Release [Explorer's Application] Captain's Log

[Genar-Hofoen]

Hi Genar-Hofoen,

I just downloaded the newest version of Captain's Log that you released yesterday (Version 1.3) and installed it. I really like the tool, but ever since the Horizons release and the new install location of the 64bit Horizons client, I just got an Python error when trying to start the application, telling me it couldn't find the appconfig file. In the release notes of version 1.3.0 yesterday you noted something that seems applicable to my situation:



When starting the new version of Captain's Log, I even get a nice little Captain's Log styled window telling me that the Appconfig file couldn't be found and offering me a "configure" button, presumably to provide the new Appconfig file location:

View attachment 96772

Unfortunately, when I click that "configure" button, instead of seeing something like a file choosing dialogue, I again get the same Python error that I already got in the prior version:

View attachment 96773

Do you have any advice on how I could manually update the Appconfig location? I can't find the plain text configuration file you have mentioned in the release notes.

Edit: before installing the new version I made a clean uninstall of the prior CL version.

Okay two possibilities immediately spring to mind...

1) Captain's Log does not have write permission to the folder containing the Appconfig.xml file.

Solution: Try running CL as Administrator - note, any files created by CL will have Admin permissions so you will have to elevate you normal user to Administrator in order to move those files etc. Alternatively, find some way of giving your ordinary user account write permission to these files/folder.

2) There is a formatting problem with the AppConfig.xml file.

Solution : try "Validate Game Files" which is in the Options menu in the game launcher.

Hope that helps!

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Imgur Help

NOTE: Sometimes Imgur's API stops responding or breaks for a while - please take that into account, before reporting Imgur errors to me

Also - for High-resolution screenshots, you might find the upload fails due to taking too long to upload. Uploads of standard resolution screenshots usually succeed. Alternatively, try selecting JPG as the output format before uploading High-Res screenshots.

 

[SnugglySocks]

loving the screenshot stuff, thanks GH. Can I get the colour values for the older versions. I liked the old colour scheme just fine.

 

[Loriath]

Quick question regarding imgur. Is there anything in the API that allows for the uploading to a New Album? My usual manual way is to convert then upload to albums based on my selective criteria (usually what I was doing). If not, just ignore me.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

loving the screenshot stuff, thanks GH. Can I get the colour values for the older versions. I liked the old colour scheme just fine.

Read this post from earlier : https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=155545&p=3453683&viewfull=1#post3453683


Regards!

- - - - - Additional Content Posted / Auto Merge - - - - -

Quick question regarding imgur. Is there anything in the API that allows for the uploading to a New Album? My usual manual way is to convert then upload to albums based on my selective criteria (usually what I was doing). If not, just ignore me.

Yes there is - but adding it would have delayed this release and I wanted it out

Baby steps - Album creation coming in the next iteration (I want that feature too)

For now you'll just have to rearrange them on the Imgur site.

Regards o7

 

[Arubeto]

Okay two possibilities immediately spring to mind...

1) Captain's Log does not have write permission to the folder containing the Appconfig.xml file.

Solution: Try running CL as Administrator - note, any files created by CL will have Admin permissions so you will have to elevate you normal user to Administrator in order to move those files etc. Alternatively, find some way of giving your ordinary user account write permission to these files/folder.

2) There is a formatting problem with the AppConfig.xml file.

Solution : try "Validate Game Files" which is in the Options menu in the game launcher.

Hope that helps!

Thanks for the swift response. The Appconfig seems to be ok, EDDiscovery doesn't have any problem reading it either, and "Validate Game Files" also didn't bring up any issues.

I tried running CL as admin, and I got to the configuration screen where I can select the log file location and the folder where I want CL to safe it's own files, but then immediately after saving those settings and clicking the button to proceed, I got the same Python error as before. When I start CL as admin now, I don't even get to the configuration screen anymore, just up to the window asking me if the game location has changed, but clicking the "configure" button there immediately triggers the Python error again. :S

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Thanks for the swift response. The Appconfig seems to be ok, EDDiscovery doesn't have any problem reading it either, and "Validate Game Files" also didn't bring up any issues.

