To view the logs created in CIULink: on the Logging menu, click Launch Windows Explorer.

It is easiest to view these logs in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel.

Understanding the format of CIULink logs

The data in CIULink logs is organized into columns for each of the blocks that you are monitoring. The first three rows contain headings to indicate what data you can find in each column.

The data in these first three rows is:

• The first line shows which blocks you will get data for in each column.
• The second line shows the tag names that correspond to these blocks.
• The third line indicates which columns contain the date and time

If you open the logs in a text editor, the columns are separated by commas. You can look at the first three lines of the log to figure out which column contains the data for each block, and then count the number of commas in the subsequent lines to find the data for that block. However, it is much easier to view the logs in a spreadsheet program such as Microsoft Excel, which will organize the data into columns automatically.

Dates and times in CIULink logs

The first two columns indicate the date and time when CIULink requested the data that appears in the log. If you need more precise timing information, you can use logging options to indicate the time when the data actually arrived in CIULink -- typically, this will be about a tenth of a second later. You can display the time when CIULink received the first data point in each row, the last data point, or each data point individually.

With this information, you can be certain that the data was current sometime between when CIULink sent out the request, and the time when CIULink received the data. It takes a few dozen milliseconds for a request for data to travel from CIULink to your CIU, and a similar time for the data to travel from the CIU back to CIULink, so it is not possible to be certain exactly when the CIU sent out the data. But knowing when CIULink sent out the request and when it received the data provides a short window that puts an upper and lower bound on this time.

Displaying dates and times in a spreadsheet

By default Microsoft Excel might not display the time columns correctly. To correct this:

1. Click the column heading to select the time column. (For example, if the Time of Request is displayed in column "B", click the "B" heading to select the column.)
2. On the Format menu, click Cells.
3. In the Category box, click "Time". Choose a time format from the Type box.
   • If you selected Include Date in field in CIULink's logging options, scroll down in the Type box to choose a format that displays both the date and the time.

See also

• Logging with CIULink
• Choosing where to save logged data
• Logging Options