# The ELOG Home Page   Home of the *Electronic Logbook* package by [Stefan Ritt](mailto:Stefan.Ritt@psi.ch) *Current version: 3.1.5* [PDF version](https://elog.psi.ch/elog/pdf/document.pdf) --- ## What is ELOG ?   **ELOG** is part of a family of applications known as **weblog*s* . Their general purpose is : 1. to make it easy for people to put information online in a chronological fashion, in the form of short, time-stamped text messages ("entries") with optional HTML markup for presentation, and optional file attachments (images, archives, etc.) 2. to make it easy for other people to access this information through a Web interface, browse entries, search, download files, and optionally add, update, delete or comment on entries. **ELOG** is a remarkable implementation of a *weblog* in at least two respects : - its simplicity of use : you don't need to be a seasoned server operator and/or an experimented database administrator to run **ELOG** ; one executable file (under Unix or Windows), a simple configuration text file, and it works. No Web server or relational database required. It is also easy to translate the interface to the appropriate language for your users. - its versatility : through its single configuration file, **ELOG** can be made to display an infinity of variants of the *weblog* concept. There are options for what to display, how to display it, what commands are available and to whom, access control, etc. Moreover, a single server can host several **weblog*s*, and each *weblog* can be totally different from the rest. ## Screen shots   thumb On the left upper panel is a typical logbook page displayed by Netscape Navigator. Each logbook page can contain attachments in a similar way to emails. This makes it possible to store images or text files and retrieve them easily. You could for example attach a sample configuration file which can later be copied to the local machine with the "*Save As\...*" function of the Web browser. Several logbooks can be served though a single **ELOG** server. Each logbook can use different attributes for its entries. The logbook can then be searched using these attributes. The right pane on the left image shows a search for all entries with attribute "*Type*" equal to "*Configuration*", and the lower pane shows the search result. It is also possible to use full-text search in attributes and the entry body. While logbook entries are usually displayed one entry per page, they can also be listed consecutively which makes it easy to produce a paper printout of a logbook. Logbook pages can be edited or deleted. This feature can be turned off in the configuration file so that a logbook entries cannot be changed after being submitted. An additional feature is the automatic generation of a notification email messages based on a certain type or category of a logbook entry. Also try out the **[online demo](http://elog.psi.ch/elogs/Linux%20Demo/)** ## Use cases   The features of **ELOG** make it useful for several applications: - **Personal Logbooks**. Personal notes can be written into **ELOG** and can then be retrieved from anywhere with a Web browser. This makes it handy for PC supporters who have to go around in companies or laboratories and don\'t want to carry their paper logbook with them. The same holds true for people traveling around a lot. The logbook database consists of plain ASCII files which can copied easily between different computers to have local access, for example on a notebook with no network connection. - **Shared Logbooks**. Logbooks can be shared by several people, for reading and optionally for writing. This way workgroups can share and exchange information like in a (simplified) news group. This is supported by the *Reply* command in **ELOG** which creates "*threads*" of entries. Users can be notified by email when new entries are added to the logbook. Compared to that of a news server, the installation of **ELOG** is much simpler. - **Small Databases**. Since arbitrary attributes can be defined for a logbook, it can be used as a small database with search facilities. - **Problem collections**. A system can consist of two logbooks, in one of which users enter bugs or problems. If someone adds a problem, an email is automatically sent to the administrator, who can then copy the entry to the second logbook and add the solution to the problem. Users can then look up all fixed problems. - **Shift Logbooks**. If the *Allow delete* and *Allow edit* flags are off, an entry cannot be modified once it\'s been entered. This can be useful for shift logbooks for example in accelerator control rooms where each entry becomes a "*document*" with a time and author stamp. **ELOG** was originally developed as a shift logbook for the [PiBeta](http://pibeta.psi.ch) and [Muegamma](http://meg.psi.ch) particle experiments at [PSI](http://www.psi.ch). - **File collections**. Since files can be attached to **ELOG** entries, the system can be used to store and retrieve files. This can be used to store configuration files, which need to be accessible by several people over the web, or to store images. Since **ELOG** features an elaborate query facility, entries can be searched for by specifying several categories. ## License   **ELOG** is released under the [GNU Public License](http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html) . ## Credits   The author would like to give credits to following people: - [Fred Pacquier](mailto:fredp@dial.oleane.com) for this Web site and the French translation - [Recai Oktas](mailto:roktas@omu.edu.tr) and [Roger Kalt](mailto:roger.kalt@psi.ch) for the Debian package - [djek](mailto:djek@xs4all.nl) for the Dutch translation - [Heiko Scheit](mailto:Heiko.Scheit@mpi-hd.mpg.de) for many bug fixes and fruitful discussions - [Julio Calvo](mailto:jhcalvo@arnet.com.ar) for the Spanish translation - [Emiliano 'AlberT' Gabrielli](mailto:AlberT@SuperAlberT.it) for his idea of scaling attached images - [Andreas Luedeke](mailto:andreas.luedeke@psi.ch) for continuing user support and deployment of ELOG at PSI ## Talks and presentations   Here are some talks and presentations given at various occasions: - Seminar at KIT, Karlsruhe, Jan. 2015. [Introduction talk](https://elog.psi.ch/elog/talks/2015_1_intro.pptx) by Stefan Ritt. - Seminar at KIT, Karlsruhe, Jan. 2015. [Application of ELOG](http://elog.psi.ch/elog/talks/2015_1_accel.pptx) for accelerator operation at PSI by [Andreas Luedeke](mailto:andreas.luedeke@psi.ch). --- *Content by [Stefan Ritt](https://www.psi.ch/en/ltp-muon-physics/people/stefan-ritt), Web pages by [Fred Pacquier](mailto:fredp@mygale.org)*