Logs
In the event that Master Patch is not behaving as expected, the user may need to seek support outside of the publicly available means such as the documentation site.
To that end, Master Patch has a sophisticated logging system which allows firstly for self diagnosis, and secondly for advanced support of more complex issues.
The logging system is formed of interoperating systems:
- 'Bottom Bar' logs
- System logs
Bottom Bar Logs
At the bottom of the application user interface, a long bar can be seen across most of the length of the window. This is know as the bottom bar.
Throughout operation, the user will see activities logged in this bottom bar which will describe what is happening, this includes any errors and faults that have occurred.
When experiencing unexpected behaviour within Master Patch, it is advised to first pay close attention to the logs present in the bottom bar as this can help diagnose the issue.
Bottom bar logs only persist for the life cycle of the application. If the user closes and then reopens the application, the bottom bar will be empty.
Bottom bar logs are limited to the last 100 actions only.
System logs
In the event that the user is unable to resolve a technical problem on their own, it may be necessary to open a support case.
If this happens, Vampire Squid will request some files from the user for diagnosis, one of which will be the system log file.
By navigating to the Advanced tab of the preferences section, the user will be able to export, or clear the system logs.
Logging system mechanics
The logging system is constantly running when the application is open and persists between sessions, this is to say that log files will outlive the loading of a project, this is important as it gives an idea of potential issues beyond the scope of a session.
Log files are recorded across several different files within Master Patch, at the point of exporting, Master Patch bundles these up into a single log file which can then be forwarded for support.
Clearing system logs
Due to system logs persisting between application lifecycles, it may be that in some circumstances it is beneficial to clear the system logs in order to give a 'clean slate' state from which to begin recording logs.
To this end, the logs can also be cleared from the Advanced menu.
Clearing of the system logs cannot be reversed, cleared logs will be unrecoverable to the user.
Master Patch will automatically purge the oldest log entries in order to keep the size of the log files from bloating the operating system, the user does not need to manually clear the logs as part of normal operation.