Using Microsoft Excel to analyse your error logs
Injader logs all errors in text files, split by month and year. You can view them within Injader itself by going to the Control Panel and clicking on Tools - Error Log. However, as the log files grow in size, you may find it easier to import them to Microsoft Excel.
Importing the data
First, open your FTP program and download the log file you wish to work with. For instance, the error log for March 2009 is stored under data/logs/error-200903.log.
Next, open Microsoft Excel. Select the Data menu, then click the From Text button.
You will be prompted to locate the log file that you just downloaded. Find it and select it. If it doesn't show up, change the file type drop down list to show “All Files (*.*)”.
You will now see Step 1 of the Text Import Wizard. Select “Delimited” as shown below.
Click Next. In Step 2, untick all of the options under “Delimiters” except the “Other” box. In the text box, type the hash (#) symbol. Check the box “Treat consecutive delimiters as one”. Change the Text qualifier to ”{none}”. The settings are shown below.
Click Next. In Step 3, you don't need to change anything - just click Finish. Then in the “Import Data” box that appears, click OK to insert into the current worksheet.
It's a good idea to save the Excel file at this stage.
Organising the data
The first thing you'll notice is that the first row is not split across each column. This is your column header and it needs to be re-typed. Type the following into the first row of cells:
- DATE
- ERRCODE
- DETAIL
- USER
- URL
- REFERRER
- IP
Next, click the button just to the left column A and just above row 1. This will highlight the entire worksheet. Now, on the Home menu, click the Format option, and select AutoFit Column Width.
Now right-click the header in Column C, select Column Width, and change the width to 50. Also, make the font smaller, and click the Wrap Text button. Change the widths of Columns E and F to 50, make the font smaller, and set them to Wrap Text also.
Now click the Data menu, followed by Sort. Sort by URL.
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