For some odd reasons, we are experiencing frequent crashes of elogd over the past few days. It has been working fine so far, but more or less out of the blue it became rather unreliable. The current configuration is installed on two servers, one running 2.7.5.-r2174 on ClarkConnect 4 and one running 2.7.6-r2233 on Debian 4.0 - both show the same problem. Each of them has an "active" group with four logbooks and an "archive" group with three logbooks. In the "active" group, there are two logbooks that share the same index (using Subdir=...) and it looks like the crashes occur most of the time in these, though that's just a hunch so far. Also, most of the crashes seem to happen when submitting an entry that has been edited. Actually, submitting a modified entry has always been strange in our logbooks: When we hit submit, we get a pop-up window asking "Submit modified entry?". When choosing "OK", the entry that has been edited is duplicated. When choosing "Cancel", it is submitted correctly.

I've been running elogd like this (to get more info)

elogd -v > elog-2233-2.log 2>&1

The last entry I get in the log when elogd crashes is:

  Same index as logbook Machine Log
elogd: src/elogd.c:727: xfree: Assertion `*((unsigned int *) (temp - 4)) == 0xdeadc0de' failed.
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"

I did actually make a few changes to the configuration before we noticed the crashes: I added one extra attribute and a few more conditionals.

Any additional information you need: Just let me know.

Regards,

Thomas

  Same index as logbook Machine Log
elogd: src/elogd.c:727: xfree: Assertion `*((unsigned int *) (temp - 4)) == 0xdeadc0de' failed.
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"

 Forgot to mention: I've also seen error messages like this upon a crash:

*** glibc detected *** corrupted double-linked list: 0x0911bbc0 ***

Regards,

Thomas

  Same index as logbook Machine Log
elogd: src/elogd.c:727: xfree: Assertion `*((unsigned int *) (temp - 4)) == 0xdeadc0de' failed.
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"
Received unknown cookie "wikidb_mw__session"

well, I need to reproduce your problem in order to fix it. The failed assertation you get is due to some internal writing beyond array boundaries, but I have no clue which part of the code makes this. It might be related to the fact that you use the same index (via Subdir=...) for two logbooks. In this scenario, you are only allowed to modify/add entries to one logbook, not the other. The other one may only be used for reading. And even then it's not guaranteed that new entries show up in the second logbook immediately, you might have to restart the server in order to re-index the logbooks. Internally, the daemon does not know that two logbooks are "the same" and one instance will not realize if the other instance modifies the data "below its feet". Can you try to give up the double logbooks and see if the problem goes away?

 Hm... I have implemented this set-up originally based on this: https://midas.psi.ch/elogs/Forum/66024. The "double logbook" is a machine log with a "software" (OS installations etc.) and a "hardware" (CPU, RAM, etc.) view. The "hardware" view has the "Subdir=" statement. Thinking about it, the "software" view is used most - I have several automatic scripts running which update the contents whenever a machine gets updated, re-installed and so on. The hardware part does not see much editing - until this week, when we decided to start an inventory... So, it's quite possible that we never noticed that this was iffy. For the rest of our goals, this set-up has worked fantastically - never noticed any problem with one view not updating, actually. Also, I do not remember any crashes with the other, single logbooks.

What I've done for now is to ask all team members to use only the software part (the one without the Subdir statement) to actually change content (the entry masks are the same in both versions) and use the hardware part just for viewing. I'll report back as soon as I get some feedback.

Nonetheless, given that this set-up has been a great help for us - if you ever get the chance to make this work (even) better, I'd be most grateful.

Regards,

Thomas

Well, for that I have to reproduce the problem. So best would be if you strip it down to the bare minimum in order to reproduce this reliably. Then you zip everything and send it to me. Then tell me what I have to edit and submit in order to stimulate the crash. Once this is successful, I can fix it.

Thank you - I shall look into that, though it'll probably take a while to prepare it.

By now, I've installed 2244 and ran some rudimentary tests. So far, I was not able to reproduce the crash anymore. Looking good!

