Logging questions

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mike r
New member
Username: Nekoflux

Post Number: 2
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Thursday, February 08, 2007 - 10:15 pm:   

I am trying to figure out the structure of all log files that Now SMS generates so that i can parse them, and control the queue in a more granular fashion:

1. Is the purpose of the Q directory only to store SMS messages that have not been successfully sent yet?

2. I see three different file types in the Q directory: 45BD1D4E.ERR, 45C09528.req, and SAR-9108741234-24-2-1.req what's the difference between them? are there any other file types I should know about?

3. what is the purpose of the SMSWEB-343443.log files?

4. I thought that SMSIN and SMSOUT log files store successfully received/sent text messages. Why does the SMSOUT log files sometimes contain modem errors?

5. can I move the SMSOUT and SMSIN log files out of the way when the month is done? I know I can't move the current month because it's being written to. I'd like to move the old SMSOUT and SMSIN out of the way, but I want to make sure the NowSMS gateway doesn't need them in any way.

6. why does the 45C09528.req file only sometimes have [error detail] section?

7. can i manipulate files in the Q directory directly to manage the Queue myself, or will this cause problems with the way Now SMS works? e.g., can I create my own files and put them in the queue to avoid having the overhead of an HTTP request for each sms message i want to send?

8. what does the retry count section mean? is that number of remaining retries, or total retries attempted? if total retries, how large will the number get?

9. I noticed theres log entries put into users\<username> it seems like its redundant with what gets put in SMSOUT and SMSIN. what is this stuff?

sorry to bombard you with questions, couldnt find this stuff in the manual pdf.
mike r
New member
Username: Nekoflux

Post Number: 3
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Monday, February 12, 2007 - 05:45 pm:   

hellO? can I get some help please?
ran s
New member
Username: Rans

Post Number: 1
Registered: 03-2007
Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 - 12:28 pm:   

???
Bryce Norwood - NowSMS Support
Board Administrator
Username: Bryce

Post Number: 7013
Registered: 10-2002
Posted on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 - 11:51 am:   

1. Yes

2. .req files are pending messages, waiting to be sent. .err files are messages that were rejected by the SMSC.

3. This log records message submissions into NowSMS (web or SMPP).

4. That was a decision made by our developers quite some time ago. I guess the logic was that any such errors were effecting outbound message traffic, so they should be logged in the SMSOUT.

5. Any log with a date prior to the current day can be safely moved.

6. That section only gets added when an error occurs during the attempt to send a message. No error, no section.

7. You can. Just be careful that text messages don't contain more than 160 characters, or binary messages more than 140 bytes (280 characters in a hex string) ... as NowSMS will not validate the format of these messages. It expects that the messages have been pre-processed and validated when they were put into the queue (and that long text messages were broken into separate messages already).

8. Retries attempted. The following thread has a pretty good explanation: http://support.nowsms.com/discus/messages/1/20266.html

That thread starts off with some SMPP specific information ... but after that, the latter part explains general retry behaviour and settings.

9. Yes, it is redundant. It just provides a filtered way to see just the activity related to a particular user. (In the future, we plan to make it available for that user to be able to see this information via the web interface.)

-bn