Windows Monitoring Log

The Windows Monitoring Log Control Center tool has two main purposes:

  • it allows you checking the correctness of your configuration (mainly, specified Target Window options) by displaying which window rule has been applied to a certain window

  • it retrieves the values of internal window properties and so provides the required information to create window rules for such short-living windows as popup menus, tool tips, splash screens, etc.

Once enabled, the Windows Monitoring Log tool starts to track window events relevant to Actual Tools program functioning. Currently there are three main event types:

  • new window - happens when a window has been just opened anew

  • caption string change - happens when a window due to some reasons has changed the caption string displayed in its title bar

  • virtual desktop activation - happens when some window is activated on the currently inactive virtual desktop so that this desktop becomes active to display that window

When any of these events happens, the Log tool writes a new record into the log file; each such record has the following properties:

Date/Time - event timestamp allowing to identify the certain event
Event - event type (either the New window, Caption changed or VD activated value)
Rule/Exclusion Name - the name of window rule (either default or specific) that has been found and applied to a window when the event happens, or the name of exclusion that forces Actual Tools program to leave a window untouched
Window Class,
Window Title,
Program
- actual values of window properties required to fill the Target Window options of the same name
Handle,
Styles,
Extended Styles
- actual values of internal system window properties, used mostly for debugging purposes

The log file itself is named EventLog.ini and is stored in your user profile, by default in a folder like:

  • on Windows XP/2003 - "C:\Documents and Settings\<your account name>\Application Data\Actual Tools\Actual Window Manager"

  • since Windows Vista - "C:\Users\<your account name>\AppData\Roaming\Actual Tools\Actual Window Manager"

You can also view the log contents in the Log window that can be displayed via the Show log window menu command of Control Center's context menu.