Filter log files

Kiwi Log Viewer can operate on files in either memory mode or chunk mode.

Memory mode

In memory mode, the entire file is read into memory. The setup options allow you to choose the maximum file size you want to load into memory at once. If the file you want to open exceeds this size, the program will default to chunk mode. In memory mode, the filtering, searching and exporting is all carried out against the data in memory and the original file is not accessed again.

When operating in memory mode, the Filter button allows the following options:

• No filter: This will remove any existing filter applied to the grid display and show all of the entries in the log file.
• Show only the highlighted rows: This will include the log entries that match your Highlights list. This is useful when you only want to see the entries that are highlighted and exclude all the clutter.
• String to match: Here you can match against any string or regular expression.

In memory mode, you can choose to apply the filter to the current data in memory or output the results to a new file.

When creating a new file, the filter will scan the original file and write any matches found to the new file you specify. Once the entire file has been scanned, the newly created results file will be opened. You can then repeat the process again to further narrow down the results. This is useful when you have very large files that you want to reduce down to smaller subsets of filtered data.

Pressing the Apply button will scan the memory for all matches that meet your filter and display them in the grid. An indication of how many matches are shown in the main toolbar area. The freeware version is limited to showing only the first 100 matches. The licensed version will show all the matches. Pressing the filter button again will allow you to choose a different filtered view of the original data. This is useful for quickly trying different filters against the same data to get the results you want.

Chunk mode

In chunk mode, only a small chunk of the file is read at a time and displayed on the grid. This means you can view log files that are too big to fit into memory. The disadvantage is that filtered exports and searching are slower as the entire file must be re-scanned each time.

When operating in chunk mode, the Filter button allows the following options:

• Include only the highlighted rows: This will include the log entries that match your Highlights list. This is useful when you only want to see the entries that are highlighted and exclude all the clutter.
• String to match: Here you can match against any string or regular expression.

In chunk mode, the only output option available is to create a new file. The filter will scan the original file and write any matches found to the new file you specify. Once the entire file has been scanned, the newly created results file will be opened. You can then repeat the process again to further narrow down the results. This is useful when you have very large files that you want to reduce down to smaller subsets of filtered data.