How to analyse data from logs sent to Outlook

This is one way of analysing data received in notification emails. Basically using One Note to combine many emails togther then manipulating the result via Cgywin and loading it into a database.

Highlight all applicable emails in Outlook. Right click, Send to One Note. In One Note they will appear in the ‘Unfiled Notes’ tab. Edit this to only include items of interest. Right click Save as Word document to save all the entries. Open the resulting document in Word and save as MS-Dos text.

Trim to the text of interest using Cgywin. Cut to the columns required.

$ cat BIS_2.txt | cut -c26-70 > a.txt

Filter on a string i.e. install then gssc

$ cat a.txt | sed -n '/install/p' > b.txt $ cat b.txt | sed -n '/gssc/p' > c.txt

Remove duplicates

$ sort –u c.txt > d.txt

For a word count: Paste into Wordle. Menu: Language - Show word Counts. The UNIX wc command does not show numbers of word occurrences.

Amend the output so that we can load it into a table. Add text at the start and end of each line.

sed 's+^+Insert Into Analysis (Build, Env) Values (+' e.txt > f.txt sed ‘s/$/end_text/’ f.txt > g.txt

Do other text substitution in Wordpad.

In a database create a simple table.

Create Table Analysis ( Build Varchar2(30), Env Varchar2(20));

Execute the loading table

@c:\g.sql

Analyse the data

Select Distinct Build, Env From analysis Where Build Not In (Select Build From Bis Where Env In( 'EBSGLD5','EBSPRD1')) order by 1;

Book: Pragmatic thinking and learning

This book is great. It's full of techniques to help improve the way you think and work. The most useful and interesting book I have read for a couple of years. Well written and insightful. Google ‘edwin thinking and learning’ to read it for free off an Ukrainian Server – but then go an buy it.

Some key ideas from the book, and some of my own

• Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.
• Less is more – use one laptop/use one OS and know how to do everything – use one editor and know it inside out
• Keep and archive everything as you go along - old work, methodologies, backups of old laptops, I regret loosing things in didn’t realise at the time were valuable – keep everything
• I maintain a single slim folder with perhaps 20 sheets in it – to keep all the documents I want quickly at my immediate finger tips. I include - the department org chart so I know who everyone is – it does just squeeze on to one folded A3 sheet – My objectives, a page of codes and reference numbers I need to know, skills matrix and charts – so I know who to go to find stuff out. System diagrams – to remind myself, and a couple of other specific pages to my role.
• When you send email take 20 seconds to give it a proper title. If the subject changes then amend that title to make it easier to reference in the future, I find it best to add a couple of words at the end
• When you write anything up – start with a template with title, date, location and if necessary chapters – then when you look for it in future it will be more valuable and easier to find. If you later need to share it your work will look more professional
• Use Outlook for note taking (despite attractions of Evernote, MS OneNote etc). All my notes and reminders to self are in Outlook, the key advantage - its always at my finger tips at work – or I can get at it via webmail. Use the coloured categorisations to help group things.

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