WinCC OA LogViewer
Latest Update (v2.3.0): Enhanced plain text mode with unified color palette, light/dark theme support, perfect column alignment, and horizontal scrolling. See CHANGELOG for details.
Tip: If the extension doesn't work as expected, try Ctrl+Shift+P → Reload Window to refresh.
🎬 See It In Action
✨ Features
📊 Real-Time Log Monitoring
- Live file watching: Automatic updates when log files change
- PVSS_II.log parsing: Smart parsing of WinCC OA log format with metadata extraction
- Multiple log files: Monitor PVSS_II.log, WCCOActrl*.log, and custom log files
- Pause/Resume: Control log streaming on demand
- Newest First: Toggle to show most recent events first
- Plain Text Mode: Toggle between structured table view and classic plain text log output (default)
- 🎨 Color Coded: Manager-specific colors, severity-based highlighting
- ☀️ Theme Support: Automatic light/dark theme detection
- 📐 Perfect Alignment: Fixed-width columns for clean vertical alignment
- ↔️ Horizontal Scroll: Terminal-like scrolling for long lines
🔍 Advanced Filtering & Analysis
- Severity Filtering: Toggle DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, SEVERE, FATAL, ERROR, OTHER levels
- Text Search: Search across all log entries
- Column Management: Show/hide columns via right-click menu
- Resizable Columns: Drag column headers to resize
- Expandable Metadata: Click on log entry to view script path, library, line number, stacktrace
📜 History Loading
- Load History: Browse and load historical PVSS_II*.log files
- Time Range: Filter logs by date and time (24-hour format)
- File Selection: Choose from archived log files with size information
- Batch Loading: Events loaded in batches with progress indicator
🚀 Smart Navigation
- Clickable File Paths: Open scripts directly in editor from log metadata
- Integration: Works seamlessly with WinCC OA Control extension for automatic path detection
⚙️ Configuration
Essential Settings
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
winccoaLogviewer.logPathSource |
automatic |
Path detection: static (manual), workspace (workspace/log), automatic (via Control extension) |
winccoaLogviewer.staticLogPath |
- |
Static log path (e.g., C:/WinCC_OA/DevEnv/log or /opt/WinCC_OA/DevEnv/log) |
Logging (for debugging)
| Setting |
Default |
Description |
winccoaLogviewer.logLevel |
INFO |
Log verbosity: ERROR, WARN, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE |
💡 Tip: Set log level to DEBUG when reporting bugs for detailed diagnostics.
🐛 Known Issues
Current Limitations
Relative Paths in Stacktraces (v2.3.0):
- File paths in stacktrace continuation lines (e.g.,
classes\oaTest\OaTestBase.ctl:1025) are relative
- VS Code requires absolute paths to open files
- Impact: Clicking on stacktrace file paths shows "Could not open file" error
- Status: Will be fixed in v2.4.0 by resolving paths against WinCC OA project directory
Performance with Large Logs:
- UI can become slow with 10,000+ events
- No virtualized rendering yet (planned for future release)
- Recommendation: Use time range filtering when loading history
File Re-Activation Floods History (known, not fixed):
- When deselecting and re-selecting a log file, all historical events are replayed
- Root cause: FileWatcher maintains file position even when file is unwatched
- Impact: Can cause duplicate entries in UI if file was previously watched
- Workaround: Clear logs after re-activation or avoid toggling files repeatedly
- Status: Will be fixed in future release
Log Event Ordering:
- Multi-line log events (with stacktraces) are correctly parsed since v0.2.2
- Parser buffer is properly flushed to prevent ordering issues
Automatic Path Detection:
- Requires WinCC OA Control extension installed and active
- Falls back to workspace or static path if Control not available
Reporting Bugs
Found an issue? Please report it with:
- WinCC OA version
- Extension version (
1.0.3)
- Log file example that reproduces the issue
- Enable
DEBUG logging and attach log output
Report Issue on GitHub
📝 Commands
Access via Ctrl+Shift+P:
| Command |
Description |
WinCC OA: Open LogViewer |
Open log viewer panel and start monitoring |
Programmatic Access:
vscode.commands.executeCommand('winccoa-logviewer.open', optionalLogPath);
🛠️ Requirements
- VS Code: 1.107.1 or higher
- WinCC OA: 3.19+ with accessible log directory
- WinCC OA Control: Extension (optional, for automatic path detection)
📄 License
This project is licensed under the MIT License.
📜 Disclaimer
WinCC OA and Siemens are trademarks of Siemens AG. This project is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Siemens AG. This is a community-driven open source project.
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