Frusterated Googler

Scooter

Okay. I need help finding an app. I have been looking for a while and have just about given up.

What I'm looking for is a program...preferably portable (no registry entries or install needed), free and small...that will look in multiple directories, grab log files, and zip them up into one file. It would help if it could grab the newest of several similar files out of a folder as well.

I can't seem to find anything like that which is odd since I would think this is a pretty common need among software product manager types. It would also help if our software vendor would put all of their logs in one place but....

Ideas?

Kilarney

Permit a slight threadjack:

As good as Google is, I've decided that it often sucks. John C. Dvorak first mentioned this, and he's absolutely right. There are countless searches that come up with crappy spam sites.

An example... the other day I needed to find out what airlines flew to a city in India. The top results were all generic airline bookers that "pretended" to have information about this city. In reality, they were just a booking services with no information at all. I could have gone to Travelocity if I wanted that.

The same is true for reviews of electronic products. I get a ton of shopping sites or Amazon affiliates linking to the Amazon reviews.

Wikia search had potential, but never really panned out.

There is definitely room for improvement.

Rym

It sounds like you just want log rotation and consolidation. That's a job for either standard Linux log rotation or some simple scripts/cronjobs. In Windows, a few VB scripts would do it trivially. There's no need for "software" for something like that.

As for Google, I've decided that there is currently no technologically feasible way to search for certain things. I've adapted my life as such until this is no longer true.

Luke Burrage

An example... the other day I needed to find out what airlines flew to a city in India. The top results were all generic airline bookers that "pretended" to have information about this city. In reality, they were just a booking services with no information at all. I could have gone to Travelocity if I wanted that.

Finding which airlines fly between two cities is the one thing I've never been able to search effectively. I get the same kind of results.

George Patches

In Windows, a few VB scripts would do it trivially. There's no need for "software" for something like that.

Man, when did everyone but me learn scripting? My IST program sucked.

Rym

Man, when did everyone but me learn scripting?

Basic scripting is one of the most important tools a system administrator has. Bash, VB, sed, awk, regular expressions, vi: these are critical skills.

Apreche

The reason you can't find what you are looking for on Google is because you have a problem that I have recently been pointing out constantly.

You have a problem, log files. You come up with a solution, a portable program to zip them up. You then go searching for how to implement that solution. You can't find an implementation because your solution is wrong. Instead of trying to find an implementation for your poor solution, instead search for your actual problem. If you had done that, you would have found many sites that would teach you about proper log file rotation.

A similar thing happened with my mom recently. She had some photos on her camera, and she wanted me to burn them onto a CD. I asked why. She said because she wanted to give them to somebody. I pointed out that she had already uploaded her photos to Flickr. Burning a CD is pointless. She should just tell that somebody to go to her Flickr site.

If Google is unable to help you when you search for something, then it is very likely you are searching for something wrong in the first place. Remember, especially with technology, search for your problem. When you search for a problem, Google will give the answer. If you search for how to implement a solution, you will only find an answer if your solution was correct to begin with, and it often is not.

Cremlian

For some parents, burning a cd is easier ;-p

Josh Bytes

I can't even get my Mom to use email let alone burn a cd.

Rochelle

For some parents, burning a cd asking your children to do it for you is easier.

This is my life.

Kate Monster

My Mom can utilize computers well. She, like me, only has a basic understanding of how computers actually do what they do, but we both can use them to do what we need. If we don't know how to do something we need/want to do, then we ask an expert how to do it, pay an expert to show us how to do it, or research how to do it ourselves. I can understand if parents ask their kids to show them how to burn a CD, but if they ask their kids to burn a CD every time they need one burned and refuse to learn how to do it themselves, then there is a problem. If it were me, I would start exchanging chores for tech help.

Rochelle

My Mom can utilize computers well. She, like me, only has a basic understanding of how computers actually do what they do, but we both can use them to do what we need. If we don't know how to do something we need/want to do, then we ask an expert how to do it, pay an expert to show us how to do it, or research how to do it ourselves. I can understand if parents ask their kids to show them how to burn a CD, but if they ask their kids to burn a CD every time they need one burned and refuse to learn how to do it themselves, then there is a problem. If it were me, I would start exchanging chores for tech help.

In the end my mother could burn a CD if she wanted to. I think in the end it's just my parents just needing an excuse to need me or perhaps wanting to find a reason to just call me. I know it's a lot easier if they just went ahead and called me to see how I was doing, but all in all I don't mind doing this stuff.

Sometimes I get caught up in my own things that I forget to drop in on my parents to see how they're doing. Plus, from my cultural background it is the responsibility of the children to take care of the parents when they reach the age of old-fogeyness. My father is also a disabled veteran. He can't do a lot of things he once did, nor can he remember a lot of things in regards to his health, so I have to go with him to his visits to the VA and make sure he understands and follows what his provider says.

In the end I figure, my parents gave me a good upbringing, whatever they ask of me, it's the least I could do to show my appreciation.

George Patches

Man, when did everyone but me learn scripting?

Basic scripting is one of the most important tools a system administrator has. Bash, VB, sed, awk, regular expressions, vi: these are critical skills.

This much has become apparent to me in my search for a job. Thus why I'm a bit ticked off that it wasn't covered in my 4 years at school.

Scooter

So from the comments I see here my options are either to learn scripting or teach my mother how to upload pics?!?!?! LOL.

Okay, so I've done the "How to" searches as well as the "Log File Collector" searches. If I must build it so they will come, I guess I can do that. I'm a bright lad. Scripting is a new one for me though. Can someone suggest a good starting point? VB? These are all windows boxes. Actually they are touch screen Point of Sale Registers running XP which means they are just goofy looking low-end PC's with expensive screens and over-priced outdated software running on them.

I'm with you gedavids. Scripting is something I wish I had learned and seems like everyone else knows how to do it. I've done sys-admin, help desk, project management, and software management. It has just never come up for some reason.

Luke Burrage

You should do a Monday show on regular expressions.

Conan-San

She had some photos on her camera, and she wanted me to burn them onto a CD. I asked why. She said because she wanted to give them to somebody. I pointed out that she had already uploaded her photos to Flickr. Burning a CD is pointless. She should just tell that somebody to go to her Flickr site.

Seconded so fucking hard it breaks the universe. And then there's times where my dad forgets that I no longer have a VCR upon which to record his shows when we should of upgraded to Sky + years ago.