Procedure 4.1. Parsing a New File

1. Choose a file to parse. This can be done by typing the name of the file in the Log File text box by clicking the ... button to browse for the file or typing the file's name in manually. When using the ... the file will automatically be added to the list box containing the files that are currently selected to be parsed.

   If you typed the file name in manually then clicking the + will add the file to the list of files selected to be parsed. Clicking the - removes all selected files from the list. The X will clear the list.

   As many files as desired can be added to the selected list at one time. Multiple selection is enabled and options in the following steps will apply to all selected files.

2. Choose a Start Position. This option controls where ParseThis will begin reading the file. If Date/Time is selected the date to start at is chosen in the Start Date option.

3. Choose a End Position. This option controls where ParseThis will stop reading the selected file and is only a choice when the Parse Mode is set to Parse Once. If Date/Time is selected the date to stop at is chosen in the End Date option.

4. Choose the Parse Mode. This option controls how ParseThis handles changes to the file. Parse Once tells ParseThis to read the file once from Start Position to End Position. Any changes written to the file after ParseThis has reached the end will not be recognized. Many games write out their log files progressively as you are playing. To have ParseThis continue to monitor a file in this case select Active. This option tells ParseThis to monitor the file until a watch condition is met or you tell it to stop.

5. Choose the Watch Mode. This option controls how ParseThis handles a new log file being created while an existing log file is being parsed. Some games will start a new file each time you change an area or log in and out. Instead of manually selecting the new file each time you can tell ParseThis to watch for new files for you. Watch will watch for new files that match the Log Watch Pattern. When a new file is found that matches the pattern the current file is stopped and the new file is opened with the same settings as the current file. No Watch will not watch for new files.

6. Choose the Log Watch Pattern. This option is only available when Watch Mode is set to Watch. Enter a MS-DOS wild card pattern. For example Combat_log*.txt will match any file that starts with Combat_log and ends with .txt.

7. Choose the Start Date. This option is only available when Start Position is set to Date/Time. The date and time chosen is used within the context of the log file to decide where to start parsing. This is usefull when you have a large log file but may only want to parse a certain portion starting after a given date and time.

8. Choose the End Date. This option is only available when End Position is set to Date/Time. The date and time chosen is used within the context of the log file to decide where to stop parsing. This is usefull when you have a large log file but may only want to parse a certain portion ending at a given date and time.

9. Click Open File(s) to start parsing all selected files.