XMM-Newton Science Analysis System: User Guide

3.8 Using the log

The lower part of the SAS GUI is a log panel, which records the commands that are used and displays messages that come up as a result of running the different tasks. Each time a task is executed from the GUI, an equivalent command-line is written to the log. These lines have the prefix "@@", so that they may be easily identified. The "File" menu has an option to extract the commands and save them into an executable script. It is possible to edit the script and replace file names or task arguments so that the script can be ran on different data.

The log also records warnings and error messages received from the task. These are prefixed with "**", so that they are clearly visible. Any other output from the tasks (those normally written to STDOUT) is logged without any prefix.

As well as being displayed in the SAS window, the log is also written to the file "sas_log" in the directory from which the GUI was invoked.

The log may not only be printed using the "Print log..." command from the "File" menu, but also saved as a script for further use by the "Save as script..." option in the same menu.