I tried running CL as admin, and I got to the configuration screen where I can select the log file location and the folder where I want CL to safe it's own files, but then immediately after saving those settings and clicking the button to proceed, I got the same Python error as before. When I start CL as admin now, I don't even get to the configuration screen anymore, just up to the window asking me if the game location has changed, but clicking the "configure" button there immediately triggers the Python error again. :S

Man that's annoying!

Hmmm. *thinks*...

Oh, perhaps CL hasn't yet had a chance to remove the old-format captainslog.cfg file and CL is reading it in again..

1) Take a backup of that captainslog.cfg file

2) Remove captainslog.cfg it or move it away from the appdata\captainslog folder

3) remove the captainslog.ini file if it's there - removing both those files triggers CL to go through the configuration process again.

4) run CL as admin again - keep running it as Admin in the future - trust me there is no malicious code in there - the EXE and installer is signed with my Class 2 code signing certificate as well so you can hunt me down like the animal I am if there is malicious code in there!

If that doesn't fix your woes, I don't know what will - I got nothin' after that. All I know is CL works for me and most other folks!

 

[Arubeto]

Man that's annoying!

Hmmm. *thinks*...

Oh, perhaps CL hasn't yet had a chance to remove the old-format captainslog.cfg file and CL is reading it in again..

1) Take a backup of that captainslog.cfg file

2) Remove captainslog.cfg it or move it away from the appdata\captainslog folder

3) remove the captainslog.ini file if it's there - removing both those files triggers CL to go through the configuration process again.

4) run CL as admin again - keep running it as Admin in the future - trust me there is no malicious code in there - the EXE and installer is signed with my Class 2 code signing certificate as well so you can hunt me down like the animal I am if there is malicious code in there!

If that doesn't fix your woes, I don't know what will - I got nothin' after that. All I know is CL works for me and most other folks!

Your support is awesome, thanks for taking the time!

Sadly, it still doesn't work. I found the captainslog.ini file and removed it, ran CL again as admin, got to choose both basic settings again (log file folder and CL file folder) and than I got the same Python error message again, but this time slightly changed: the program was now all of a sudden looking for a "Appconfiglocal.xml" file within the ED installation folder. :S

I completely uninstalled CL and re-installed it, all steps as admin, but to no avail.

It worked for a long time for me, too. Just the last two update (1.2.1 and 1.3.0) refused to start...

Well, anyway, thanks for trying to help; I give up for tonight and try again tomorrow.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Your support is awesome, thanks for taking the time!

Sadly, it still doesn't work. I found the captainslog.ini file and removed it, ran CL again as admin, got to choose both basic settings again (log file folder and CL file folder) and than I got the same Python error message again, but this time slightly changed: the program was now all of a sudden looking for a "Appconfiglocal.xml" file within the ED installation folder. :S

I completely uninstalled CL and re-installed it, all steps as admin, but to no avail.

It worked for a long time for me, too. Just the last two update (1.2.1 and 1.3.0) refused to start...

Well, anyway, thanks for trying to help; I give up for tonight and try again tomorrow.

Captain's Log generates an AppConfigLocal.xml - which was - according to a Dev - supposed to be left untouched by the Launcher whenever there's an update to the game, but it turned out that this file gets zapped on every update anyway.

I left the generation of that file in, as the game still reads it and activates verbose logging if it's set in it.

Perhaps you could try creating AppConfigLocal.xml manually, it resides in the same folder as AppConfig.xml, and contains this:

<AppConfig>  <Network Port="0" upnpenabled="1" LogFile="netLog" DatestampLog="1" VerboseLogging="1">
    </Network>
</AppConfig>

Check to see if AppConfigLocal.xml already exists.

This is now beginning to drive me nuts, because looking at the original screenshot you posted, I can't see any other indication of what's going on - I can see which part of my code the crash is occurring at, but there's nothing actually telling me WHY it's crashing at that point!

