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Logger: Getting Started
After you install the Logger (from the APK file), follow these instructions to configure and start using the app.
The first time you run the Logger, a directory called "00Logs" will be created on your "external storage" (typically a SD card). This directory is where the Config.txt file is stored, and will also be the location of your Log.txt file once you start adding log entries.
The Config.txt file specifies the categories you wish to log, as well as some other information. There are three kinds of log categories that can be configured:
- Toggles: Actions that you turn on and off. Examples: Sleep, Drive, Work
- Events: Actions that occur at once and are counted. Examples: Eat, Drink, Teeth
- Values: Actions that come with an associated number. Examples: Weight, Mood, Golf
You can define up to 12 Toggles, and they will be displayed as two rows of six on/off buttons in the Logger.
You can define up to 50 Events/Values, and they will be displayed in the order defined in a vertical list in the Logger.
A default Config.txt file is created the first time the app is run. Once the file is created, you can open it and modify the categories that you wish to log. If your Android device does not have a good app for editing text files, I recommend the free "Jota Text Editor" that is available on the Android Market.
Now that you have your log categories defined, run the Logger. Anytime the Config.txt file (or Log.txt) has been modified, it is a good idea to refresh the app to make sure everything is properly updated. To do so, click the Menu button while the app is running and choose the "Refresh" option.
Now choose a category that you wish to log and click its button.
If the category is a Toggle, you will see part of the button turn green to indicate that the Toggle is now "on". Underneath the button you will see the time that has elapsed since the Toggle last changed its state to "on" or "off".
If the category is an Event, you will see the counter next to the button increase, and the "last time" and elapsed time since the last 3 logs all will be updated.
If the category is a Value, a popup will appear when you click the button that allows you to type the number associated with the Value. In addition, the information next to the button will update just as it does for an Event.
Once you've logged something, go back to the "00Logs" directory and open the Log.txt file. You can see the info pertaining to each log entry on separate lines in the file. If you ever need to delete, edit, or manually add a log entry, you can do so in the Log.txt file by following the syntax that you see for existing entries. Don't forget to "refresh" the app after manually editing the Log.txt file!
The real power of the Logger comes in being able to review trends about the things you've logged over time. This functionality is accessed by clicking the "View" button in the top-right corner of the app.
When you click the View button, the app must scan the entire Log.txt file to analyze the data so it can draw graphs and present statistics. Once the wait dialog goes away, the app will display the graph corresponding to the default settings.
There are three settings that can be chosen for the graph:
- Category: This is simply which log category you wish to view
- Time range: You can choose to see the all-time info, or just the last week or month.
- Graph type: This specifies what type of information you want to see about the category.
The available graph types are as follows:
- Daily Totals: This graph shows how much a category was logged each day. For Toggles, the value for each day is the amount of time that the Toggle was "on". For Events/Values, the value is the number of entries that were logged for the day. The white line is the actual data, the red line is the all-time running average, and the green line is the recent (i.e. 30-day) running average. The blue shading indicates weekends.
- Daily Timing: This graph shows the time that entries were logged for each day. Yellow crosses are drawn at the actual time of each log entry (from 0 to 24 hours, military time). For Toggles, a red bar is drawn between the "on" and "off" entries to indicate the time that the Toggle is in the "on" state. Toggles that are on overnight will wrap around from 24 to 0 of the next day.
- Distribution: This graph shows the trend of a category. For a Toggle, the graph shows the distribution of how much time the Toggle is "on" for each day. For an Event/Value, the graph shows the distribution of how many entries are logged each day. A Gaussian curve ("bell" curve) is approximated based on the data and drawn in red.
- Weekly Histogram: This graph shows the relative frequency of a category for each day of the week (Saturday - Friday). The green crosses show the actual values that were logged for each day of the week. The blue shading indicates the two days of the weekend.
- Intervals: This graph shows the time intervals between graphs. For Toggles, the intervals indicate the time that the Toggle was "on". The red and green lines show the all-time and recent averages, respectively.
- Values: This graph type is specific to Values, and shows a graph of the numeric values that were entered for the category. If a Toggle or Event category is selected, the Daily Totals graph will be shown instead.
- Stats: Rather than showing a graph, this type shows statistics related to the selected category, such as the total number of entries logged and min/max daily totals.
- Recent History: This type shows a scrollable window of the 100 most recent entries for the selected category, including timestamps and any comments or values associated with the entries.
When a bug is encountered, there are several files that can be sent to help debugging. The first is the ErrorLog.txt file, which stores any code exceptions handled by the software and is stored in the root directory of the external storage (i.e. sdcard). If a bug is reproducible, another helpful file to send is the Debug.txt file stored in the "00Logs" directory. This file is only written when debug mode is turned on in the Config.txt file.
Finally, feature requests can be made via the Issues section in the GitHub project online, or via email.