logging.md

layout	page
title	Applet log file & command line tools
permalink	/applet-development/logging/

As an alternative to loading the applet inside Q desktop, a developer can use the the command line and the buit-in Q desktop logging facility.

Running applet from command line

node <script name> dev '{ <config> }'

Example 1:

node index.js dev '{"authorization": { "apiKey": "secretkeyvalue" }}'

Example 2:

In this example, the user settings coming normally from the questions form are set from the command line:

node index.js dev '{"applet":{"user": {"name": "Alice"}}}'

Example 3:

In the example below, we set a user setting to "TXZ211" and we place the new applet instance at position 1,1 by default.

node index.js dev '{"applet":{"user": {"zoneId": "TXZ211"}}, "geometry": {"width": 4, "height": 1, "origin": {"x": 1, "y": 1}}}'

Logging

Logs auto-rotate which means that they are recycled when they get to a certain size. So be copious in your logging. Logging can (and should) remain in index.js even when an applet is published for easier enduser troubleshooting.

To log a message from index.js:

const q = require('daskeyboard-applet');
const logger = q.logger;

logger.info("Applet starting...");
logger.warn("No user settings found, using defaults");
logger.error("API unreachable");

Logs live in ~quio/ directory.

cd ~/quio
ls *.log.*
quio.log.json #=> Q destop app log
applet.log.json #=> Q applet log

To view a log in real time:

tail -f applet.log.json

Factory Reset

When developing an applet, it is possible for Q desktop to crash or freeze. In this case, a developer can remove all applets and associated files using one of two ways:

Reset via the command line:

• Quit the Q Desktop App
• Run the following commands:

    rm -rf ~/.quio/v2/q_extensions
    rm -rf ~/.quio/v2/q_storage

• Restart the Q Desktop App

Use the built-in reset in Q desktop user preference menu.