by Ingo Karkat
Many applications produce multiple log files; there may be one per component or one production log and a separate debug log, or one from the server daemon and one from the client application. During analysis, one may need to step through them in tandem, when one provides details that the other doesn't. Doing this manually in split windows is tedious; 'scrollbind' usually doesn't help because different amounts of log lines are written to each file.
As long as each log file provides a timestamp or similar monotonically increasing field, this plugin automatically syncs the cursor movement in one log window to all other windows. When moving to another line in the current window, all log lines that fall in the time range covered by the movement are highlighted automatically.
This screenshot shows the plugin in action:
The plugin is either activated automatically for the 'filetype' values in
g:LogViewer_Filetypes, or it can be manually activated for any buffer with
the :LogViewerEnable command.
With the default automatic syncing, any log buffer will automatically set up
the corresponding autocommands; without it, you need to kick off syncing in
one buffer via :LogViewerMaster. The current line in the current buffer will
be highlighted and marked with the "T" (for target) sign:
T 2012-08-01 10:01:22.342
When you move to another line, the plugin will mark the synced move in other
buffers to an adjacent line like this:
2012-08-01 10:01:22.342
> 2012-08-01 10:01:23.234
When the timespan in the current buffer covers multiple log lines in another
buffer, the start of the range is marked with "-" and the end of the range
with "V" (downward move) / "^" (upward move):
2012-08-01 10:01:22.342
- 2012-08-01 10:01:23.234
2012-08-01 10:01:23.250
V 2012-08-01 10:01:26.012
:LogViewerEnable Consider the current buffer as a log (even though its
'filetype' does not automatically make it one).
:LogViewerDisable Exclude the current buffer from the log syncing; any
signs and automatic updates are removed from it.
:LogViewerMaster Designate the current buffer as the log master. Only
cursor movements in this buffer will sync to other
buffers; movements in other buffers won't affect the
markers any more.
:LogViewerUpdate CursorMoved | CursorHold | Manual
Set the trigger for the syncing to the passed event.
By default, each cursor movement will immediately
update all other log buffers. With CursorHold, this
will only happen after 'updatetime'. With Manual, it
has to be explicitly triggered with
:LogViewerTarget.
<Leader>tlv Toggle syncing between the default update trigger
(g:LogViewer_SyncUpdate) and manual updating (or
CursorMoved if the default sync is set to manual).
:LogViewerTarget Set the target log line (the basis for the
highlighting in all other log buffers) to the current
line in the current buffer.
:[count]LogViewerTarget Set the target log line to [count] timestamps down
from the current target timestamp.
:LogViewerTarget {timestamp}
Set the target log line to the first timestamp that
matches {timestamp}. Useful to proceed to the
beginning of a date when interesting things have
happened.
The code is hosted in a Git repo at https://github.com/inkarkat/vim-LogViewer You can use your favorite plugin manager, or "git clone" into a directory used for Vim packages. Releases are on the "stable" branch, the latest unstable development snapshot on "master".
This script is also packaged as a vimball. If you have the "gunzip" decompressor in your PATH, simply edit the *.vmb.gz package in Vim; otherwise, decompress the archive first, e.g. using WinZip. Inside Vim, install by sourcing the vimball or via the :UseVimball command.
vim LogViewer*.vmb.gz
:so %
To uninstall, use the :RmVimball command.
- Requires Vim 7.0 or higher.
- Requires the ingo-library.vim plugin (vimscript #4433), version 1.032 or higher.
For a permanent configuration, put the following commands into your vimrc:
To change the default update trigger (that can be switched via :LogViewerUpdate to Manual :
let g:LogViewer_SyncUpdate = 'Manual'
By default, there is no master log file; movements in any log buffer cause syncing in the other buffers. To turn that off:
let g:LogViewer_SyncAll = 0
You will need to use :LogViewerMaster on one log buffer to start the syncing.
