69   The alogview Tool for Analyzing Mission Log Files

69.1 The Five Primary Viewing Windows
69.2 The NavPlot Window and Controlling Replay
     69.2.1 Controlling the Current Time in Paused Mode
     69.2.2 Controlling the Current Time in Streaming Mode
69.3 Video Capture
69.4 The LogPlot Window For Viewing Time-Series Data
     69.4.1 Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the LogPlot Window
69.5 The IPFPlot Window For Viewing Helm Objective Functions
     69.5.1 Launching an IPFPlot Window
     69.5.2 Stepping Through Time and Replay Control in the IPFPlot Window
     69.5.3 Selecting the IvP Function in the IPFPlot Window
     69.5.4 Rendering the Collective IvP Function in the IPFPlot Window
     69.5.5 Variable Scoping Within the IPFPlot Window
     69.5.6 Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the IPFPlot Window
69.6 The HelmPlot Window For Viewing Helm State
     69.6.1 Launching the HelmPlot Window
     69.6.2 Stepping Through Time and Replay Control in the HelmPlot Window
     69.6.3 Behavior States in the Helm Plot Window
     69.6.4 Behavior Warnings, Errors, Mode History and Life Events
     69.6.5 Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the HelmPlot Window
69.7 The VarPlot Window For Viewing Variable Histories
     69.7.1 Launching the VarPlot Window
     69.7.2 Viewing the Variable History in the VarPlot Window
     69.7.3 Adding and Removing Variables from the History List
     69.7.4 Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the VarPlot Window
69.8 Command Line Usage for the alogview Tool

The alogview application is a post-mission analysis utility loaded with one or more alog files, typically one per vehicle. It is more than a log file playback tool. A full state is maintained across all vehicles for both playing back sequentially and rewinding or jumping to any arbitrary point in time. The main window may look a bit like the run-time pMarineViewer window, but many of the GUI components in alogview are available solely for post-mission analysis. A snapshot of the tool, with no pop-up sub-windows open, is shown in Figure 69.1 .

Figure 69.1: The alogview tool: used for post-mission rendering of alog files from one or more vehicles and stepping through time to analyze helm status, IvP objective functions, and other logged numerical data correlated to vehicle position in the op-area and time.

Quick Start: Launch alogview with one or more alog files on the command line, for example the two vehicle alog files from the m2_berta example mission: 

  $ alogview henry.alog gilda.alog

Upon launch, the viewer should look similar to Figure 69.1 . Step forward or backward through time with the '[' or ']' keys, or click anywhere in the time-series in the bottom part of the screen. Replay can also be automated by accelerating or decelerating replay with the 'a or 'z' characters. Many other replay and visualization options are available via the pull-down menus and are introduced in later sections.

Recent History of Development with Releases    [top]

  • Pre-2011: This tool existed as logview, was not documented and had limited support for rendering objective functions and helm information. Mostly used in-house by developers.
  • 2011: Better support for IvP function rendering. Initial thin documentation. Support added for geometric log entries. Still very buggy but useful enough to share with other adventurous users. Biggest limitations: (a) initial full-alog load into memory too huge for anything but small missions. (b) no general scoping tool available for non-numerical data, (c) many little bugs or incomplete features.
  • 2015: First real attempt to support users generally outside core developers. Better memory management for large and/or multi-vehicle missions. New scope for non-numerical data. Pop-up implementation of sub-windows. Unlimited sub-windows supported for multi-vehicle missions. Overall much less buggy and more feature-rich.

