KnowledgeBase Archive

An Archive of Early Microsoft KnowledgeBase Articles

View on GitHub

Q257541: HOWTO: Write to the NT Sys Log with the Windows Script Host

Article: Q257541
Product(s): Microsoft FoxPro
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbMiscTools kbvfp kbvfp300 kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 kbWSH kbGrpDSFox kbDSu
Last Modified: 06-APR-2000

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Visual FoxPro for Windows, versions 3.0, 3.0b, 5.0, 5.0a, 6.0 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY
=======

The Microsoft Script Host makes it easy to write to the Windows NT or Windows
2000 System Application Event Log. The Event Viewer is used to view and manage
logs of system, program, and security events on computers running Windows NT or
Windows 2000. You can use the event logs in Event Viewer to gather information
about hardware, software, and system problems and monitor Windows security
events.

MORE INFORMATION
================

Windows NT and Windows 2000 record events in three kinds of logs:

- Application log
  The application log contains events logged by applications or programs. For
  example, a database program might record a file error in the application log.
  The developer decides which events to record.

- System log
  The system log contains events logged by the Windows NT or Windows 2000 system
  components. For example, the failure of a driver or other system component to
  load during startup is recorded in the system log. The event types logged by
  system components are predetermined.

- Security log
  The security log can record security events such as valid and invalid logon
  attempts, as well as events related to resource use, such as creating,
  opening, or deleting files. An administrator can specify what events are
  recorded in the security log. For example, if you have enabled logon
  auditing, attempts to log on to the system are recorded in the security log.

Event Viewer displays these types of events:

- Error
  A significant problem, such as loss of data or loss of functionality. For
  example, if a service fails to load during startup, an error is logged.

- Warning
  An event that is not necessarily significant, but might indicate a possible
  future problem. For example, when disk space is low, a warning is logged.

- Information
  An event that describes the successful operation of an application, driver, or
  service. For example, when a network driver loads successfully, an
  information event is logged.

- Success audit
  An audited security access attempt that succeeds. For example, a user's
  successful attempt to log on to the system is logged as a success audit
  event.

- Failure audit
  An audited security access attempt that fails. For example, if a user tries to
  access a network drive and fails, the attempt is logged as a failure audit
  event.

The event log service starts automatically when you start Windows NT or Windows
2000. Application and system logs can be viewed by all users, but security logs
are accessible only to administrators.

The following code demonstrates how to use the Windows Script Host to write to
the Windows NT or Windows 2000 application log. If you are using this code on
Windows 95 or Windows 98, it will write to Wsh.log in the user's Windows
directory. The Wsh.log file contains a time stamp, the event type, and the text
of the log entry.

The LogEvent method uses the following syntax:

  

  LogEvent(intType, strMessage [,strTarget])

where:

  intType is a number representing the type of the event.
  strMessage is the text of the log entry.
  strTarget is optional. It represents the name of the system where the event
  should be logged. The default is the local system. (This parameter is for
  Windows NT or Windows 2000. It's ignored on Windows 9x.)

To write an event to another computer's log, change the first #DEFINE in the
following code to a valid Windows NT or Windows 2000 computer name, such as
MYSERVER. Backslashes are not required.

   
  #DEFINE TARGET_SYSTEM SUBSTR(SYS(0),1,ATC('#',SYS(0))-1)
  #DEFINE SUCCESS 0
  #DEFINE ERROR 1
  #DEFINE WARNING 2
  #DEFINE INFORMATION 4
  #DEFINE AUDIT_SUCCESS 8
  #DEFINE AUDIT_FAILURE 16
  WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
  *!* Logevent returns .t. for SUCCESS for .f. for FAILURE
  ?WshShell.LogEvent(SUCCESS, "Logon Script Completed Successfully")
  WshShell.LogEvent(ERROR, "Logon Script Completed Successfully")
  WshShell.LogEvent(WARNING, "We are getting low on disk space!!")
  WshShell.LogEvent(INFORMATION, "Start nightly backup")
  WshShell.LogEvent(AUDIT_SUCCESS, "Checksum Success!!")
  WshShell.LogEvent(AUDIT_FAILURE, "Checksum Failure")
  WshShell.LogEvent(AUDIT_FAILURE, "Checksum Failure",TARGET_SYSTEM)
  WshShell=.NULL.

REFERENCES
==========

See the following topics at:

  Microsoft Windows Script Technologies
  (http://www.msdn.Microsoft.com/scripting/)

Click Windows Script Host in the left pane, and then click Documentation. Under
Documentation, click either Whitepaper or Technical paper to reach these
documents:

  White paper:
  Windows Script Host: A Universal Scripting Host for Scripting Languages

  Technical paper:
  Windows Script Host Programmer's Reference

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbMiscTools kbvfp kbvfp300 kbvfp300b kbvfp500 kbvfp500a kbvfp600 kbWSH kbGrpDSFox kbDSupport kbCodeSnippet 
Technology        : kbVFPsearch kbAudDeveloper kbVFP300 kbVFP300b kbVFP500 kbVFP600 kbVFP500a
Version           : WINDOWS:3.0,3.0b,5.0,5.0a,6.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

=============================================================================

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.