Message Log
This panel is the ultimate destination for all messages posted by Maestro. Messages are displayed in a read-only multiline text window that occupies most of the panel's client area. The window buffers the last 1000 messages posted -- use the scroll bars to review the message history.
The screenshot to the right offers some examples of the kinds of messages Maestro generates. At startup, the program posts a number of messages that tell the user what hardware devices are available in the host PC. Currently, this is the only way to find out what hardware is installed on the system. During normal operation, a variety of status messages are written to indicate a change in operational state, the beginning of a trial sequence, and so on. During a staircase trial sequence, a message is posted after every trial that summarizes the results for that trial as well as the current state of the staircase sequencer. Messages from the hardware controller are generally prepended with the string "[CXDRIVER]". Any error messages are typically highlighted by the word "ERROR" or an exclamation point ("!").
Note the controls immediately above the message text window. If you wish to log application messages to a text file, simply check the Save log? check box. Type the log file's pathname into the nearby file path control, or click on the embedded browse button to select a directory and name for the log file. The filename must end with the extension .log. If the specified log file already exists when the Save log? check box is checked, Maestro will append all new messages to the end of the file. Upon unchecking the box, any messages that have not yet been logged are flushed to the log file, which is then closed. If it is unable to write to the file at any time, Maestro will stop logging messages, attempt to close the file, and report the error in the message text window.
Maestro remembers the most recently used log file directory in a per-user registry key. When the application starts up, the initial log file is set to $dir\maestro.log, where $dir is the log file directory retrieved from the registry. However, to start logging, you must check the Save log? checkbox, which is always unchecked inititally.
Most users hide the Message Log panel during an experiment to free more screen space for other components of the user interface. This can lead to confusion when the application does something unexpected -- such as failing to start a trial sequence. This usually means an error has occurred, and the user will not see the error if this panel is hidden from view. A future version of the program may automatically show the panel whenever a serious error message is posted; in the meantime, be sure to check the Message Log whenever anything strange happens!