69.1   The Five Primary Viewing Windows    [top]

The alogview tool can be described by its five GUI components, listed below. The first two are always open upon startup, and the remaining three are upon user request via the pull-down menus:

  • The NavPlot window: This is the main vehicle viewing area shown at the top in Figure 69.1 . It primarily shows the current vehicle position(s) and perhaps recent trajectory and other geometric artifacts produced by the vehicle apps or behaviors, such as waypoints or sensor artifacts. More detail in Section 69.3 .
  • The LogPlot window: This is the time-series window shown at the bottom in Figure 69.1 . The variable's rendered are selected by the user from the list any logged numerical data from any vehicle. More detail in Section 69.5 .
  • The IPFPlot window: (pronounced "i-p-f-plot") This is a pop-up window launched from the IPFPlots pull-down menu, for a chosen vehicle. It will render the prevailing IvP objective functions responsible for latest helm decision. More detail in Section 69.6 .
  • The HelmPlot window: This is a pop-up window launched from the HelmPlots pull-down menu, for a chosen vehicle. It shows the helm state in terms of active, running, idle behaviors, as well as behavior warnings, errors and life events. More detail in Section 69.7 .
  • The VarPlot window: This is a pop-up window launched from the VarPlots pull-down menu, for a chosen vehicle, and chosen logged MOOS variable (string or double). It shows an ordered list of recent and pending postings for the given variable. Additional variables can be added resulting in an interleaved sequence. More detail in Section 69.8 .

In all windows, the current time can be altered with the same keyboard hot keys, found in the Replay pull-down menu and described in Section 69.3 .

69.2   The NavPlot Window and Controlling Replay    [top]

The NavPlot window is the main viewing space, shown upon startup, with the current and recent vehicle positions rendered for each vehicle alog file. It is the top part shown in Figure 69.1 .

69.2.1   Controlling the Current Time in Paused Mode    [top]

By default alogview is paused upon startup. The options for stepping forward and backward through time may be seen from the Replay pull-down menu. There are three pairs of options:

  • The '[' and ']' keys for stepping forward and backward by 1 second.
  • The '{' and ''} keys for stepping forward and backward by 5 seconds.
  • The 'ctrl-[' and 'ctrl-]' keys for stepping forward and backward by 0.1 seconds.

69.2.2   Controlling the Current Time in Streaming Mode    [top]

Replay may also be put into a streaming mode at any time by accelerating or decelerating the streaming speed. Streaming is controlled by the following three keys:

  • The 'a' key will accelerate the time warp, doubling the warp upon each successive hit, up to 64Hz.
  • The 'z' key will decelerate the time warp, halving the warp upon each successive hit, down to 1/8Hz.
  • The 'SPACEBAR' key will pause or unpause the streaming mode at any time.

The time warp is always shown in the very top of the alogview window. When streaming at say 16Hz, you should see (Time Warp = 16) in the window title bar. When not streaming, i.e., paused, this is indicated instead of the time warp, as in Figure 69.1 .

    Note that in streaming, between each update, there is work going on under the hood in addition to the rendering tasks. This includes the update of the current state of what is being rendered in the main and pop-up windows. Often it is not possible to refresh at the time warp requested. In this situation, alogview, and your machine, will do the best it can to keep up. Instead of seeing (Time Warp = 16) in the title bar, you may see something like (Time Warp = 16)(Actual:8.73). The latter number will vary, but represents the best warping rate possible given what is being updated between refreshes.

    A faster observed time warp can be achieved by altering the streaming redraw interval. By default this interval is 0.5 seconds. So, for example, if the replay time warp is 4, then 8 re-draws will need to be handled per second. This may or may not be achievable. If the redraw interval is instead 1.0 seconds, then half as many re-draws are required for the same effective time warp. The drawback will be that the motion of the vehicle and objects will appear more "jumpy". The streaming redraw interval may be altered in the Replay pull-down menu.

69.3   Video Capture    [top]

Video capture is no longer natively supported in alogview due to the common availability of third party video capturing software. Just launch alogview, put it into streaming mode at the desired rate, and launch your favorite video capture program.

69.4   The LogPlot Window For Viewing Time-Series Data    [top]

The LogPlot window allows the rendering of any numerical data from any loaded alog file to be plotted against time, as shown in Figure 69.1 and up close in Figure 69.2 below. The user may zoom in to see finer resolution in the postings, by clicking either the IN or OUT buttons, or by the 'i' or 'o' keys while the mouse is in the LogPlot window. To return to the original full apperature zoom, hit the RESET button. The user may left-click at any point in the time series to adjust the current time (shown by the red bar in the viewer). This time adjustment is propagated not only to the NavPlot viewer but to all open pop-up windows.