EDIT: One other thing - you've obscured your user name - does it, by any chance, have non-ASCII characters in it? Like does it have Japanese characters in it? (I'm just taking a wild stab in the dark here because Arubeto is Japanese-sounding and I lived there for 6 years and my wife is Japanese and that name sounds awfully familiar...)

 

[Arubeto]

Captain's Log generates an AppConfigLocal.xml - which was - according to a Dev - supposed to be left untouched by the Launcher whenever there's an update to the game, but it turned out that this file gets zapped on every update anyway.

I left the generation of that file in, as the game still reads it and activates verbose logging if it's set in it.

Perhaps you could try creating AppConfigLocal.xml manually, it resides in the same folder as AppConfig.xml, and contains this:

<AppConfig>  <Network Port="0" upnpenabled="1" LogFile="netLog" DatestampLog="1" VerboseLogging="1">
    </Network>
</AppConfig>

Check to see if AppConfigLocal.xml already exists.

This is now beginning to drive me nuts, because looking at the original screenshot you posted, I can't see any other indication of what's going on - I can see which part of my code the crash is occurring at, but there's nothing actually telling me WHY it's crashing at that point!

Awesome, that did it! Manually creating the "AppConfigLocal.xml" file and putting in the code snipped you posted solved the problem! Thanks a lot again!

EDIT: One other thing - you've obscured your user name - does it, by any chance, have non-ASCII characters in it? Like does it have Japanese characters in it? (I'm just taking a wild stab in the dark here because Arubeto is Japanese-sounding and I lived there for 6 years and my wife is Japanese and that name sounds awfully familiar...)

Ha, very good! The user name does only contain ASCII characters, but my forum name here is indeed a variation of my name in Japanese. I lived in Japan for a year, too, and people weren't able to pronounce my real name and always ended up with "Arubeto", so that somehow sticked to me!

By the way, if you lived there for 6 years, I guess you can read Katakana, right?

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Awesome, that did it! Manually creating the "AppConfigLocal.xml" file and putting in the code snipped you posted solved the problem! Thanks a lot again!

\o/

It's got CL working, but it doesn't solve why CL wasn't creating it in the first place on your system. There's a Mystery to solve...

Ha, very good! The user name does only contain ASCII characters, but my forum name here is indeed a variation of my name in Japanese. I lived in Japan for a year, too, and people weren't able to pronounce my real name and always ended up with "Arubeto", so that somehow sticked to me!

By the way, if you lived there for 6 years, I guess you can read Katakana, right?

Katakana, Hiragana, and I've forgotten most of the 250 Kanji I learned to read and write because I was absolutely useless at learning the lingo

Regards o7

EDIT: And yes, I can read your avatar - which looks awfully like a scan of your hanko

 

[Arubeto]

\o/

It's got CL working, but it doesn't solve why CL wasn't creating it in the first place on your system. There's a Mystery to solve...

Now, that it finds the "AppConfigLocal.xml" file, CL works without admin rights, too. I am happy that I can use it again!

EDIT: And yes, I can read your avatar - which looks awfully like a scan of your hanko

Bingo

 

[Loriath]

Check to see if AppConfigLocal.xml already exists.

Question by a non-Programmer regarding CL creating this file. Does it take the existing Network section out of the original?

One of the utilities I use is creating it, and not taking the network section out of the original so it overrides my settings that I require because UPnP is not enabled on my router and I have port forwarding setup instead. My Launcher runs off a bat file that deletes the AppConfigLocal.xml file before the launcher starts each time to avoid instancing/comms issues.

I need to take some time and hunt down which one is doing it.

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Question by a non-Programmer regarding CL creating this file. Does it take the existing Network section out of the original?

One of the utilities I use is creating it, and not taking the network section out of the original so it overrides my settings that I require because UPnP is not enabled on my router and I have port forwarding setup instead. My Launcher runs off a bat file that deletes the AppConfigLocal.xml file before the launcher starts each time to avoid instancing/comms issues.

I need to take some time and hunt down which one is doing it.

Yes it takes a copy of that particular section in the AppConfig.xml file.

I'll be adding a new tab in the Configuration Manager window called something like "Game Options" for the next version of CL, and I reckon adding options like "enable uPNP support" and "port number" and suchlike might be a Good Idea.

