Query log file using date/time range

[Cyri]

Pretty sure I'm over thinking this, but I'm hoping someone can put this into perspective. What I have are start and end date/time stamps for a process that runs periodically. Then I have a log file which is recording events the whole time through. How would I find my range between the start and end date/time stamps and query the log file for any events that occurred during that range?

The date/time in the log file looks like this Fri Mar 14 01:08:57 2008. I have a simple compare routine now, but I'm currently breaking down each attribute. So I compare in this order: year, month, day, hour, min, sec. My current methodology is faulty, because if I get all the way down to the seconds then my compare breaks because the range may span over 1 minute which means all 60 seconds would be valid. In fact the range may elapse hours, minutes, or seconds.

It's sloppy but here is some of my existing code.

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$logfile = FileOpen("C:\test.txt", 0)
If $logfile = -1 Then
    MsgBox(0, "Error", "Unable to open file.")
    Exit -1
Else
;FileRead($logfile)
EndIf

$startdate = StringSplit(@YEAR & "," & @Mon & "," & @MDAY & "," & @HOUR & "," & @MIN & "," & @SEC, ",")

;Simulate running the process by creating a gap in the start/end range
Sleep(10000)

$endtime = StringSplit(@YEAR & "," & @Mon & "," & @MDAY & "," & @HOUR & "," & @MIN & "," & @SEC, ",")

LogFind($logfile, $startdate, $endtime, "")

Func LogFind($file, $start, $end, $findstring)

;Amount to trim (these are static in the log file)
    $montrim = 18
    $daytrim = 22
    $hourtrim = 25
    $mintrim = 28
    $sectrim = 31
    $yeartrim = 34
    $trim = 39
    
;notepad for testing only
    While WinExists("", "notepad")
        $line = FileReadLine($file)
        If @error <> -1 Then            
        ;Skip the week day (we don't care about that)
            
        ;Find $year variable
            $year = StringMid($line, $yeartrim, 4)
            
        ;Compare $year to start and end
            If $year >= $start[1] And $year <= $end[1] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $year > $end[1] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
            
        ;Find $mon variable
            $mon = StringMid($line, $montrim, 3)
            
        ;Convert $mon to numbers
            If Not IsNumber($mon) Then
                $mon = Month($mon)
            EndIf
            
        ;Compare $month to start and end
            If $mon >= $start[2] And $mon <= $end[2] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $mon > $end[2] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
            
        ;Find $day variable
            $day = StringMid($line, $daytrim, 2)
            
        ;Compare $day to start and end
            If $day >= $start[3] And $day <= $end[3] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $day > $end[3] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
            
        ;Find $hour variable
            $hour = StringMid($line, $hourtrim, 2)
            
        ;Compare $hour to start and end
            If $hour >= $start[4] And $hour <= $end[4] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $hour > $end[4] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
            
        ;Find $min variable
            $min = StringMid($line, $mintrim, 2)
            
        ;Compare $min to start and end
            If $min >= $start[5] And $min <= $end[5] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $min > $end[5] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
            
        ;Find $sec variable
            $sec = StringMid($line, $sectrim, 2)
            
        ;Compare $sec to start and end
            If $sec >= $start[6] And $sec <= $end[6] Then
            ;$next = True
            Else
                If $sec > $end[6] Then
                    Return 1
                Else
                    ContinueLoop
                EndIf
            EndIf
        EndIf
    Wend

    FileClose($file)
EndFunc

[ptrex]

@Cyri

For this there is only one good tool.

see MS LogParser in AU3

regards

ptrex

[Cyri]

Thanks for the tip on Log Parser. I've used it in the past to query event logs on remote computers. However, I don't believe it's going to address my situation. I don't think the log file falls under any of the input formats mentioned. I double checked against the Log Parser documentation and it's closest to URLSCAN, but not spot on. That means I would probably need to use the TEXTLINE or TEXTWORD to query the log file which won't get me any closer to my goal.