Figure 69.2: The logplot window: is used for viewing any numerical data found in any of the alog files loaded into alogview. Here the desired and actual vehicle headings are logged side-by-side.

Two variables, and two y-axes are available for selection. By default they are drawn on independent scales to allow variables with starkly different ranges, such as speed and heading, to be meaningfully rendered. The user may choose to synchronize the two variable ranges rendered to allow for more meaningful comparisons when the two variables have the same range, such as desired and observed speed. The synchronization is done by hitting the SYNC button at the top of the logplot window. The user chooses which two variables are rendered from the pull-down menu as shown in Figure 69.3 .

Figure 69.3: The logplot pull-down menu: is used for first selecting the vehicle and then the variable to be plotted.

If you find yourself wanting to repeatedly open an alog file with same one or two variables chosen for the LogPlot window, these variables can be chosen and at launch time passed as command line arguments: 

  $ alogview --lp=henry:NAV_SPEED --rp=gilda:NAV_SPEED

69.4.1   Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the LogPlot Window    [top]

There are a few hot-key functions available (only when the main window is active and the mouse is over the LogPlot window, that may not be apparent from simply interacting with the window:

  • The 'i' key: will zoom in the resolution on the plot. This can also be done by hitting the IN button.
  • The 'o' key: will zoom out the resolution on the plot. This can also be done by hitting the OUT button.
  • The 'LEFT' and 'RIGHT' keys: will step forward and backward through time by 1 second.
  • The 'UP' and 'DOWN' keys: will zoom in and out on the plot, essentially the same as the 'i' and 'o' keys.

The above hot-keys are in addition to the time control hot-keys listed in Section sec_alv_time_replay and Section 69.3.1 .

69.5   The IPFPlot Window For Viewing Helm Objective Functions    [top]

The IPFPlot window allows the rendering of an IvP function (IPF) from any vehicle and any behavior found in any of the alog files loaded into alogview.

69.5.1   Launching an IPFPlot Window    [top]

An IPFPlot pop-up window is launched from the alogview main pull-down window as shown in Figure 69.4 , by choosing a vehicle name. Separate windows can be opened for different vehicles, or even for the same vehicle.

Figure 69.4: The ipfplot pull-down menu: is used for first selecting the vehicle and then the variable to be plotted.

A newly launched pop-up window loads the relevant information from disk into the alogview memory space. This includes all IvP functions for all behaviors at all times, for the given vehicle. This can be large. For some (larger) missions and some computer configurations, the larger memory footprint will begin to be noticed in terms of application responsiveness. Likewise, the internal data structure updates, each time the current time is changed, increases for each pop-up window. This may result in a slower streaming rate when in replay. Closing the pop-up window releases the memory and should immediately boost responsiveness and playback rate.

69.5.2   Stepping Through Time and Replay Control in the IPFPlot Window    [top]

The current time is shown in the upper left corner and is synchronized with the main viewing window and any other pop-up windows that may be open. The same time keys are functional when this window is active, e.g., '[', ']', '{', ''}, for stepping forward and backward in time. The replay control keys, e.g., 'a', 'z', are also functional, and the replay state and rate is also shown in the title bar of this window.

69.5.3   Selecting the IvP Function in the IPFPlot Window    [top]

The user may choose any single objective function at a time from the menu on the left side of the window shown in Figure 69.5 . The current behavior weight is shown alongside the behavior name in the menu. If a behavior presently has a weight of zero, no function will be rendered when that behavior is selected. Multiple objective functions may be viewed simultaneously by launching more pop-up windows.

Figure 69.5: The ipfplot window: used for examining IvP functions for the chosen vehicle at the current time.

Since each window is associated with a particular vehicle, the helm iteration may be shown unambiguously in the redish window in the upper left. The rendering of the IvP function may be rotated or tilted for different perspectives by using the arrow keys. The perspective may be returned to the bird's eye view by hitting the SET button.

