Logging differentiation overview when releasing package in 6.10.4 or 7+

[rvaneupen]

The possibility to have an overview of what logging levels are used within the script, besides the information how much % logging is used.

As an example, it is not interesting for us to know how many activities have the status "errors only". However, it is important to know how many activities have the status logging enabled, so that we can minimize the impact on our databases.

[ThomasLagerwerf]

This would help our team a lot! Currently the "%log" report that pops up when importing is not usefull at all since "Error only" stages are counted as well.

[chris.strong]

Thank you for raising @Ronald van Eupen

Thank you for raising, I understand what you are generally asking for, I’ve updated the status to More info, whilst we determine the specifics.

Questions:

1. What would you like to see on the Process Logging Overview?
2. If we split it this way, would that be preferred? 
   • Stages with logging (Enabled)
   • Stages with logging (Errors only)
   • Stages with logging (parameters)
3. Is this something you care about when importing a release (or at other times)?

Kind regards

Chris Strong

Senior Product Manager

SS&C | Blue Prism

[rvaneupen]

@chris.strong That would be a nice feature for the team. Especially for the release managers who monitor these statistics. 

This kind of statistics would also be beneficial for the construction and maintanance of VBO's, like within the 'errors' functionality window. 

[chris.strong]

Thank you for sharing @Ronald van Eupen

I’ve updated the status to Reviewed, which means that we understand the ask and continues to allow other Community members to vote for and comments on the request.  I’ll keep the follow-up questions published to canvas opinion from the community.

Questions for the community:

1. What would you like to see on the Process Logging Overview?
2. Is it, you want:
   • Stages with logging (Enabled)
   • Stages with logging (Errors only)
   • Stages with logging (parameters)
3. Is this something you care about when importing a release (or at other times too)?

Kind regards

Chris Strong

Senior Product Manager

SS&C | Blue Prism

[LuukOlthof]

I agree with this idea. It would be helpful to be able to get a logging overview in the studio environment, similar to how we view dependencies now.

I would like to see what stages are set to what logging level and be able to change them in bulk within this extra window.  Perhaps also the option to set all stages of a certain type to a logging level all at once.

[robert.nicklin]

Hello @rvaneupen,

Thanks for taking the time to raise an idea.

The current calculations shown on import only consider stages with "Enabled" set as their stage logging levels as this was felt to be the most impactful setting and the one that users would need to be made aware of at the time of import. This was to prevent against cases where a developer/tester sets all stages to "Enabled" in a DEV/TEST environment and then does not reverse this before preparing a release package for PROD environments.

Based on your comment that "...it is not interesting for us to know how many activities have the status "errors only"" I think we're saying that these calculations are already providing the view you're describing?

I'm going to mark this idea as Needs More Info awaiting your reply.

Regards,

Rob

[rvaneupen]

An overview of all activities with stage logging set to "enabled" is already valuable.

According to Luuk's comment, it is desirable to receive an overview (like dependencies) of which stage logging has been applied throughout the entire script, especially in Object Studio. This allows us to determine if unnecessary stage logging has been applied within the scripts and if stage logging is activated in a smart way to ensure that we can precisely follow a case item throughout the script with minimal stage logging activities.

Additionally, setting the logging parameters to "errors only" causes them to be included in the logging enabled parameter, reducing the overall usefulness of the logging enabled function.

[robert.nicklin]

Hi @rvaneupen,

Thanks for the additional detail.

When we import release packages today, we see the following:

• Process or Object name / number of stages in the imported process or object / Number of stages with logging set to "Enabled" / Percentage of stages this represents

What should appear in the additional detail that is being requested here?

• Equivalent detail per logging level (i.e. include statistics on "Errors Only" and "Disabled")
• Logging levels per stage type (i.e. number of decision stages with logging set to "Enabled" out of all decision stages)
• Both of the above - all logging level breakdown by stage type 
• Something else - if so, can you describe what you imagine here?

To your final point, "Additionally, setting the logging parameters to "errors only" causes them to be included in the logging enabled parameter, reducing the overall usefulness of the logging enabled function" - when I test the logging overview capability in BPE 7.3.1 (the latest release), any stage that has stage logging set to anything other than "Enabled" does not show on the stage logging overview that is provided. If I have 100 stages in my process or object and they're all set to "Errors Only", then my report in BPE 7.3.1 shows that I have 0 stages with logging and 0% in the logging percentage. Are you seeing something different and, if so, can I ask which version your release package was created with and what version of Blue Prism Enterprise you are importing the release into?  

Regards,

Rob

[rvaneupen]

Hi Rob, 

When importing a new script, the items with stage logging put to "errors only" are counted as "enabled". Is my assumption correct that this functionality (split) is now integrated into the Blue Prism product?

Following your question, I would appreciate the option "both of the above" enabling us to quickly break down process scripts (based on logging level) and change the logging level (simultaneously). 

Good to understand that version 7.3.1 enables this information aspect of clarifying the amount (%) of logging being used, keeping out the "errors only". The suggestion made was based on version 6.10.5. Changing the logging levels, like viewing the dependencies window, is still one feature which is highly appreciated by our developer community.

[robert.nicklin]

Hi @rvaneupen,

The logging report shown on import has, from my understanding, not changed significantly since it's introduction, so the capabilities you see in v6.10.5 are likely the same as what we see currently in more recent versions.

However, on the point of errors only logging counting towards statistics, I'm unable to see this despite trying with several variations of file (processes, objects, releases or single .xml/files) in various scenarios (importing new files or overriding existing files) regardless of version used (I've tried v6.10.5 and v7.3.1). 

Import of a file containing errors only logging

Would you be able to either open a support ticket to report this issue or share a file in which you see this happening with me directly? If going direct, please feel free to reach out by private message on the community.

As for changing the logging level on import, there is another idea raised on this topic here. Currently, this enhancement has been marked as Not Planned as, even though the idea has value, there are concerns raised around the transparency and governance of a release manager changing logging levels on import of a release package that would remain unchanged (and could therefore impact future imports) as a result of this manual action. Please feel free to upvote and/or contribute your thoughts to this discussion also if you have input to share.

Regards,

Rob