Question: What is Trace Logging and How do I enable it?
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web)
Version: 2012 SP1 and later
Answer:
What is Trace Logging?
Trace Logging allows you to have your system generate logs for Act!. This can be used to troubleshoot your issues. You can use Tracing to turn on different levels of logging. There are 5 different levels of logging:
Enabling Trace Logging
You can isolate what action is occurring when an issue occurs by turning on verbose logging in the Act! configuration file by following the steps below:
Viewing the Logs
After saving the config file, you can launch Act! and work in it as normal. As errors appear or if Act! fails to launch, you can use the Act! Log Viewer to view the log for more information on the error following the steps below:
An XML file of this log is available for you in the event that you need to copy and share the log with a technical support analyst, Act! Certified Consultant, or other IT personnel. You can locate this by going to one of the following locations depending on your version of Windows:
There will be 3 files available. ACTLOG.XML is the most recent Act! session, ACTLOG2.XML is the second most recent Act! session, and ACTLOG3.XML is the third most recent Act! session.
Enabling Logging for Universal Search (The ACT.Server.Host.exe process)
If you are trying to troubleshoot issues with the Universal Search, Trace Logging is enabled from a different file than for the rest of the Act! program. Follow the steps below to enable Trace Logging for Universal Search:
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web)
Version: 2012 SP1 and later
Answer:
What is Trace Logging?
Trace Logging allows you to have your system generate logs for Act!. This can be used to troubleshoot your issues. You can use Tracing to turn on different levels of logging. There are 5 different levels of logging:
Integer Value
|
Enumerated Value
|
Type of message displayed or written to a specified output target
|
0 | Off | None |
1 | Error | Only error messages |
2 | Warning | Warning messages and error messages |
3 | Info | Informational messages, warning messages, and error messages |
4 | Verbose | Verbose messages, informational messages, warning messages, and error messages |
Enabling Trace Logging
You can isolate what action is occurring when an issue occurs by turning on verbose logging in the Act! configuration file by following the steps below:
- Ensure Act! is closed
- Browse to one of the following locations, depending on your version of Act!
Act! Pro or Premium: C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Windows
Act! Premium (access via web): C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Web
Note: If you’re on a 32-bit machine, change Program Files (x86) to Program Files
- Locate Act!.exe.config and open with Microsoft Notepad
- Locate the following line:
<system.diagnostics>
Note: You can easily find this by pressing Ctrl + F on your keyboard, then typing <system.diagnostics> into the Find what field, then pressing Enter
- Below the <system.diagnostics> line, locate the following add name values and change their value according to the chart below:
Default Values What to change it to <add name="ACTUISwitch" value="1" /> <add name="ACTUISwitch" value="4" /> <add name="ACTSecuritySwitch" value="1" /> <add name="ACTSecuritySwitch" value="4" /> <add name="ACTDesignTimeSwitch" value="1" /> <add name="ACTDesignTimeSwitch" value="4" /> <add name="ACTExtendedSwitch" value="0" /> <add name="ACTExtendedSwitch" value="4" /> <add name="ACTReportingSwitch" value="1" /> <add name="ACTReportingSwitch" value="4" />
Note: There is no need to change the value for any of the other values listed in the config file
- Save the config file and overwrite the original (Do not rename)
Viewing the Logs
After saving the config file, you can launch Act! and work in it as normal. As errors appear or if Act! fails to launch, you can use the Act! Log Viewer to view the log for more information on the error following the steps below:
- Open the Task Manager and end the process for Act!.exe
- Browse to one of the following locations, depending on your version of Act!
Act! Pro or Premium: C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Windows
Act! Premium (access via web): C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Web
- Double click the LogViewer.exe file to launch it
- Single-click any item on the list to view more information about it
An XML file of this log is available for you in the event that you need to copy and share the log with a technical support analyst, Act! Certified Consultant, or other IT personnel. You can locate this by going to one of the following locations depending on your version of Windows:
- Windows Vista and later: C:\Users\[user_name]\AppData\Roaming\ACT\ACT Data
- Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\\Application Data\ACT\ACT Data
There will be 3 files available. ACTLOG.XML is the most recent Act! session, ACTLOG2.XML is the second most recent Act! session, and ACTLOG3.XML is the third most recent Act! session.
Enabling Logging for Universal Search (The ACT.Server.Host.exe process)
If you are trying to troubleshoot issues with the Universal Search, Trace Logging is enabled from a different file than for the rest of the Act! program. Follow the steps below to enable Trace Logging for Universal Search:
- Ensure Act! is closed
- Browse to one of the following locations, depending on your version of Act!
Act! Pro or Premium: C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Windows
Act! Premium (access via web): C:\Program Files (x86)\ACT\Act for Web
- Open the Act.Server.Host.exe.config file in Microsoft Notepad
- Locate the following line:
<!--<trace autoflush="true" indentsize="4">
- Change it to the following:
<trace autoflush="true" indentsize="4">
- Locate the following line:
</trace>-->
- Change it to the following:
</trace>
- Save the changes
- Restart the Act! Service Host