How to Enable Verbose Logging for the Thick Client in OnBase

Thick Client Verbose is a built-in tool to capture diagnostics in the OnBase Client and configuration. You are going to use this whenever you are troubleshooting issues related to OnBase client or OnBase configuration.

There are a couple of ways to enable verbose logging in OnBase. This blog and the video below will explore each of them, from why they’re useful to how to make it happen.

How to Enable Verbose Logging for the Thick Client

How to Enable Verbose Logging for the Thick Client in OnBase

Method 1: For Non-Login Issues in the OnBase Client

Let’s get started with the first way, which is for non-login issues in the OnBase client.

1. First, after logging in to your OnBase client, navigate to the help menu and then to the “About OnBase Client.”

2. Next, you’ll see a dialog window. Click on the verbose radio button. Then, a password verification dialogue window will pop up, and you’ll enter the password. When this opens up the verbose logging options, this is where you will choose to activate Verbose. By default, it’ll be inactive.

3. Then, click “Active.” All SQL will be checked by default. And you usually won’t have to capture anything about logs. This will be the location where the file, the text file, will be written that will contain the logging information. And this truncate file button is very important when using Verbose login as it will clear out whatever the verbose.txt file has. This is important because verbose will append to any existing Verbose file. For example, if a Verbose logging session was previously active and there is a previous session logging information in the text file, if you do not truncate the file, then the session’s information will be added to the end of the previous logging information. And this makes it hard to understand if there’s a difference or where the difference is between the two.

4. If you’d like to save the Verbose dot text information from the last session, you should consider backing up that information by cutting or copying it to another location.

5. To truncate, it’ll ask you if you want a yes or no. You’ll want to click yes, and then you will click save. Once you click save, verbose logging is now active. To view the text file that was just created, a shortcut is to go to percent > temp > percent, and this is the default location of the text file. It will be stored under one verbose.txt, and this will pop up in a separate window. In the text file we explored in the example video, it showed the SQL statements that are issued and executed by the client.

6. Note that in the video, we also saw that it showed that each statement is executed twice, which isn’t accurate. We also saw that right before the first statement, there was a preparing followed by a timestamp. This meant that the client was actively preparing to issue the following statement to the database. At the end of that statement, there will be a time stamp. These time stamps should be similar because the client will be able to prepare the statement in the same millisecond. It will then provide a DB connection followed by an ID number. This is when the actual statement is issued to the database. Typically, the time stamp at the end of this block is where you want to look if you’re troubleshooting performance issues because that time stamp is how long it takes the database to send this information back after the statement has been issued.

Tips for Effective Verbose Logging in OnBase

Replicate the Issue: Before enabling Verbose Logging, stage the issue you’re troubleshooting. For example, if you’re dealing with retrieval issues, have the hit list ready before enabling Verbose Logging. Then, turn verbose off. This helps limit information to the specific problem at hand so  you don’t have too much cluttered up in the text file.

Truncate the File: Always truncate the file to avoid cluttering the text file with information from previous sessions. This keeps the file clear of excess information to be focused solely on the issue you’re trying to solve.

Turn Off Verbose Logging: Navigate back to the OnBase Client, set Verbose Logging to “Inactive,” and click “Save.”

Method 2: For Login Issues in the OnBase Client

The second method will come in handy for any login issues you may encounter in the OnBase client. You will need to provide command line arguments for the executable by entering these commands at the end of the target path.

1. To get there, right-click the client, go to “properties”, and make sure you’re under the shortcut tab. Then, you’ll want to enter these command lines at the end of the target path. You can then add a few command line switches at the end of the target path. This will tell the client or configuration to start logging Verbose right away.

2. The option you will need within the command line to activate Verbose logging is “V”. This tells the executable to enable verbose and will start capturing information right away.

3. SQL will capture SQL statements. For an example, dash > V > space > SQL will allow the Verbose to start capturing all SQL statements and nothing else. The “T” enables time stamps. This is important when facing performance issues if you want to understand how long certain SQL statements will take.

4. Know that other command line switches have a more advanced logging experience. This could include “DC only”, which will log this information to the Diagnostics Console. This is typically used if the output for Diagnostics Console is more desired than just a text file, which is what Verbose provides by default. Another command line switch is SQL > space > double quote > phrase. In this example, we are seeking a specific database table called HSI item data, which is written out as seen here in the video. SQL > space > double quote > HIS > dot > item data > double quote, which will filter SQL logs to be specific to this. And no other SQL statements will be captured.

This is what is provided with Verbose. It will simply write out the text report as shown earlier, and it’ll be in the location that was shown previously in the Verbose logging options dialog window.

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