bbdrop

Log Level Diagnosis - Quick Reference

The Problem

“I see INFO in the GUI log widget, but not ERROR, WARNING, DEBUG, etc.”

Quick Diagnosis (30 seconds)

# Run the diagnostic tool
python3 scripts/diagnose_log_filtering.py

# Inject test messages
python3 scripts/inject_test_messages.py

# Check the GUI log widget

What to Look For

If test messages appear:

• Conclusion: System works! Your app isn’t logging errors yet.
• Solution: Add error logging to your code:

  log("Error occurred", level="error")
  

If test messages don’t appear:

Check diagnostic output for these issues:

Issue 1: Wrong GUI Level

GUI Log Level: ERROR  <- WRONG! Should be INFO

Fix: Edit config file:

[LOGGING]
level_gui = INFO

Issue 2: Disabled Categories

general [cats_gui_general] = DISABLED  <- WRONG!

Fix: Edit config file:

[LOGGING]
cats_gui_general = true

Issue 3: Filter Test Fails

ERROR in general (level=40): BLOCKED  <- WRONG!

Fix: There’s a bug. Report this output.

Understanding the GUI Display

Important: The GUI strips level prefixes before display!

This means:

• Message sent: "12:34:56 ERROR: Upload failed"
• GUI shows: "12:34:56 Upload failed" <- No “ERROR:” visible!

How to tell what level a message is:

1. Enable level prefixes: show_log_level_gui = true in config
2. Check the log file (always has prefixes)
3. Open the log viewer dialog (shows full messages)

Common Mistakes

Mistake 1: Not using level parameter

# Wrong (defaults to INFO)
log("Upload failed")

# Correct (explicit ERROR level)
log("Upload failed", level="error")

Mistake 2: Expecting to see “ERROR:” prefix

The GUI strips these prefixes! Enable show_log_level_gui if you want them.

Mistake 3: Thinking messages are blocked

They’re probably showing, just without obvious visual indicators.

Filter Logic (Technical)

Messages pass the filter when:

log_level >= gui_level

With default gui_level = INFO (20):

• DEBUG (10) < 20 -> BLOCKED
• INFO (20) >= 20 -> SHOWN
• WARNING (30) >= 20 -> SHOWN
• ERROR (40) >= 20 -> SHOWN
• CRITICAL (50) >= 20 -> SHOWN

Conclusion: If INFO shows, ERROR/WARNING MUST show too (unless categories are disabled).

Files to Check

1. Config file: ~/.bbdrop/bbdrop.ini
   • Section: [LOGGING]
   • Key settings: level_gui, cats_gui_*
2. Log file: ~/.bbdrop/logs/bbdrop.log
   • Shows ALL messages with full prefixes
   • Useful for comparison with GUI
3. Source code: Search for log calls

   grep -rn 'level="error"' src/
   

Quick Fixes

Enable All Categories

[LOGGING]
cats_gui_general = true
cats_gui_network = true
cats_gui_uploads = true
cats_gui_auth = true
cats_gui_ui = true
cats_gui_queue = true
cats_gui_renaming = true
cats_gui_fileio = true
cats_gui_hooks = true

Show Level Prefixes in GUI

[LOGGING]
show_log_level_gui = true
show_category_gui = true

Set GUI Level to Show Everything

[LOGGING]
level_gui = DEBUG

Test Commands

# 1. Full diagnostic (shows config and tests)
python3 scripts/diagnose_log_filtering.py

# 2. Send test messages (verifies GUI receives them)
python3 scripts/inject_test_messages.py

# 3. Simple level tests
python3 scripts/test_log_levels.py

# 4. Find ERROR log calls in code
grep -rn 'level="error"' src/

# 5. Check config file
cat ~/.bbdrop/bbdrop.ini | grep -A 20 "\[LOGGING\]"

# 6. Check log file (last 50 lines)
tail -50 ~/.bbdrop/logs/bbdrop.log

Most Likely Answer

90% chance: Your application isn’t logging ERROR or WARNING messages yet. The logging system works fine, but there are no errors to log.

8% chance: Category filters are blocking the messages.

2% chance: There’s an actual bug in the filtering logic.

Run the diagnostic to know for sure!

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