Using the Event Log

MemberTies Professional includes an "event logging" feature that will maintain a log of various "high level" membership, group, and activity record changes. By "high level" we mean that the system will not track the change to each and every field. There are two reasons for this: 1) the resulting log would be massive, and 2) the log would not be very readable, because it would have to track the actual values the database knows about, i.e., "statecd changed to 17" isn't very user friendly.

Instead, the event log will note that a record was opened, updated, created, deleted, or closed, and will also track things like email sent (address and subject line), check-ins, backups, restores, and various other changes in the system. It does not track changes made to dropdown lists under the Tools menu, since most organizations lock this down via security if they're concerned about it.

In order to keep the performance impact to a minimum, you are allowed to determine how often the log entries will be written from memory to the database. By default, the log is "saved" from memory every 10 minutes. The minimum you can set is 1 minute. You can also manually save the log to the database from the Event Log window (see below).

If database size is a concern, it is recommended that you export the log to a file on a regular basis, and then clear the log table. The appropriate schedule must be determined based on the activity in your database.

Note: Several Security Group settings apply to the event log, allowing you to control who can view the log, enable/disable it, and manage the data.

•	Date - The date and time the log entry is made.

•	Area - The area of the system that generated the log.

•	User - The user who caused the action that generated the log entry.

•	Enable Event Log - Select this option to turn logging on, or clear it to stop logging.

•	Write Pending ... - Controls how often log entries waiting in memory are written to the database. If you have a very active database, increasing this value may help with performance. The range is from 1 to 99 minutes.

•	Sort - Controls how the list is sorted. If you have multiple users, you may want to occasionally change to the sort by User, then Area, then Date. Normally, the default sort by user and date is the most usable.

•	Refresh - Causes the system to automatically write pending entries to the database and refresh the list with the current log data.

•	Delete File - Click this icon to delete the entire log from the database.

•	Delete - Click this icon to delete the currently selected log entries.

•	Export to File - Click this icon to write the currently selected log entries to a text file you specify.