Utility: DirMon2

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by ToonGal

Well, just saw the thread today, and installing v5.7 over v5.5. I haven't been able to get it to work at all yet, and noticed some changes in the .ini format. Changed the new .ini format parameters on things not the same, and will report if I have problems still in the next day or so.

However, a quick bug to report. The "Wait until the target file is idle" check box never seems to save to the .ini file, since it is always unchecked after restarting the GUI. No other things really tested, but figured I'd mention this.

I had the same issue with an install over 0.5.6. I had to uninstall and reinstall to get it to work. This forced me to uninstall the service as well. That leads me to....


Jere, after reinstalling, I tried to reinstall the service and told it to use a user account instead of System to start up. It would not let me install the service this way. I could install the service if I left the default of starting under the System account. This forced me to go into the Services applet and change the startup account to the network account I wanted (I have a remote Sage directory)

Thanks!
John

[rsagetv99]

How does the priority setting work in DirMon? I want to have one job process a file before another one starts so I was going to try do control it with this feature, but I am not sure if it is working...

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

Jere, after reinstalling, I tried to reinstall the service and told it to use a user account instead of System to start up. It would not let me install the service this way. I could install the service if I left the default of starting under the System account. This forced me to go into the Services applet and change the startup account to the network account I wanted (I have a remote Sage directory)

The account you want to use must have the "Log on as a service" right. I haven't found a way to add that right programmatically yet (if anyone knows, let me know ) so going to the services management seems to be the easiest way to add that right. Or is your issue different?

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by rsagetv99

How does the priority setting work in DirMon? I want to have one job process a file before another one starts so I was going to try do control it with this feature, but I am not sure if it is working...

Every job starts with a priority of 0. Then the priority "boosts" get added after all the outstanding jobs have been found. Higher priorities get run first.

To figure out if it is working, than you can just look at the queue and see if the jobs are being run in the order you want.

Alternatively, you can explain what you are looking for, post your ini and I'll offer suggestions.

Jere

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

The account you want to use must have the "Log on as a service" right. I haven't found a way to add that right programmatically yet (if anyone knows, let me know ) so going to the services management seems to be the easiest way to add that right. Or is your issue different?

Jere

Jere,

I had already added that account to have that right since I use it for Sage service access to the remote storage. I checked to verify. It will work fine if I use the Windows applet to modify it just want let me use the DirMon2 interface to install the service with alternate user credentials. After I set it in Windows I can use the DirMon GUI to stop and start the service but it still shows the LocalSystem logon in the Run As box. Not a big deal for me since I know how to fix it but could cause some frustration for someone else.

Thanks for the great tool!

P.S. I attached a screen print of the Service settings on DirMon from mine. It allowed me to install the service with this setting but if I stopped the service , then uninstalled it, and then changed the Run As to use a network user account it would not let me Install the service again. I would click and nothing would happen. I changed it back to LocalSystem and it went right through.

John

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by jlabrue

P.S. I attached a screen print of the Service settings on DirMon from mine. It allowed me to install the service with this setting but if I stopped the service , then uninstalled it, and then changed the Run As to use a network user account it would not let me Install the service again. I would click and nothing would happen. I changed it back to LocalSystem and it went right through.

How are you entering the network user name?

Jere

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

How are you entering the network user name?

Jere

The same way I entered it into the service settings in the Windows Services applet. I used the format "user@domain.com". I did NOT use the NetBIOS format (domain\user). Could that be the issue? I can remote in and try later.

[Jere_Jones]

I think that would be the problem since if no domain is specified, I add ".\" to the username.

Jere

[jlabrue]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

I think that would be the problem since if no domain is specified, I add ".\" to the username.

Jere

Very good, that should be easy enough to remember. I have a habit of doing authentication by using AD UPN names (name@domain.com) for everything I do. Thanks for the help

[Jere_Jones]

0.5.8 - 16 Jul 2006
- "Wait until file is idle" will now load correctly.
- Added entry in activity log for when the overseer starts and ends.
- Corrected error trapping in cleanup execution.
- Overseer shouldn't just stop anymore.

Jere

[cavalli]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

0.5.8 - 16 Jul 2006
- "Wait until file is idle" will now load correctly.
- Added entry in activity log for when the overseer starts and ends.
- Overseer shouldn't just stop anymore.

Idle file works great. Overseer hasn't auto-stopped as of yet. Life is good.

Any chance of adding a configurable directory element for the log files? My program files directory is on my boot drive, and I generally keep my logs on the data drive. (Once had a log spiral out of control, and affected my program data files, SageTV included.)

Thanks!

[ToonGal]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

0.5.8 - 16 Jul 2006
- "Wait until file is idle" will now load correctly.

Originally Posted by cavalli

Idle file works great.

I didn't have the same results. The idle option loaded correctly, yes. It just didn't "work great". Same as last version, starting to comskip during the recording. Did the algorithm change? Or did the option load/save merely get fixed? Interested in the logic behind the idle file processing if it is working on your end.

I also like the configurable log directory.

Thanks Jere!

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by ToonGal

Interested in the logic behind the idle file processing

If the option to wait until the file is finished is checked, then DirMon2 tries to get write access to the file. (DM2 does NOT try to write to the file) If someone else is writing to the file then this should fail. Sometimes this fails if another file is reading it, depending on the type of access the program reading the file has.

If the option to wait until the file is idle is checked, then DirMon2 tries to get delete access to the file. (DM2 does NOT try to delete the file) If someone else is reading the file then this should fail.

These worked fine across my network, but your milage may vary depending on your individual setup.

If anyone has another way to determine if the file is finished, let me know and I'll look into incorporating it.

Jere

[geogecko]

Originally Posted by Jere_Jones

If anyone has another way to determine if the file is finished, let me know and I'll look into incorporating it.

Jere

Is there a way to monitor file size over a period of time? If the file size could be monitored over a period of a minute or two, you could determine the file was finished by the size not changing.

Or, perhaps, the time the file was last modified. If the modified time keeps changing over a period of time, the file is not done.

Does that help at all?

[Jere_Jones]

Originally Posted by geogecko

Is there a way to monitor file size over a period of time? If the file size could be monitored over a period of a minute or two, you could determine the file was finished by the size not changing.

That was the original plan, but it was so unreliable that I had to find another method.

Originally Posted by geogecko

Or, perhaps, the time the file was last modified. If the modified time keeps changing over a period of time, the file is not done.

The modified times are typically only changed upon opening or closing of a file.

Jere

[Jere_Jones]

0.5.9 - 17 Jul 2006
- Jobs that are already running won't be added to the queue anymore.

Jere

[nyplayer]

The wait until target is idle doesn't seem to be working. I have a batch job that encodes mpg's to avi...but it kicks off even if the file is recording. I am on XP Pro.


I also tried wait until target file is finished and that also didn't work.

[geogecko]

[nyplayer]

I added some source to my script to check the file size. After it gets triggered by Dirmon. I check the filesize wait 3 seconds check again then compare.



secondstowait=3
filesize1chk=objfile.size
Wscript.Sleep (secondstowait * 1000) '
filesize2chk=objfile.size

if filesize1chk=filesize2chk then
'do whatever I want
esle
'do nothing
end if

[Jere_Jones]

0.6.0 - 4 Aug 2006
- Added another method to determine if the file is finished before running a job.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure I have the "Wait until..." issues sorted out. It was a silly thing really but it should work now. There are a variety of methods for determining if the file is done. Experiment and find which one works for you. And, if you get the time, let me know your results.

Jere