Patent ID: 8024297

Claim:
A computer-implemented logging system having a processor, comprising: means for creating a data view including a plurality of visual data lines; a record file including a plurality of log records; an index file including a plurality of entries, wherein each entry corresponds to a respective visual data line in the data view and has a first field and a second field, the first field storing an offset corresponding to a location of a respective log record within the record file and the second field storing an offset corresponding to a location of a portion of data within the respective log record to be reconstructed in the respective visual data line in the data view; means for appending new log records to the record file and updating the index file; means for locating a log record corresponding to a respective visual data line according to the first field of a corresponding entry in the index file; means for retrieving a portion of the data from the corresponding log record according to the second field of the corresponding entry in the index file; means for interpreting the retrieved data; and means for reconstructing the respective visual data line to be displayed on a log viewing facility using the interpreted data in such a way that the interpreted data is shown continuously side by side on the data view, where the interpreted data for each of the log records occupies zero or at least one of the visual data lines; wherein each log record is of one of a plurality of record types and each log record includes a header indicating the record type associated with the corresponding log record; the data logging system further comprising a plurality of data controllers, each data controller corresponding to a respective record type; and wherein each of the means for appending new log records and the means for interpreting the retrieved data comprises means for selecting a data controller from the plurality of data controllers according to the record type of the corresponding log record.