IDEA: ULX TIMESCALE

[ChaosWolf]

So I was sitting on my server doing some updates, and routine maintanence when I see that somebody had joined my murder server, and left. but I didn't see when... which means my server has a "rush hour" for lack of a better term. but since the server is relatively new I don't know when that is, all I see is this person joined, joined, joined, joined, a couple chat messages the left, left, left, left. Then it hit me, what if I could see when exactly this event took place...

if you haven't gotten my point yet lemme put it this way. imagine a plugin to ULX that allowed a host to say in console, Rcon, or host console, something like.

ulx timescale 10 -- every action within the past 10 minutes would be listed in the console like so.

02:23 epicgamer connected to the server
02:25 dude1234 connected the the server
02:25 pablopiccasso connected to the server
02:26 epicgamer disconnected from the server (timed out)
02:28 manbearpig connected to the server
02:29 therake disconnected from the server (disconnect by user)
02:30 qwerty: I really like this server!
02:30 zxcvbn: shutup and play the game!
02:31 ChaosWolf connected to the server
02:32 dude1234 disconnected from server (disconnect by user)
02:33 Chaoswolf: !menu
02:33 ServerLog user ChaosWolf activated ulx who command.
player               group
qwerty              user
zxcvbn              user
ChaosWolf         SuperAdmin
BluePilgrim        Admin
manbearpig       user
Pablopiccasso    user
littlepotato        VIP


you get where im going with this? this tool would be great for hosts who go AFK and wanna see what happened and when on the spot.
or if they wanna see who joined the server and when. and it also is great if you want to get a quick look to see where/when it was recorded in the logs. "oh user billyjoebob was broke BIG RULE #4, and they said it at! ulx  timescale.... 10:23am" you can go straight there inside the logs. it is a tool merely for the sake of conviniance and would make things just a tad bit easier. ULYSSES STRIVING FOR SIMPLICITY right? that's the slogan... well ^ simplicity at its finest.

Regards,
       ChaosWolf

[JamminR]

Well, it's taken months, but I think this is one of the more thought out and relevant to ULX suggestions I've seen in a long while.
Good idea.

That being said, server logs can grow huge. Using Lua (and ULX) to parse a huge un-formatted (Other than times on the front) text log file could strain a server like no tomorrow.
We've already got people with large user/group files complaining of lag, and those are key/value formatted (making them slightly easier to parse).

Something to consider though.
Thanks for the input.

[MrPresident]

I know it's a little less cool, but to make it more viable we could just store the last x number of log entries in a memory buffer and allow admins to print that to their console.
The buffer could be a config option.

[ChaosWolf]

This is one idea, I had another one just pop into my head... I cant remember where the heck I wrote it down at. ill post another thread when I remember or find it.

just sitting there I was like man... I really wish ulx allowed me to do THIS. I wrote it down... then poof. its gone...

if you like my ideas either now or in the future don't be afraid to smack that compliment button!

[ChaosWolf]

That being said, server logs can grow huge. Using Lua (and ULX) to parse a huge un-formatted (Other than times on the front) text log file could strain a server like no tomorrow.
We've already got people with large user/group files complaining of lag, and those are key/value formatted (making them slightly easier to parse).

Something to consider though.
Thanks for the input.

this is why I considered it a plugin rather then an update, or addon... if the server owner knows his stuff then he will know whether or not his server can handle the parse. OR you can do away with the logging completely and script it so that it's an FYI basis. it can be done, its only a raw idea. I'm sure you guys will figure something out provided you wish to implement it.