69.5.4   Rendering the Collective IvP Function in the IPFPlot Window    [top]

IvP functions of two forms are renderable - those defined over course and speed, and those defined over depth. In both cases, a rendering of the collective function is possible by clicking on the Collective or CollectiveD check-boxes on the left. In Figure 69.6 below, the collective objective function is shown, showing the weighted sum of the two behaviors The purplish pin rendered in Figures 69.5 and 69.6 shows the actual chosen decision for the present helm iteration. When rendering the collective function as in Figure 69.6 the pin should be visually consistent with the peak of the function. When rendering a single objective function, as in Figure 69.5 , the pin may not visually correlate to the peak of the function since other functions may be in play. For example in Figure 69.5 the pin identifies one of many points on the red plateau. The pin can be toggled on and off by hitting the PIN button.

Figure 69.6: The ipfplot window: showing here the collective objective function representing the weighted sum of the two active behaviors.

69.5.5   Variable Scoping Within the IPFPlot Window    [top]

Often it is useful to scope on a couple key variables related to the rendered objective function, to observe how they change and perhaps influence the function as time evolves. Although a general scoping ability exists via the VarPlot window described below in Section 69.8 , it can be handy to see the variable value(s) right in the IPFPlot window. The two pull-down menu buttons in the upper right in Figure 69.6 allow the selection of two variables whose values are output in the upper and lower left hand corners of the window as shown. The choice of these two variables is specific to the chosen behavior, or collective function. A different set of variables my be associated with each behavior, and they will be refreshed accordingly as the user switches between behaviors.

69.5.6   Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the IPFPlot Window    [top]

There are a few hot-key functions available that may not be apparent from simply interacting with the window:

  • The '+' key: will increase the font size in the browser pane, and the font size of any scoped variable.
  • The '-' key: will decrease the font size in the browser panes, and the font size of any scoped variable.
  • The 'c' key: will toggle the IvP function rendering from an individual selected function to the collective objective function.
  • The 'f' key: will put the window in a "full-window" mode showing only the rendered objective function, without the browser pane.
  • The 'UP' and 'DOWN' keys: will tilt the rendered objective functions.
  • The 'LEFT' and 'RIGHT' keys: will rotate the rendered objective functions.

The above hot-keys are in addition to the time control hot-keys listed in Section sec_alv_time_replay and Section 69.3.1 .

69.6   The HelmPlot Window For Viewing Helm State    [top]

The HelmPlot window renders information regarding the present helm state, including which behaviors are in which state and for how long, summary of update attempts for each behavior, behavior warnings, behavior errors, a history of helm mode changes, and a history of helm life events.

69.6.1   Launching the HelmPlot Window    [top]

The HelmPlot pop-up window is launched from the alogview main pull-down window as shown in Figure 69.7 , by choosing a vehicle name. Separate windows can be opened for different vehicles, or even for the same vehicle.

Figure 69.7: The helmplot pull-down menu: is used for first selecting the vehicle and launching the HelmPlot window.

A newly launched pop-up window loads the relevant information from disk into the alogview memory space. For some (larger) missions and some computer configurations, the larger memory footprint will begin to be noticed in terms of application responsiveness. Likewise, the internal data structure updates, each time the current time is changed, increases for each pop-up window. This may result in a slower streaming rate when in replay.

69.6.2   Stepping Through Time and Replay Control in the HelmPlot Window    [top]

The current time is shown in the upper left corner and is synchronized with the main viewing window and any other pop-up windows that may be open. The same time keys are functional when this window is active, e.g., '[', ']', '{', ''}, for stepping forward and backward in time. The replay control keys, e.g., 'a', 'z', are also functional, and the replay state and rate is also shown in the title bar of this window.

69.6.3   Behavior States in the Helm Plot Window    [top]

Each behavior known to the helm up to the present time is grouped into a list of either active, running, idle or completed modes as shown in Figure 69.8 .

Figure 69.8: The helmplot window: used for analyzing the helm state and behavior modes.

