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PA.c Installer log file

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Xandl
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PA.c Installer log file

Hello,

is it possible to get an install/update log with the new portable application install program? I would like to be able to review what happened during the install and update process. This should be integrated into the installer, so that a log is available for every application distributed here (all new ones).

While updating utorrent, i realized that there is a button "View details" during installation, but it is removed very fast for the last dialog with the "Finish" button. I think it should be available at the last dialog, like mentioned in the second paragraph of this post: https://portableapps.com/node/25069#comment-158740

A separate log file would be better, but I am not sure where to put the file. A log file is nothing unusual for data processing and can be helpful in various aspects.

regards,
xandl

John T. Haller
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Can't

There's no real place to put it (since it wouldn't be portable and installers aren't supposed to be left behind). The only place this can happen is the uTorrent Portable installer and only in the odd off-chance that you also have uTorrent.exe in its same directory that is outdated. Since uTorrent is the oddball app (no other app has this issue as no other app uses the same name for setup and app itself) I'm implementing a workaround to prevent the issue from happening.

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horusofoz
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Log Installer Switch

Maybe a switch on the installer (/log) that creates a log and saves it in the same location as the installer.

As a switch there is near no chance that anyone will accidentally trigger the log, and those who do use it will understand that in doing so they are creating a separate non-portableapp specific file.

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Xandl
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A switch /log is a good idea

John thanks for the workaround, but as you say, the utorrent case is too specific. I would like to be able to see what exactly happens during installation or update of a product. The idea of a command line switch sounds good to me, that would be really useful. I understand that it would only be available in a new packed installer, this is no problem.

Xandl
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Implementing?

As there was no further answer since the last week, am I right in thinking that a implementation phase is started for the /log switch method in the installer? A log file is a very common thing for installers.

John T. Haller
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Nope

At present there is no plan on implementing a log file. The only app that this came up for is uTorrent Portable and a fix is being implemented. Any other issues you'd encounter the desire for a log for throw an error in the form of a messagebox, so a log file wouldn't buy you anything anyway... you'd get no extra information than you already do. And if there is an unhandled error in the launcher, it's not gonna show in the log file since we're not trapping for it and wouldn't generate it.

Plus, you'd be unable to cause the log file to generate in standard usage (with the PA.c Platform or Updater) anyway, since you won't have access to the command line.

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Xandl
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I do not understand, why you

I do not understand, why you do not want the log function. Coming from IT, I am technically interested in what happens during installation. Implementing a log facility seems an easy thing to do, as its simply writing to a file. The log is not only for seeing an error, but for the steps the installer executes, to see what it does. In the case of utorrent, one had seen that in stead of downloading, it simply takes the exe from the current directory. This was a helpful information in that case. At the moment, I will just have to accept that you do not want the logging, as you did not mention a reason why writing a log is something not desirable for you.
As an IT guy, I feel better when I know what is happening on my pc.
Oops, you just edited the message, the lines above relate to the first version.
I do not use the PA.c Platform at all. The systems %temp% would be a reliable directory if you want to write to a (log) file. The installer does not give much information, only the target directory where it installs to, but not what it does with the existing files in case of an update, if some are removed, altered, or maybe rearranged.

John T. Haller
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No Logging

NSIS, the installer that we built PortableApps.com Installer on top of (and, arguably, the 2nd most popular installer platform in the world... used for OO.o, Firefox and many more), has no built in logging. That's right, none at all. So we'd have to custom build logging for it and manually add messages to every single section of every single bit of code within in the PA.c Installer to even get a starting point. We'd still miss anything that came up as an error that we weren't trapping (and already producing a messagebox for) as all error logging is manual.

We're talking about a situation with a SINGLE app that is completely unique to the app here. And it was figured out and diagnosed and confirmed within about 2 forum messages with no logging at all needed. It's being dealt with in terms of custom code added only to its installer. It's a unique situation as only uTorrent involves downloading the same file regardless of version so we can't do an MD5 check on it. So, it's handled. It doesn't affect any other apps. Errors are displayed for all issues we currently trap for in the form of a messagebox, anyway. So, there's really not much a log file would have added to this whole process. And it's a not-insignificant amount of extra work to add and code to maintain on top of the 2,000+ line installer already.

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Xandl
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Dump details window

I do not want to over stress you and the logging issue. But as an IT worker, being able to comprehend what is going on during an installation seems very natural to me.

There seems to be a possibility to dump the details window contents to a file: http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Docs/AppendixD.html#D.4 . During installation, there is a list of performed actions scrolling too fast to read them, so at least the information is there. When installation is done, the "Show details" button is removed from the dialog, so that it can not be reviewed. Looking through the NSIS pages, I read that there is a special build of NSIS, where logging is enabled. Although I am not sure if this is needed for the "dump details window" approach. Am I missing something here?

I am not talking about that single uTorrent issue. I wrote that I am curious about what is happening during installation, which files are affected, and how. Please note that this is true for every single installer, as each of them is doing something to the target directory.

John T. Haller
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To Do

Ok, I'll add that to the To Do list for the PA.c Installer. It will be a single option called /log that will cause the installer to dump the details window to a log in TEMP with the same name as the installer. There won't be any additional options (no file name or location changes, etc). Keep in mind that this won't include anything over what is already in the log window and won't include any errors or issues that we're not already specifically trapping for. None of the MessageBox error window information will appear in the log either.

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Xandl
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This is nice, thank you.

This is nice, thank you.
I am looking forward to it, and think it will be good enough to see what the installer does. Not including the message boxes is no problem, as they can be read on screen, so the information is not lost. Whenever this functionality is available, I will be happy.

John T. Haller
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Added in PortableApps.com Installer 3.0

On the off chance anyone is still subscribed to this old topic, I thought I'd add a comment that logging was added to the PortableApps.com Installer 3.0. It is enabled by adding /LOG=true at the commandline and will produce a .log file starting with the same name as the installer itself. Note that it will not work when the installer is run in silent or hidden mode (generally in conjunction with the PortableApps.com Platform or App Directory).

Sometimes, the impossible can become possible, if you're awesome!

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