Logging and Analysis Features

Microsoft Speech Server (MSS) includes a complete logging subsystem for detailed application and system performance analysis. Microsoft Speech Application SDK (SASDK) developers can use the logging system to raise application–specific events to the logs, and to view real-time events in a debugging console.

It is not necessary to install MSS in order to take advantage of logging features. Given an Event Trace Log (.etl) file—for example, one provided by the MSS administrator—developers can use the text-based tools provided with the SASDK to analyze the contents of the file. However, viewing real-time events in a debugging console can only be done in the context of a fully deployed MSS environment.

Note  For more information about MSS, see The Speech Application SDK and the Speech Application Platform.

The following topics provide more information about the logging and analysis features included with MSS and the SASDK.

SASDK Log File Extraction Utilities

Installing the SASDK also installs several utilities for extracting .etl file data into a format that can be more easily viewed and analyzed. These utilities are useful for providing a server state snapshot when first getting up and running, or for single log file examination. They may also be used for operations such as extracting audio to a set of .wav files.

Documentation for these utilities—MSSLogToText, MSSUsageReport, and MSSContentExtract—is included in the documentation for the Speech Application Log Analysis Tools (see next).

Speech Application Log Analysis Tools

More robust log analysis is provided with the Microsoft Speech Application Log Analysis Tools. These tools use Microsoft SQL Server to import log file data, providing the ability to obtain specific and detailed results based on SQL queries. To install these tools, run the Setup.exe located in the Redistributable Installers\Microsoft Log Analysis Tools for Speech Applications directory of the SASDK Version 1.1 installation CD.

Logging Application Events

The MSS logging schema defines events that can be raised from SALT applications through application script. Developers can instrument their applications to define and track application tasks, to raise debug messages in a preproduction environment, and to send relevant event information to the system administrator in the production environment. For more information, refer to the topic Raising Events from Application Script.

Controlling Log Output

MSS provides a script, MSSLogConfig.vbs, that can customize the events being captured in a given logging session. This script should be used to prepare the input file for the Speech Application Log Analysis Tools.

MSSLogConfig can also be used to direct events, as they are logged, to a debugging console. For more information about this script, refer to the topic "Configuring Event Logging" in the Speech Application Log Analysis Tools documentation.