Add a diagnostic error log, a Log button, and a version display #13

Merged

hannah-vernon merged 1 commit from feature/diagnostic-log into dev

2026-07-07 13:17:05 -05:00

hannah-vernon commented

2026-07-07 13:16:22 -05:00

Owner

What does this PR do?

Adds a persistent diagnostic error log and makes it (and the running version) reachable from the UI, so intermittent problems - especially on network shares - can be investigated after the fact.

Motivation: a watcher interruption on a share (File watcher interrupted; relying on periodic polling (Incorrect function)) was only shown transiently in the status bar and then lost, with no record of the underlying error. "Incorrect function" is ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION (Win32 1), which FileSystemWatcher commonly raises on shares that don't support change notifications; the poll fallback covers it, but there was no durable record to confirm what else was happening.

DiagnosticLog (new) - thread-safe append-only log at %APPDATA%\TaylerLogTailer\logs\diagnostic.log. Each session starts with a header recording the app version, OS, .NET runtime, process bitness, settings path, and the set of watched windows. Entries are ISO-8601 timestamped and include the exception type, message, and HResult / Win32 code. Rolls to diagnostic.log.1 past 1 MB. Logging never throws.
AppInfo (new) - exposes the app version (from MinVer's informational version, build metadata trimmed) and product name.
FolderTailer / FileTailer - log watcher creation failures, watcher interruptions (with the full exception), poll errors, the file-limit notice, and per-file read failures. File read errors are de-duplicated per distinct message, and a resume is logged when reading recovers, so a persistently failing file does not flood the log.
FolderWindow - a Log toolbar button opens a transient window that live-tails the diagnostic log folder (marked Ephemeral via a new JsonIgnore flag on FolderConfig, so it is not remembered across runs). The status bar now shows the running version at its right-hand end, with the log path in its tooltip.
README documents the diagnostic log, the Log button, and the version display.

How was this tested?

dotnet build Tayler.slnx -c Release - 0 errors, 0 warnings (via build.ps1)
Launched the app and confirmed the session header (version 1.3.12, OS, .NET, settings path, watched windows) is written to diagnostic.log.
Invoked the Log button via UI Automation and confirmed it opens a window live-tailing the log folder, with the version shown in its status bar.

Checklist

I have read the Contributing Guide
Changes are focused - one logical change per PR
Documentation updated (if user-visible behavior changed)
New dependencies are MIT/Apache-2.0 and security-vetted
No commented-out code or debug leftovers

## What does this PR do? Adds a persistent diagnostic error log and makes it (and the running version) reachable from the UI, so intermittent problems - especially on network shares - can be investigated after the fact. Motivation: a watcher interruption on a share (`File watcher interrupted; relying on periodic polling (Incorrect function)`) was only shown transiently in the status bar and then lost, with no record of the underlying error. "Incorrect function" is `ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION` (Win32 1), which `FileSystemWatcher` commonly raises on shares that don't support change notifications; the poll fallback covers it, but there was no durable record to confirm what else was happening. - **`DiagnosticLog`** (new) - thread-safe append-only log at `%APPDATA%\TaylerLogTailer\logs\diagnostic.log`. Each session starts with a header recording the app version, OS, .NET runtime, process bitness, settings path, and the set of watched windows. Entries are ISO-8601 timestamped and include the exception type, message, and HResult / Win32 code. Rolls to `diagnostic.log.1` past 1 MB. Logging never throws. - **`AppInfo`** (new) - exposes the app version (from MinVer's informational version, build metadata trimmed) and product name. - **`FolderTailer` / `FileTailer`** - log watcher creation failures, watcher interruptions (with the full exception), poll errors, the file-limit notice, and per-file read failures. File read errors are de-duplicated per distinct message, and a resume is logged when reading recovers, so a persistently failing file does not flood the log. - **`FolderWindow`** - a **Log** toolbar button opens a transient window that live-tails the diagnostic log folder (marked `Ephemeral` via a new `JsonIgnore` flag on `FolderConfig`, so it is not remembered across runs). The status bar now shows the running version at its right-hand end, with the log path in its tooltip. - **README** documents the diagnostic log, the Log button, and the version display. ## How was this tested? - [x] `dotnet build Tayler.slnx -c Release` - 0 errors, 0 warnings (via `build.ps1`) - [x] Launched the app and confirmed the session header (version 1.3.12, OS, .NET, settings path, watched windows) is written to `diagnostic.log`. - [x] Invoked the **Log** button via UI Automation and confirmed it opens a window live-tailing the log folder, with the version shown in its status bar. ## Checklist - [x] I have read the [Contributing Guide](../CONTRIBUTING.md) - [x] Changes are focused - one logical change per PR - [x] Documentation updated (if user-visible behavior changed) - [x] New dependencies are MIT/Apache-2.0 and security-vetted - [x] No commented-out code or debug leftovers

hannah-vernon added 1 commit

2026-07-07 13:16:22 -05:00

Add a diagnostic error log, a Log button, and a version display cf6e32c61f

Non-fatal problems (watcher errors, file read / access failures) were only shown
transiently in the status bar and then lost, which made intermittent network-
share issues hard to investigate. Add a persistent diagnostic log and make it
and the running version easy to reach from the UI.

- DiagnosticLog (new) - thread-safe append-only log at
  %APPDATA%\TaylerLogTailer\logs\diagnostic.log. Each session starts with a
  header recording the app version, OS, .NET runtime, process bitness, settings
  path, and the set of watched windows. Entries are ISO-8601 timestamped and
  include the exception type, message, and HResult / Win32 code. Rolls to
  diagnostic.log.1 past 1 MB. Logging never throws.
- AppInfo (new) - exposes the app version (from MinVer's informational version,
  build metadata trimmed) and product name.
- FolderTailer / FileTailer - log watcher creation failures, watcher
  interruptions (with the full exception, e.g. the "Incorrect function" /
  ERROR_INVALID_FUNCTION seen on some shares), poll errors, the file-limit
  notice, and per-file read failures. File read errors are de-duplicated per
  distinct message and a resume is logged when reading recovers, so a
  persistently failing file does not flood the log.
- FolderWindow - a "Log" toolbar button opens a transient window that live-tails
  the diagnostic log folder (marked Ephemeral via a new JsonIgnore flag on
  FolderConfig, so it is not remembered across runs). The status bar now shows
  the running version at its right-hand end, with the log path in its tooltip.
- App writes the session header at startup.
- README documents the diagnostic log, the Log button, and the version display.

Verified: build 0/0; launched the app, confirmed the session header (version
1.3.12, OS, .NET, settings, windows) is written, invoked the Log button via UI
Automation and confirmed it opens a window tailing the log with the version in
its status bar.

Co-authored-by: Copilot <223556219+Copilot@users.noreply.github.com>