R2R ELOG Electronic Logbook Help

The R2R Event Logger uses the ELOG application ( https://midas.psi.ch/elog/ ). The Electronic Logbook (ELOG) can be used to store and retrieve messages through a Web interface. Depending on the configuration, the ELOG system can host one or more logbooks which are stored in separate sections on the server.

A custom configuration designed specifically for your cruise has been created.

Quick overview

Per default, a page containing the the last entries from a logbook is displayed. By clicking on an entry, its complete contents is displayed. One can use the browser buttons to display the first, previous, next and last message.

The New button creates a new entry. After clicking on New select

  • Instrument (sampling device)
  • Action (Start, End or Other)
  • Author (person entering this event information)
  • Enter the appropriate Transect, Station and Cast number (just the integer)
  • Adjust the local time if necessary. (if local time is being recorded)
  • Enter the depth of the seafloor if that needs to be entered manually.
  • Add an optional comment. Please be as brief as possible.
To Duplicate an event, select the event you wish to duplicate, e.g. the Start of the current event that is about to end. Select Duplicate change information as needed, perhaps only changing the Action to End and Submit.

With the Edit button one can edit an existing message. One or two people on the cruise will be authorized to edit the event log. Select the event to Edit, modify it and then click Submit. Use the comment if necessary to document the change.

The Reply button creates a reply to an existing message, similar like a reply to an email.

The Find button opens a query page, where messages from a logbook can be displayed based on filter rules. Each non-empty field works like an additional filter, which is and-ed with the other rules. If no filter is selected, all messages from a logbook are displayed.

If you want to see the full list of events while you are entering a new event, simply open another browser window and List All events in one browser window, and enter the new event in the second window. It is easy to subset the list of events by using the quick filters in the upper right of the window.

More Information

Editing the Config file from the GUI.
  • To Change the timezone:click Config; find this line:
    Execute new = $shell(echo \"timezone =-4\" > /shipdata/oc473/r2r/eventlog/elog/scripts/timezone &)
change the -4 to the new timezone. 
Click Save, then enter a New Event
Instrument = Ship
Action = changeTimezone 
Select Author name from list, enter optional comment.
Submit
This will update the timezone for the next entry.
  • To unlock locked Attributes 
    Find line: Locked Attributes = Revisions, Cruise, Event, R2R_Event, dateTimeUTC, GPS_Time, Latitude,  Longitude, Seafloor
place a # infront of the line:
# Locked Attributes = Revisions, Cruise, Event, R2R_Event, dateTimeUTC, GPS_Time, Latitude,  Longitude, Seafloor
Click Save, then edit the Attribute
Submit
Click Config again and remove # 
Click Save
At the End of the Cruise

After the last event has been entered if someone in the cruise science party could take the following steps
  • Use a browser to go the the R2R Eventlogger installed on your shipboard LAN and make sure that an end of cruise event has been entered (Instrument = Ship, Action = cruiseEnd)
  • Click on Find
  • Choose Export to: by selecting CSV ("," separated), "comma-separated", (this format option is OK even if commas were used in the comment field or any other event log fields, as the Export function properly preserves Text strings within double quotes if necessary).
  • Click the Search button to generate the exported event log
  • Save to a local computer. (It will automatically be saved as "export.csv".) Save the file to Places -> Download (/home/science/Download) if physically on the R2R netbook.
  • Change the name of the file to reflect the official cruise id and date (eg. R2R_ELOG_CRUISE_ID_20111012.csv), substituting your actual Cruise ID string for the 'CRUISE_ID'
  • Ask the shipboard technician to please place the .csv event log file in a directory on the shipboard data distribution (eg. /r2r/eventlog/elog/R2R_ELOG_CRUISE_ID_20111012.csv), once again substituting your actual Cruise ID string for the 'CRUISE_ID'
More Information

For more information or if you have questions about the Current Cruise ELOG send email to: elog@rvdata.us