Adium 0.80 and plain-text logs

[thewolf]

Hi,

I just upgraded to Adium 0.80 and noticed that logs are now in HTML.

Is there any option to have logs in plain-text, just like the previous Adium version?

Thanks!

[dzhim]

I also preferred the plaintext logs, it's a shame to see them go.

By the way, any chance Adium could remember the list column widths in the log viewer? Every time I open the window they're back at their default sizes, and the dates inevitably run off the right side of the window, so I have to resize them again to find whatever it is that I'm looking for. Adium also forgets the placement of the resizer thing under the list in the log viewer. (And using that resizer causes the list columns to snap back to their original sizes.)

[Vlcice]

I'd third this; I prefer plaintext logs and I'd like to see them back in a future version.

[kap]

The option of plaintext logs was really one of the best things about adiumx. I like having nice, plain, easily readable and searchable logs so much that I'll probably downgrade back to version 7.x until plaintext logs are available again. :(

[Son of a Preacher Man]

The option of plaintext logs was really one of the best things about adiumx. I like having nice, plain, easily readable and searchable logs so much that I'll probably downgrade back to version 7.x until plaintext logs are available again.

Don't expect them to come back. Easy reading and searching is what the log viewer is for

[kap]

The option of plaintext logs was really one of the best things about adiumx. I like having nice, plain, easily readable and searchable logs so much that I'll probably downgrade back to version 7.x until plaintext logs are available again. :(

Don't expect them to come back. Easy reading and searching is what the log viewer is for :)

Respectfully, I've got to disagree. Searching through a ton of logs is best done with a terminal, and html output using a terminal is an ugly way to go.

I guess I'll either end up writing something that converts my html logs to plaintext or downgrade. Sigh.

[Wengero]

The option of plaintext logs was really one of the best things about adiumx. I like having nice, plain, easily readable and searchable logs so much that I'll probably downgrade back to version 7.x until plaintext logs are available again.

Don't expect them to come back. Easy reading and searching is what the log viewer is for

Respectfully, I've got to disagree. Searching through a ton of logs is best done with a terminal, and html output using a terminal is an ugly way to go.

I guess I'll either end up writing something that converts my html logs to plaintext or downgrade. Sigh.

i have to disagree with you, the average you doesnt want to go to terminal to find search his logs, he wants it easy to see and find and understand

[kap]

i have to disagree with you, the average you doesnt want to go to terminal to find search his logs, he wants it easy to see and find and understand

That is obviously true, the average joe wants nothing to do with terminals. It's not true for me (and I guess the fellas who posted up there), and that's why having the option for plaintext logs was so great.

I guess adiumx is going the way of iTunes and other Mac apps that have fewer options because that's easier and less confusing for the masses.

[Adam Iser]

I guess adiumx is going the way of iTunes and other Mac apps that have fewer options because that's easier and less confusing for the masses.

Yup, that must be it.

[kap]

I guess adiumx is going the way of iTunes and other Mac apps that have fewer options because that's easier and less confusing for the masses.

Yup, that must be it.

My comment above was an assumption of the reasoning behind the removal, I didn't mean to make a snide-sounding remark. If it seems that way, I apologize.

It seems to me that a log browser should work equally fine with either plaintext or html log files, and forcing the logs into html for it is kind of, well, unnecessary. Maybe I'm missing something obvious, I dunno.

[thewolf]

Any chance to have the plain-text option back in next Adium release?

Thanks.

[twopeak]

saving the logs in some kind of xml format might completely do the trick.

The log viewer would nicely color everything so the average user sees it beautifully.
And since it's standardized format, the power user can make his own log viewer or do whatever he wants with it.
And this would result in smaller files (no?). The log viewer would take more processor time because it would need to color the documents...

[Catfish_Man]

saving the logs in some kind of xml format might completely do the trick.

The log viewer would nicely color everything so the average user sees it beautifully.
And since it's standardized format, the power user can make his own log viewer or do whatever he wants with it.
And this would result in smaller files (no?). The log viewer would take more processor time because it would need to color the documents...

Some sort of xml format like, oh, xhtml?

[ericfluxx]

I (fourth?) the idea of bringing plain-text back...just a preference of mine, seems like I wasn't the only person to be disppointed it wasn't there.

[Vlcice]

The option of plaintext logs was really one of the best things about adiumx. I like having nice, plain, easily readable and searchable logs so much that I'll probably downgrade back to version 7.x until plaintext logs are available again.

Don't expect them to come back. Easy reading and searching is what the log viewer is for

Except that the log viewer isn't very good at it; half the time when I search for something I need to fall back on grep because the log viewer failed to find it even though it *was* there. But now that option has been taken away from me because the logs are forced to be in HTML and thus no longer readable from a grep output.

Furthermore: I really, really don't *like* the colours in the logs. Only the names are coloured, and they're really more annoying for reading than they are helpful. Allowing me to use plaintext logs would be *much* more useful for my needs. It also makes my new logs inconsistent with the old ones, since I have literally hundreds (for a single person) of logs in plaintext from Gaim and older versions.

I understand that you, and others like you, prefer the HTML logs and the log reader. That's fine, and I like the log reader myself. But we do things differently; there's no need to take a perfectly working option away just because you don't use it, neh?

[rushmoom]

saving the logs in some kind of xml format might completely do the trick.

The log viewer would nicely color everything so the average user sees it beautifully.
And since it's standardized format, the power user can make his own log viewer or do whatever he wants with it.
And this would result in smaller files (no?). The log viewer would take more processor time because it would need to color the documents...

Some sort of xml format like, oh, xhtml?

Actually, no. Not like xhtml. The xhtml being used describes how the logs should be displayed, rather that describing the content. If the logs were stored in "regular xml", other parsers could be used to display the logs however you like.

For example (current):

Code: Select all

<div class="receive"><span class="timestamp">10:00:15 AM</span> <span class="sender">aimguy: </span><pre class="message">HTML logs are lame</pre></div>

vs something like:

Code: Select all

<message type="receive"><timestamp>10:00:15 AM</timestamp><sender>aimguy:</sender><message>HTML logs are lame</message>

It would then be up the the display renderer to turn that into (x)html.

This would be the "right" way to do it if having structured log data is necessary. To me, the old format provided plenty of structure though. awk knew how to select columns just fine.

[mathuaerknedam]

I applaud the dropping of plaintext logs, as I expect that it will enable the message history to pull data from the logs (which are much more robust and complete). Not that I have any inside information, but I recall a conversation I had with the devs long ago...

http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:q- ... Fp%3D64969

[John Don]

I also like the dropping of plaintext logs. It was a request that the devs fulfilled from long ago...


Now if they could only enable full-color in the log history,

[The_Tick]

Except that the log viewer isn't very good at it; half the time when I search for something I need to fall back on grep because the log viewer failed to find it even though it *was* there. But now that option has been taken away from me because the logs are forced to be in HTML and thus no longer readable from a grep output.

So I guess you want us to bring back something that was holding up improvements to the deficiencies of the log viewer in order to work around thos deficiencies, from what you said here.

[kap]

Why not just allow the choice of text logging and then disallow them in the log viewer?