That should help folks who need such things activated, as it's a real PITA when the launcher overwrites these settings every game update.

Regards

 

[Genar-Hofoen]

Now, that it finds the "AppConfigLocal.xml" file, CL works without admin rights, too. I am happy that I can use it again!

That says to me that CL couldn't write to the ED game folder for some reason.

I'll add code to catch that error condition in the next update - dunno what to do about that one apart from telling the user "Couldn't write the file so you'll need to manually enable verbose logging" - or come up with some other clever solution like launching a companion utility with Admin rights just to enable verbose logging in this type of case.

I'll have a think on that one.

Regards o7


p.s. I have my own registered hanko but we still need to use it for official documents in Japan from time to time so I'm not posting mine

 

[Arubeto]

That says to me that CL couldn't write to the ED game folder for some reason.

I'll add code to catch that error condition in the next update - dunno what to do about that one apart from telling the user "Couldn't write the file so you'll need to manually enable verbose logging" - or come up with some other clever solution like launching a companion utility with Admin rights just to enable verbose logging in this type of case.

I'll have a think on that one.

Regards o7

The thing is, I already enabled verbose logging in my normal AppConfig.xml (for EDDiscovery, for example). But the Python error looks more like he isn't checking if "verboseLogging=1" in that original file, but instead is trying to create the AppConfigLocal.xml in any case (even if it's not necessary, because verboseLogging is already enabled in the normal AppConfig.xml). And if creating this AppConfigLocal.xml file doesn't succeed (no matter if it's needed or not), the error is raised. Could that be the case?

p.s. I have my own registered hanko but we still need to use it for official documents in Japan from time to time so I'm not posting mine

Well, I always thought "hancos" were in no way a secure way for authentication. When I had my hanco made, I didn't even need to show any passport or other ID card (perhaps because I was a gaijin and the Hanco maker thought he wouldn't be able to read a document in English anyway), so anyone could have entered the store after me and could have the same hanco created for him, too. Heck, it doesn't even include my surname, just my foreign first name in Katakana, and I still used it for all formal transactions (creating a bank account, signing documents like tenancy agreement etc.). So I never trusted the security a hanco would provide and didn't see any advantage in keeping it "secret", so to say

 

[newman1702]

Great job on the new version, liking the new screenshots feature and overall it seems to work ok. My only nitpick would be to say that the new font used is a step back; while it might look a tad more "sci-fi", it's unsuitable for large lists and becomes fuzzy and less readable. In addition the wideness of the new font makes it problematic to see system and jump notes if more than a word or two have been entered. My one suggestion would be to revert to the old font (can we do this ourselves somehow?). Other than that, nice job!

edit: also probably worth noting, revisiting a system with captain's log running will result in a duplicate on the list - not a bad feature, but it seems to add all the bodies to statistics (for example, find one ELW, revisit system, statistics now say you found 2 even though it's the same one). I also had an instance where restarting CL produced duplicates of the last two systems visited - is there any way to get rid of the duplicate entries on the list? Thank you in advance.

 

[EDN]

Hi,

I'm trying Captains's Log for the first time and I had the exactly same problem than Arubeto.
After creating the AppConfigLocal.xml manually, I was able to run CL but had an other problem : impossible to scan the netlogs and import it to DB. The config window freeze displaying "Examining netlog 14 of 47".

I run 64bits version of Elite Dangerous.
When i changed the elitelogpath in captainslog.ini to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\FORC-FDEV-D-1010\Logs" instead of "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Elite Dangerous\Products\elite-dangerous-64\Logs" and restarted CL, it asked me to create the AppConfigLocal.xml as it's supposed to to. I'll check if netlogs scanning works better in 32bits and let you know.

Hope it can help.
Regards

 

[SnugglySocks]

Read this post from earlier : https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=155545&p=3453683&viewfull=1#post3453683


Regards!

ooops, missed that in the flurry of activity. thanks

 

[Juuruzu]

I'm getting an Error 403 every time I access your site.