I have the following simple test logbook:

; General
List display = Edit, Hostname, OS, Size
Entries per page = 150
Quick filter = OS
Date Format = %d/%m/%Y
Summary Lines = 0

; Attributes
Attributes = Hostname, OS, CPU,Size
Required Attributes = Hostname
Sort Attributes = Hostname

; Message part: log is text only, but elog is allowed
Default encoding = 0
Allowed encoding = 2

For some strange reasons, I'm having problems with the "Size" attribute, which I have added later. If I start adding/editing entries, at some point, the "Size" attribute will stay at "0" and will not accept any further changes. I've tried to pare down the config to maybe find which statement could be causing this, but to no avail. The only thing I can say is taht id doesn not seem to happen if the configuration consist of the sole line

Attributes = Hostname, OS, CPU,Size

I'm quite puzzled as to what is going on here (the original problems stems from a more complicated logbook) - I'm not even 100% sure whether this happens due to a bug or not.

Regards,

Thomas

; General
List display = Edit, Hostname, OS, Size
Entries per page = 150
Quick filter = OS
Date Format = %d/%m/%Y
Summary Lines = 0

; Attributes
Attributes = Hostname, OS, CPU,Size
Required Attributes = Hostname
Sort Attributes = Hostname

; Message part: log is text only, but elog is allowed
Default encoding = 0
Allowed encoding = 2

Attributes = Hostname, OS, CPU,Size

That's indeed a strange bug, and thanks to your detailed explanation I could easily reproduce it. The problem was that in the ELCode toolbar there is already a "SIZE" parameter, which gets submitted instead of your "size" attribute. Therefore whatever you submit as "size", gets replaced by zero (since the SIZE drop-down box usually sits at zero). So you can either go and change your "size" attribute into someting else like "Memory Size", or you upgrade to version 2244, where I fixed this problem.

 Very nice, thank you! Given that I also still have to test the fix you made for the crash problem with "shared" logbooks (I assume it's also present in 2244), I'll upgrade and report back (probably tomorrow).

 2244 is now running, and indeed, the "Size" attribute works now. Thank you!

I'm not sure if this is the expected behavior, but it appears as though an attachment is not displayed in the list of attachments if you manually add a link to the attachment into the body of the entry.  I would greatly appreciate any advice on how to fix or change this behavior.

I will try to demonstrate with the two attachments on this entry.  There are two attachments in this entry, but only one appears in the standard view of the entry.

Picture_1.png.png 

Many thanks,

Devin

Well, you can have "inline" pictures like that:

In this case it is clumsy if this image gets displayed twice, once in the text and once as the attachment. So I look at the entry and if I find the image inlined, I suppress the display at the end. Now the "check if the image is shown inline" is a bit stupid, it just looks for the link. So I never thought that someone would just put a link in the text manually. I will have a look and see if I can change that.

I improved the mentioned check for inline attachments. Now your page correctly shows both attachments. This fix is in SVN revision 2241. 

I just ran into this little bug: I had defined a new logbook in my config file and suddenly got the message Attribute "Date" not allowed. While I did have several attributes starting with the word "Date" (e.g. "Date In Service", "Date Retired") I had no attribute "Date" in there. After some pondering and wildly commenting out lines, it finally dawned on me: I had used an attribute "ID" - which is also not allowed. However, it would be very helpful if the error message actually reflected that...

Oops, just a typo. The message Attribute "Date" not allowed should read Attribute "ID" not allowed. Fixed in the current SVN version. 

Hi,

I am new to eLog, trying to make a logbook tool.  This is probably a question with a simple answer, but here it is...  I need to be able to edit the entry time for an entry as it is being made and also in Edit mode later.  We have field staff who use a paper log in the field and then come back to the computer later and create the log entries, and they need to be time stamped to reflect when an event happened, not when the entry is put into the log.

I'm guessing I'm missing something easy in my Config file, I've looked through the config examples and searched the forum but I couldn't come up with an example of how to make this work.

Thanks in advance!

Jay

Hi Jay,

the entry time cannot be changed, because it should reflect the real time when the entry was made. What you can do in your case is to define a "datetime" attribute, which contains then the time stamp. You need something like this:

Attributes = Author, Field time, Subject

Type Field time = datetime

... 

 Hi, Stefan,

Thanks for the quick reply, I've added that to my config and it does what we need.

