Shoutbox

Hi,

Please, keep message date - maybe, as optional param.
Session start in the log means nothing. My computer works 24/7, and next session can start after some months.

I use chat for work, and exact log is extremely important for me.

Thank you,
Mahris

The 'session start' is when you open the conversation. I highly doubt you keep the same conversation open for "some months". Once you're done talking to someone you close the conversation, simple as. Then a chat log starts a new session when you start a new conversation.

Dear Chris,
Of course, I keep conversation - maybe not months, but multiple weeks definitely.
And I propose that almost everybody who uses chat for tasks similar to mine acts in the same way.
My tasks - software development in team. Long time works, chat used for team communication.
I never have "done talking to someone". We work and talk. Talking will be done after some months, at end of work.

well, i guess it cant be that hard to add a line with the date to the logs every time the clock goes past midnight (only if the conversation window is opened)... i dunno what will others/Patchou think about this though

quote:

---

Originally posted by mahris
Dear Chris,
Of course, I keep conversation - maybe not months, but multiple weeks definitely.
And I propose that almost everybody who uses chat for tasks similar to mine acts in the same way.
My tasks - software development in team. Long time works, chat used for team communication.
I never have "done talking to someone". We work and talk. Talking will be done after some months, at end of work.

---

Yes, but his point is that you don't talk 24/7.....you go to eat food, you go to sleep.  There is no decent reason for keeping chat sessions open all this time, especially if you are logging the contents, so it's not like you'll forget what's being said.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Chrono
well, i guess it cant be that hard to add a line with the date to the logs every time the clock goes past midnight (only if the conversation window is opened)... i dunno what will others/Patchou think about this though

---

Dunnu about that.

Another way would be (actually as suggested) to store the date for each chat line in the html file too, in a new seperate class "date".

In that way, people could use that info to make their own stylesheet (which is already supported - see comments inside any log file) and thus show the date too (which maybe can be hidden by default, to keep things the same like it is now).

quote:

---

Originally posted by mahris
Dear Chris,
Of course, I keep conversation - maybe not months, but multiple weeks definitely.
And I propose that almost everybody who uses chat for tasks similar to mine acts in the same way. My tasks - software development in team. Long time works, chat used for team communication. I never have "done talking to someone". We work and talk. Talking will be done after some months, at end of work.

---

So, if I understand correctly: you keep your computer and Messenger on for weeks at a time. And you never close any conversation window during that period?

Yes, I keep all windows needed for work opened in fixed places of screen: some virtual machines, chat, some explorers, some info tabs in browser.
I close them only when computer requires restart.
Typically, I open and close only windows I use for relax - games, thrillers etc.

Actually, there is a registry setting to modify the timestamp format used in the log files: "ChatLogTimeStampFormat" (see http://msgpluslive.net/help/registry)

But when setting its value to something like "dd'.'MM'.'yy' - 'mm':'HH", the date tags aren't replaced with the actual values, it just parses the time tags.
The feature is there, but it doesn't seem to work - I guess this qualifies as a bug and you might want to post a thread in the Bug reports forum about this. (considering that the issue was brought up before, but apparently didn't get much attention)

This is however not a bug though, that registry setting is intended for the timestamp only, not for the date (ChatLogTimeStampFormat).

quote:

---

Originally posted by CookieRevised
This is however not a bug though, that registry setting is intended for the timestamp only, not for the date (ChatLogTimeStampFormat).

---

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/timestamp
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/time stamp

We could do a lot of nitpicking about the definition of a timestamp now, but that wouldn't help anyone. Fact is that it doesn't make much sense not to parse the date values in there as well. WLM's own logs include the date in every line of the conversation as well (although as separated date / time columns).