For each behavior, the behavior name is listed, along with the elapsed time since the behavior has been in that mode. If the behavior is configured with the updates parameter, then the number of successful vs attempted updates are also listed. If the behavior does not have the updates parameter set, then n/a will instead be listed in that column as with the station-keep behavior in the figure below. For active, behaviors, the present priority weight and number of pieces is also shown.

69.6.4   Behavior Warnings, Errors, Mode History and Life Events    [top]

The bottom pane of the HelmPlot window may have one of four content modes, selectable with the check-box shown.

  • Behavior Warnings: In this mode, all behavior warnings, in the form of messages written to BHV_WARNING, will be listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top. One handy feature is that the existence of possible future warnings can be see in the check-box label. In parentheses, (a/b) indicates that a warnings are shown in the list out of b warnings total for the mission.
  • Behavior Errors: In this mode, all behavior errors, in the form of messages written to BHV_ERROR, will be listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top. In the check-box label, in parentheses, (a/b) indicates that a errors are shown in the list out of b errors total for the mission.
  • Mode History: In this viewing mode, all helm mode changes will be listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top.
  • Life Events: In this viewing mode, all helm life events (behavior spawning and deaths) will be listed in chronological order with the most recent at the top.

69.6.5   Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the HelmPlot Window    [top]

There are a few hot-key functions available that may not be apparent from simply interacting with the window:

  • The '+' key: will increase the font size in the browser pane, and the font size of any scoped variable.
  • The '-' key: will decrease the font size in the browser panes, and the font size of any scoped variable.
  • The 'UP' and 'DOWN' keys: will tilt the rendered objective functions.
  • The 'LEFT' and 'RIGHT' keys: will rotate the rendered objective functions.

The above hot-keys are in addition to the time control hot-keys listed in Section sec_alv_time_replay and Section 69.3.1 .

69.7   The VarPlot Window For Viewing Variable Histories    [top]

The VarPlot window renders the full history of one or more chosen MOOS variables, allowing the user to see the present value, recent postings, and upcoming pending postings. This holds for both numerical and string variables.

69.7.1   Launching the VarPlot Window    [top]

The VarPlot pop-up window is launched from the alogview main pull-down window as shown in Figure 69.9 , by choosing a vehicle name, and MOOS variable name. Separate windows can be opened for different vehicles, variables, or even for the same vehicle and variable. Although one variable is chosen upon launch, any number of variables can be inserted later from the VarPlot pull-down buttons

Figure 69.9: The VarPlot pull-down menu: is used for first selecting a vehicle and variable name, and launching the VarPlot window.

A newly launched pop-up window loads the variable history information from disk into the alogview memory space. For some (larger) missions and some computer configurations, the larger memory footprint will begin to be noticed in terms of application responsiveness. Likewise, the internal data structure updates, conducted each time the current time is changed, increases for each pop-up window. This may result in a slower streaming rate when in replay. Closing the pop-up window releases the memory and should immediately boost responsiveness and playback rate.

69.7.2   Viewing the Variable History in the VarPlot Window    [top]

The VarPlot window contains two primary panes. The top pane shows everything in the past, up to the most recent post. The bottom pane shows everything in the future, starting with the next pending post. The "current time" can be regarded as being in between the two panes.

Figure 69.10: The VarPlot window: used for scoping on a set of MOOS variables into the past and upcoming in the future.

Each variable posting has six components, separated into six columns in both panes:

  • Time: The timestamp of the posting. This is always shown in the first column.
  • Node: The node, i.e., vehicle name is shown in the second column. Since the scope may contain values across nodes, this can be useful to see. If only scoping on one variable, or if all variables are from the same node, then this column can be hidden by toggling the Node check-box.
  • Variable Name: If scoping on only one variable, this third column may be hidden to provide more visibility to the other columns.
  • Source: The source, i.e., MOOS App that generated the posting, is shown in the fourth column. This may be toggled on or off.
  • Auxiliary Source: The auxiliary source is shown in the fifth column. Most MOOS apps do not make postings with an auxiliary source. The helm does however, and this typically indicates the particular behavior that produced the posting.
  • Variable Value: The last column is just the value of the posting. This column cannot be hidden.

