Question

I had a previous questions about how to read large blocks of data from about ~600mbs of log text file information. along with searching through the file to find useful information

I’m wondering what is the best way/efficient way to display the data. Previously for about ~1mb of log file data, I was using a listbox to display an string of 1 entry in the file. This would populate about 7000 listboxes entries for just 1mb of data. Obviously I can’t do this for the ~600mb log file.

I want the user to be able to “expand” one log entry and ‘drill down’ and see more details about the specific info/debug/error. I think because listbox is inherently array based by index, I need to use a different container to display info but still maintain the ability to select an entry and expand details.

Answer 1

I would approach the design this way:

1. A set of filters on the top generated by analyzing the contents of the log file complete with ‘Search Now’ button or some such thing.
2. Among the filters I would ask for Page size (as in show 10, 50, 100 results per page)
3. A search result window on the bottom that would contain the list of summary data for each log node that matches the chosen filter criteria, then break up the results into pages if necessary.
4. A details pane that is visible when you choose a particular log node
5. A footer status bar that noted the number of matching records

This would allow your users to quickly search for what they are looking for, but not be overwhelmed by the magnitude of the found results, and considering the size of the data set they’re likely going to want to filter it before showing any of the nodes.