether \texttt{xwatch} should
print initial warnings into the watch window. E.g., you might like to
set \texttt{firstwarnings} to zero, and then start \texttt{xwatch} with the file
argument \texttt{/var/adm/*}. Warnings about, e.g., \texttt{utmp} being a
binary file would then be suppressed.
\item \texttt{-printversion} \emph{nr}: Controls whether \texttt{xwatch} prints its
version number and copyright notice upon startup in the watch window.
\item \texttt{-gag} \emph{text}: This option, when present, prevents all lines
with \emph{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 \texttt{\textbar }.
\item \texttt{-colorstring} \emph{col:string}: This option causes lines that
contain \texttt{string} to be displayed using the specified color.
The string is matched literally.
E.g., if you use the option \texttt{-colorstring blue:connection} then
all lines containing \texttt{connection} are displayed in pure blue.
You can specify several colorstrings by separating all options with a
\textbar character, as in \texttt{-colorstring blue:connection\textbar red:error}. Note
that, for reasons of shell expansion, you should quote such options on
the commandline.
\item \texttt{-title} \emph{name}: This option sets the window title of the
watch window. Note that the title will only be visible when \texttt{border}
is not 0. This option may be useful if you have several XWatch
windows, monitoring different things.
\item \texttt{-ignore} \emph{fileA\textbar fileB\textbar fileC\textbar ...}: This option is handy if
you start XWatch with a wildcard file argument, but when you want
XWatch \textbf{not} to process some files. The \texttt{-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 \textbar characters as pipes). (Thanks, Frank
Brokken, \texttt{frank@icce.rug.nl} for the code).
\end{itemize}
Before you extensively use the options, create an application defaults
file \texttt{/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch}. You can do so by copying the
file \texttt{XWatch.ap}, extracted from the archive, to
\texttt{/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 \texttt{/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults}. In
that case, you should create the following links:
\begin{itemize}
\item \texttt{/usr/X11} should point to your X11 distribution; e.g. to
\texttt{/usr/X11R6}. That way, you always have e.g. \texttt{/usr/X11/bin}, even
after upgrading your X11 distribution. All that is needed is one new
link.
\item \texttt{/usr/lib/X11} should point to \texttt{/usr/X11/lib/X11}.
\end{itemize}
Then edit the file \texttt{XWatch} in the application defaults directory, and
follow the instructions therein to define your favorite settings. If you
need to start \texttt{xwatch} incidentally with another setting, use a flag.
\section{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 \texttt{/var/adm} normally in blue text; but you
want to see \texttt{/var/adm/critical} (critical messages from applications) in
yellow and \texttt{/var/adm/auth} (authentification messages) in red. In that
case, the course to follow would be:
\begin{itemize}
\item The default foreground color would be blue. You could set this
with the flags \texttt{-fg blue}, or in the application
defaults file.
\item The color for \texttt{/var/adm/critical} should be yellow. Hence, the
first file argument would be \texttt{/var/adm/critical:yellow}.
\item The color for file \texttt{/var/adm/auth} should be red, hence the
second file argument would be \texttt{/var/adm/auth:red}.
\item The following arguments would be the files, using the standard
foreground (blue): \texttt{/var/adm/*}, without any extra color
specifications.
\end{itemize}
Such a commandline would cause \texttt{xwatch} to complain about the multiple
presence of \texttt{/var/adm/critical} (once from the separate argument, and
once from the wildcard argument) and similarly about \texttt{/var/adm/auth}. If
this bothers you, turn off the initial warnings (e.g., using
\texttt{-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 \texttt{-colorstring} for more
information.
\chapter{Obtaining xwatch}
\texttt{XWatch} can be obtained at the ftp site \texttt{ftp.icce.rug.nl}, in the directory \texttt{/pub/unix}, as the file \texttt{xwatch-X.YY.tar.gz}.
\texttt{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.,
\texttt{/usr/local/src}) and type
\begin{verbatim}
tar xvzf /where/ever/you/put/it/xwatch-X.YY.tar.gz
\end{verbatim}
Next, change-dir to the unpacked subdirectory \texttt{xwatch} and check there.
You will find a subdirectory \texttt{src} with the full sources.
\chapter{Compiling xwatch}
Follow these steps.
\begin{itemize}
\item You will need the XForms library and include files to compile
\texttt{xwatch}. Check the \texttt{Makefile} in the \texttt{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.
\item In the \texttt{src} subdirectory, edit the \texttt{Makefile} and adjust
some defines at the top. E.g., a \texttt{make install} copies the binary by
default to \texttt{/usr/local/X11/bin}; adjust that if you don't like this
behavior.
\item Next, do a \texttt{make install}, followed by a \texttt{make clean}.
\item Copy the file \texttt{XWatch.ap} from the source directory to
\texttt{/usr/lib/X11/app-defaults/XWatch}. Edit the file and state your
favorite settings.
\item Next, start the program \texttt{xwatch} with some file arguments in
your logfiles directory. If you're satisfied with the appearance and
workings of \texttt{xwatch}, add the invocation to your script that starts
an X session.
\end{itemize}
\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
\end{document}
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