Only buffers with certain filetypes are considered log files. The setting is a comma-separated list of filetypes (autocmd-patterns):
let g:LogViewer_Filetypes = 'log4j,syslog'
By default, the timestamp is expected as a whitespace-separated decimal number starting at the first column. You should define the appropriate timestamp format for each log filetype (from g:LogViewer_Filetypes). Typically, this is done in ~/.vim/ftplugin/{filetype}_LogViewer.vim. For example, the log4j timestamp pattern corresponding to the "%d" format is:
let b:logTimestampExpr = '^\d\S\+\d \d\S\+\d\ze\s' " %d, e.g. 2011-08-17 13:08:30,509
If most / all of your logfiles have a differing timestamp format, you can alternatively just redefine the global default as well. To determine the chronological order, LogViewer uses a numerical compare for integer timestamps, and case-sensitive string comparison for everything else.
To mark the current target logline and the corresponding log line ranges in the other log buffers, LogViewer uses signs: LogViewerTarget The target log line at the current cursor position, or set via :LogViewerTarget LogViewerFrom The (earliest when moving down towards later log entries) log line corresponding to the move of the target. LogViewerTo The last log line corresponding to the move of the target.
You can redefine the sign definitions after the plugin/LogViewer.vim script has been sourced, e.g.:
runtime plugin/LogViewer.vim
sign define LogViewerTarget text=T linehl=CursorLine
The default signs use line highlighting for a |hl-CursorLine|-like visual indication of the positions (the 'cursorline' setting is disabled automatically for log windows); you can define you own colors for those, too:
highlight LogViewerTarget gui=underline guibg=Red
If you want to use a different mapping, map your keys to the <Plug>(LogViewerToggle) mapping target before sourcing the script (e.g. in your vimrc):
nmap <Leader>LV <Plug>(LogViewerToggle)
The plugin emits User events for each buffer that is considered (or not any longer) by the plugin, via two LogViewerEnable and LogViewerDisable events:
augroup LogViewerCustomization
autocmd!
autocmd User LogViewerEnable unsilent echomsg 'Enabled LogViewer for buffer'
autocmd User LogViewerDisable unsilent echomsg 'Disabled LogViewer for buffer'
augroup END
- Compare and mark current lines that are identical in all logs. Keep those lines so that a full picture emerges when moving along.
Report any bugs, send patches, or suggest features via the issue tracker at https://github.com/inkarkat/vim-LogViewer/issues or email (address below).
- Minor: Allow :[count]LogViewerTarget with a count larger than the number of lines in the buffer (in newer Vims).
- Add javalog_LogViewer variant for java.util.logging
- ENH: Add <Leader>tlv mapping to quickly enable / disable sync updates.
- With Manual updating, don't automatically adapt the signs to show the perspective from the current buffer. The user doesn't expect any change to the displayed situation here, only do this when explicitly triggered via :LogViewerTarget.
- ENH: Define user events LogViewerEnable and LogViewerDisable to allow hooking into the plugin functionality.
- ENH: The default extraction pattern for the timestamp can now also be reconfigured globally (via g:LogViewer_TimestampExpr), not just for individual buffers via b:logTimestampExpr.
- ENH: Keep previous (last accessed) window on :windo.
- BUG: Movement in visual mode either causes beeps (at first selection) or distorts the selection; need to exit visual mode before syncing to be able to properly restore it.
- Don't override existing b:logTimestampExpr in ftplugin/log4j_LogViewer.vim. This way, users don't necessarily need to use after/ftplugin to override this with a custom value.
- Use first non-empty line in buffer to detect used log4j timestamp format.
- Add precise pattern for %d log4j format, and check that first.
You need to update to ingo-library (vimscript #4433) version 1.032!
- Syncing on the CursorMoved event disturbs the selection, making it impossible to select multiple log lines. Explicitly restore the visual selection.
- Add b:logTimestampExpr definition for log4j filetype to the plugin.
- Add :LogViewerEnable / :LogViewerDisable commands to explicitly manage individual buffers, and allow use of the plugin for filetypes that haven't been included in g:LogViewer_Filetypes.
- Add dependency to ingo-library (vimscript #4433).
You need to separately install ingo-library (vimscript #4433) version 1.008 (or higher)!
- First published version.
- Started development.
Copyright: (C) 2011-2024 Ingo Karkat - The VIM LICENSE applies to this plugin.
Maintainer: Ingo Karkat <ingo@karkat.de>