69.7.3   Adding and Removing Variables from the History List    [top]

Upon launching the VarPlot window, a single variable is chosen. After launching, additional variables may be added (from any vehicle) from the Add Variable pull-down menu button as shown in Figure 69.11 . The Set Variable button presents the same set of choices, but will essentially remove all previously selected variables and replace it with the chosen one. The Del Variable button will remove the selected variable from the current set of variables.

Figure 69.11: The VarPlot window: Any variable from any vehicle may be added any time after the window is opened.

69.7.4   Additional Buried but Useful Hot-Keys in the VarPlot Window    [top]

There are a few hot-key functions available that may not be apparent from simply interacting with the window:

  • The '+' key: will increase the font size in the browser panes.
  • The '-' key: will decrease the font size in the browser panes.

The above hot-keys are in addition to the time control hot-keys listed in Section sec_alv_time_replay and Section 69.3.1 .

69.8   Command Line Usage for the alogview Tool    [top]

The alogview tool is run from the command line with one or more given .alog files and a number of options. The usage options are listed when the tool is launched with the -h switch: 

  $ alogview --help or -h

Listing 69.1 - Command line usage for the alogview tool. 

    1  Usage:                                                         
    2    alogview file.alog [another_file.alog] [OPTIONS]             
    3                                                                 
    4  Synopsis:                                                      
    5    Renders vehicle paths from multiple MOOS .alog files. Replay 
    6    logged data or step through manually. Supports several       
    7    specialized pop-up windows for viewing helm state, objective 
    8    functions, any logged variable across vehicles. If multiple  
    9    alog files are given, they will synchronized. Upon launch,   
   10    the original alog files are split into dedicated directories  
   11    to cache data base on the MOOS variable name.                
   12                                                                 
   13  Standard Arguments:                                            
   14    file.alog - The input logfile.                               
   15                                                                 
   16  Options:                                                       
   17    -h,--help       Displays this help message                   
   18    -v,--version    Displays the current release version         
   19                                                                 
   20    --bg=file.tiff  Specify an alternate background image.       
   21                                                                 
   22    --lp=VEH:VAR    Specify starting left log plot.              
   23    --rp=VEH:VAR    Specify starting right log plot.             
   24                    Example: --lp=henry:NAV_X                    
   25                    Example: --rp=NAV_SPEED                      
   26                                                                 
   27    --nowtime=val   Set the initial startup time                 
   28    --mintime=val   Clip all times/vals below this time          
   29    --maxtime=val   Clip all times/vals above this time          
   30                                                                 
   31    --quick,-q      Quick start (no geo shapes, logplots)        
   32    --altnav=PREF   Alt nav solution prefix, e.g., NAV_GT_       
   33                                                                 
   34    --zoom=val      Set initial zoom value (default: 1)          
   35    --panx=val      Set initial panx value (default: 0)          
   36    --pany=val      Set initial pany value (default: 0)          
   37                                                                 
   38    --geometry=xsmall  Open GUI with dimensions 770x605          
   39    --geometry=small   Open GUI with dimensions 980x770          
   40    --geometry=medium  Open GUI with dimensions 1190x935         
   41    --geometry=large   Open GUI with dimensions 1400x1100        
   42    --geometry=WxH     Open GUI with dimensions WxH              
   43                                                                 
   44  Further Notes:                                                 
   45    (1) Multiple .alog files ok - typically one per vehicle      
   46    (2) See also: alogscan, alogrm, alogclip, aloggrep           
   47        alogsort, alogiter, aloghelm

The order of the arguments passed to alogview do not matter. The --mintime and --maxtime arguments allow the user to effectively clip the alog files to reduce the amount of data loaded into RAM by alogview during a session. The --geometry argument allows the user to custom set the size of the display window. A few shortcuts, "large", "medium", "small", and "xsmall" are allowed.

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