Overview
The Utilities > Logs > Open Application Log command opens the Application log file in the default text file editor.
Application Log File
TMG to GEDCOM writes log messages as it operates. The log file is recreated when the application starts. The log file entries include INFOrmational, WARNing, and ERROR messages.
Application log entries include a time stamp and the name of the component within the program that generated the message. The component name will not mean much to end users, but may provide a useful clue about issues that arise when using the program, and is vital to debugging efforts by support staff. If an error occurs, and you report it to me, I will often request that log file. If you have re-run the program after the error, the log file will not include the details of the error. You'll have to recreate the error—if you can—to recreate the log messages.
You should review the Application log to determine if TMG to GEDCOM encountered errors when reading your TMG project. You should also review the Application log if the output of the program does not match what you expected. There may be warnings or errors that help explain the issue.
Some error messages are described on the Error Messages page.
Fatal Errors
Fatal errors are errors that cause the program to stop running. In many cases, TMG to GEDCOM will detect that a fatal error occurred and it will attempt to write log messages about the error before it exits. For fatal errors only, TMG to GEDCOM renames the "Application.log file to "Application-1.log". The intent is to save log files that contain information about faral errors so that running the program again will not lose the details of the fatal error.
When TMG to GEDCOM renames the log files, it "rolls" the file names such that the most recent log for a fatal error is "-1", the second-most recent is "-2", up to 5 levels. So, in the event of a fatal error:
- "
Application-5.log" is deleted - "
Application-4.log" is renamed to "Application-5.log" - "
Application-3.log" is renamed to "Application-4.log" - "
Application-2.log" is renamed to "Application-3.log" - "
Application-1.log" is renamed to "Application-2.log" - "
Application.log" is renamed to "Application-1.log"
In general, if you report a fatal error to me, I only need the "Application-1.log" file. Usually, I will also ask for the "Application.log" file because some users are not sure if the error was a fatal error or not, so the error details might be in either file.