Cheers, Jay

Hi,

I love this software. I am not a programmer but have learned alot about the program.

I have 2 questions.

1. when i do a reply it will bring the original qutes with it but i have the option to change what had been entered. once i do the reply and reply to the reply i can not change the first reply but can change the second reply. This just started last week and i am not sure what has changed. i even uninstalled and reinstalled. If I try to just the HTML i tcomes up with code? If I do elcode seems to do ok just not able to stop the editing of the the last reply. Plain seems to do the same as ELcode.

2. I have also had trouble with E-Log not starting on my XP machines. Any ideas?

Thanks for sharing such a powerful program it is sweet.

Kyle

Sorry but I don't get your point. See I modified your original entry above. Now I will submit this entry, and do another reply.

So this is my second reply. I can edit both your original entry and my first reply. 

Your point 2) is too unspecific. I need more information there. You could run the elogd daemon interactively and check if there is any error output in the console window.

Hi

I have a logbook including the attributes: Author, Topic Date, Phase, Reference, Subject, Start Time, End Time, Duration

The Phase attribute has a number of MOptions including: Design, Manufacture, Testing, Results, Transport

I only want the attributes Start Time, End Time, and Duration to be shown if the Transport Phase is selected. I have tried using the conditional attributes

MOptions Phase = Design{1}, Manufacture{1}, Testing{1}, Results{1}, Transport{2}

and

{1} Show Attributes Edit = Author, Topic Date, Phase, Subject, Start Time, End Time, Duration
{2} Show Attributes Edit = Author, Topic Date, Phase, Subject

This works to show the attributes when the relevant Phase is selected but the Edit page shows the Phase options including the {1}/{2}. Is there are way that these conditionals are not displayed?

Also, I would like the "Duration" Atrribute to be a calculated value showing the time difference between Start Time and End Time. Is this possible?

Thanks,

Adam

The conditional attributes work only with Options, but not with MOptions as written in the documentation. I tried your set-up with Options and it worked ok. If you attribute Phase is non-exclusive, meaning it could be Manufacture and Testing at the same time, then you have to play some tricks with an additional attribute like

Attributes = Author, Topic Date, ..., Duration, Transport

MOptions Phase = Design, Manufacture, Testing, Results, Transport

Options Transport = Yes{2}, No{1}

{1} Show Attributes Edit = ...

{2} Show Attributes Edit = ...

On the matter of automatic calculation of fields, it is possible using included javascript but you have to do the work yourself.  For example, we have a log which computes responsivity as the ratio of a photocurrent and optical power.  With log attributes called "Photocurrent", "Optical Power" and "Responsivity" there is a file in the logbooks directory called photomixer_javascript.html containing something like:

<script>

if (document.form1.Photocurrent) {
  document.form1.Photocurrent.onchange = new Function(
    "mod();"+
    "var power = parseFloat(document.form1.Optical_Power.value);"+
    "var current = parseFloat(document.form1.Photocurrent.value);"+
    "if (!isNan(power) && !isNan(current) && power != 0.0) {"+
    "  document.form1.Responsivity.value = Math.round(current/power*100)/100.0"+
    "}"
    );
  document.form1.Optical_Power.onchange = document.form1.Photocurrent.onchange;
}

</script>

and the elogd.cfg file includes

Bottom text = photomixer_javascript.html

for the relevant log.

The assignments to the onchange handlers are guarded because this javascript is included on all pages for that log, including the list pages where there is no such field as Photocurrent, (or Optical_Power) and the event handler function is defined dynamically for the same reason.

Using the Windows event log won't help much. I guess in your case elogd is driven into some kind of endless loop (does the CPU go to 100%???). There are only two possibilities to tackle this:

1) You find a way to reliably reproduce this problem, tell me how to do this. When I can reproduce it here, I can fix it easily.

2) You do debugging yourself. Under Linux this is simple, since you have debuggers on most systems. Under Windows however, you first have to install the Visual C++ development environment. I believe there is a free version (Express?) which you can use. You then run elogd under the debugger, and when it hangs you investigate where. This needs some basic knowledge about C++ development and I'm not sure if you have this, but maybe you can find someone around you who does.