Log-Watch

Do you ever test something that creates a log file as it goes, reporting strange events and possibly errors that might not appear through the UI? It might be useful to have a little audio feedback while you're testing, so you can use your ears to home in on interesting patterns while your eyes are focused on the screen.

The Log-Watch application was developed to be a simple tool that watches a streaming text file, such as a server log file, and plays sounds when certain strings appear. It makes use of the Win32::Sound library. If you want to run the script directly, you have to install that library (use the PPM tool to do that). The EXE version has the library embedded, I believe.

Run it from a DOS command-line by providing the path of a file you want to monitor, like so:

log-watch C:\logs\access.log

Edit watchlist.txt to include the strings you want to monitor and the corresponding WAV files you'd like to play. It's a tab-delimited file. For example:

error error.wav exception error.wav /\b4\d\d\b/ code_4xx.wav pdf pdf.wav

If you put forward slashes before and after the string, it will be treated as a Perl regular expression. Otherwise it will be treated as a literal string. The weird looking third line, above, will match any number from 400 to 499 if it appears with whitespace around it.

Every time a string or pattern on the left is found, the wave file on the right will be played and the corresponding line printed to STDOUT.

Be sure that the WAV files you reference are in the working directory of the tool. The error.wav file I've included is my own raspy voice during a recent bout of bronchitis.