Logfilter

Logfilter is a cool Python app that helps you keep an eye on really long log files in real-time. It's like taking the tail -f command, mixing it with grep -e PATTERN, and adding a user-friendly GUI. This way, you can pick which log file to watch and what filters to apply. In short, that's what Logfilter is all about!

How to Install Logfilter

You can grab Logfilter from either the Bitbucket Mercurial repository or the Python Package Index (PyPI). If you're feeling adventurous and want to try out the latest features—though they might be a bit unstable—go for the Bitbucket option. But if you prefer stability and don't want to deal with bug reports, stick with PyPI.

Installing from Mercurial

If you choose Mercurial, here's how:

cd /wherever/you/want

hg clone https://bitbucket.org/iamFIREcracker/logfilter

python setup.py install

Installing from PyPI

If you decide on PyPI instead, follow these steps:

cd /path/to/workspace

wget http://pypi.python.org/packages/source/o/logfilter/logfilter-0.1.0.tar.gz

tar zxvf logfilter-0.1.0.tar.gz

cd logfilter-0.1.0

python setup.py install

You can also simply run this command:

pip install logfilter

Getting Started with Logfilter

If you're curious about how to configure Logfilter, running python logfilter.py -h will show you some options:

usage: logfilter.py [-h] [-s SLEEP_INTERVAL] [-f NUM_FILTERS] [-l LIMIT]

                    [-e FILTERS]

                    [FILENAME]

This lets you filter content dynamically as it streams in.

Main Options Explained

• -s SLEEP_INTERVAL: Set how long to wait between checks.


• -f NUM_FILTERS: Choose how many filters to use.


• -l LIMIT: Decide how many lines of output to see.


• -e FILTERS: Use specific filter settings.


• [FILENAME]: The name of the log file you're monitoring.

No worries if this sounds complicated! You don't need all these settings at once; the GUI will help you out later on.

Create Handy Aliases

You might want to set up some quick commands for your work too! For instance, if you're dealing with logs that include Java stack traces and want alerts for new exceptions, try running this:

python logfilter.py -e '([Ee]xception|\tat)' LOGFILE.log

If you're working on a module linked with certain keywords while still keeping track of errors from the whole project, use something like this:

python logfilter.py -e '([Ee]xception|\tat)' -e FOO LOGFILE.log