I am looking for a way to parse a simple log file to get the information in a format that I can use. I would like to use python, but I am just beginning to learn how to use it. I am not a programmer, but have done some simple modifications and revisions of scripts. I am willing to attempt this on my own, if someone can point me in the right direction (any example scripts that do similar things would be helpful). This doesn't have to be Python, but I need a cross-platform solution (i.e. Perl or some other kind of script). I just wanted to try Python because I like the concept of it.
Here is my scenario: I have a program that connects and disconnects to a server. It writes a simple log file like this: 08-13-2005 13:19:37:564 Program: CONNECTED to 'Server' 08-13-2005 15:40:08:313 Program: DISCONNECTED from 'Server' 08-13-2005 15:45:39:234 Program: CONNECTED to 'Server' 08-13-2005 15:55:18:113 Program: DISCONNECTED from 'Server' 08-13-2005 16:30:57:264 Program: CONNECTED to 'Server' 08-13-2005 16:59:46:417 Program: DISCONNECTED from 'Server' 08-13-2005 17:10:33:264 Program: CONNECTED to 'Server' 08-13-2005 18:25:26:316 Program: DISCONNECTED from 'Server' 08-13-2005 18:58:13:564 Program: CONNECTED to 'Server' 08-13-2005 19:29:10:715 Program: DISCONNECTED from 'Server' What I basically want to do is end up with a text file that can be easily imported into a database with a format like this (or I guess it could be written in a SQL script form that could write directly to a database like Mysql): Connect_Date Connect_Time Disconnect_date Disconnect_time User ------------ ------------ --------------- --------------- ------- 08-13-2005 13:19:37 08-13-2005 15:40:08 John 08-13-2005 15:45:39 08-13-2005 15:55:18 John 08-13-2005 16:30:57 08-13-2005 16:59:46 John 08-13-2005 17:10:33 08-13-2005 18:25:26 John 08-13-2005 18:58:13 08-13-2005 19:29:10 John Here are some notes about this: * the username would come from the log file name (i.e. John_Connect.log) * I don't need the fractions of seconds in the timestamps * I only need date, time, and connect or disconnect, the other info is not important * If it is possible to calculate the elapsed time between Connect and Disconnect and create a new field with that data, that would help (but I can easily do that with SQL queries) * This log file layout seems to be consistent * There may not be a "disconnect" statement if the log file is read while connected, so the next time it would have to insert the disconnect information. The file will be read quite regularly, so this is very likely. * This would eventually need to be done without intervention (maybe every 5 minutes). I am open to other ideas or existing programs and am flexible about the final solution. Thanks, Clint -- http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/python-list
