Session Console

Purpose, audience, prerequisites, and expected result

The Session Console is AfterNight's read-only, in-app view of messages emitted during the current application session. Use it to correlate a failed file open, process warning, or diagnostic event with its timestamp and severity, narrow the visible backlog, search it, and export the current view for support.

After completing the procedure below, you will have a filtered and searchable console view and, when requested, a plain-text .txt export. You do not need an open image, a network connection, an external tool, or a writable log directory to inspect messages already retained in memory.

The Session Console keeps severity filtering and file-log state visible above the session message stream. Paths shown here belong to the approved documentation capture PC.

Reachability and availability

Item	Current behavior
Path	View > Session Console. This checkable action opens or closes the bottom dock.
Enabled/visible when	Available from the Dashboard and dock workspace; it does not require an active image. Opening it from the Dashboard selects the dock workspace.
Supported inputs/state	Messages emitted after the session-console bridge is initialized, from the main thread or workers, at Trace, Debug, Info, Warn, Error, or Fatal severity.
Outputs/side effects	A read-only dock; optional persistent appearance settings; an optional plain-text export of exactly the visible message pane; clearing can discard the in-memory session backlog. No image, metadata, mask, sequence, or Image History state changes.
Persistence	Appearance, wrap mode, ANSI rendering, and maximum visible lines are log/* keys in AfterNight's own interface settings file (an INI file under the application's local data, never the native registry). The ANSI Colors toggle and the settings dialog's Apply/OK save them, and every console close saves all of them again: the wrap mode is therefore saved when the console closes, and the theme colors in force at the first close are stored as explicit values. The severity threshold, search state, zoom offset, console contents, dock visibility, and layout are session/runtime state. The export folder is remembered by the application folder tracker.
External dependencies	None for viewing. Export requires a writable destination. Rotating file logs have separate directory, level, size, and count settings.

Before you start

• Reproduce the operation first when you need its messages. The console bridge retains only the most recent 10,000 entries in memory and does not recover messages emitted before the bridge existed.
• Do not use Clear Session until you have exported anything needed for a support report. Clear removes the bridge backlog, not merely the filtered pane, and has no undo.
• Inspect exported text before sharing it. Messages can contain local paths, filenames, tool output, catalog details, or other environment information.
• The console filter is independent of Settings > Logging > Minimum Level. That setting controls the rotating file sink; the console's Show >= value controls only this view.

Procedure

1. Choose View > Session Console. From the Dashboard, confirm that the dock workspace appears and the Session Console dock opens at the bottom.
2. Read the File log: level indicator as context, then choose the least severe entry to show in Show >=. The default info view includes Info, Warn, Error, and Fatal entries.
3. If new output is moving the pane, scroll upward. New retained entries keep arriving, but the pane stops following them until you return within four scrollbar units of the bottom.
4. Select Search... or press Ctrl+F. Enter a term, choose any search options, and select Find next or press Enter. A successful match becomes the text selection; a failed search reports No occurrences found.
5. Select Export visible session text or press Ctrl+S. Choose a path and confirm that the saved .txt contains the current severity-filtered, visible-line-limited plain text. Hidden session entries and rotating file-log contents are not added.
6. Use Reload session lines to rebuild the pane from the retained bridge backlog. This clears the current search cursor and selection and returns the view to the bottom; it does not reread log files. Zoom In, Zoom Out, Zoom 100%, a Show >= change, the ANSI Colors toggle, and settings Apply/OK rebuild the pane the same way.
7. Close the dock with View > Session Console or its dock close control. If no image view remains, AfterNight returns to the Dashboard. Reopening the console during the same application session rebuilds it from the retained bridge backlog unless that backlog was cleared.

Complete control and action reference

UI label/action	Type and unit	Default	Valid values/constraints	Effect	Enabled, hidden, or ignored rules	Trade-off or side effect	Scope	Persistence
View > Session Console	Checkable menu action	Unchecked at startup	Checked or unchecked	Creates/shows or closes the Session Console dock; opening from Dashboard selects the dock workspace	Always available; independent of active image	The dock consumes workspace area and can keep the workspace open after the last image closes	Application window	Visibility/layout not restored
Dock close control	Dock action	Open after menu action	Close current dock	Destroys the console control and unchecks the menu action	Available while the dock exists	Returns to Dashboard when no image view remains	Current console instance	Session only
Zoom In	Toolbar action; font point increment	Stored base size	Adds 1 point per click; no explicit toolbar bound	Enlarges current console text	Message pane initialized	Very large text shows fewer characters/lines	Current console instance	Zoom offset not saved
Zoom Out	Toolbar action; font point decrement	Stored base size	Subtracts 1 point per click; no explicit toolbar bound	Shrinks current console text	Message pane initialized	Repeated use can make text impractically small	Current console instance	Zoom offset not saved
Zoom 100%	Toolbar action	Stored base size	Action	Restores the current text size to Default font Size	Message pane initialized	Does not reset font family/style/colors	Current console instance	Base size remains persisted
Enable word wrap / Disable word wrap	Dynamic toolbar action	Enabled on first run	Widget-width wrap or no wrap	Toggles long-line wrapping and changes its icon/tooltip	Message pane initialized	No-wrap adds horizontal scrolling; new auto-scrolled output keeps the horizontal position at the left edge	Visible pane	log/line_wrap, saved when the console closes or settings are next saved
Clear Session	Toolbar action	—	Action	Clears the session-console bridge backlog and visible pane; resets the search cursor	Bridge clear is used when available	Destructive for the in-memory backlog; does not clear rotating files or the platform logger's separate in-memory ring buffer	Current application session	Not recoverable through reload
Reload session lines	Toolbar action	—	Action	Rebuilds the pane from retained entries using current threshold, ANSI mode, font, and visible-line cap	Bridge must exist to repopulate	Clears selection/search cursor and scrolls to bottom; does not reread disk logs	Retained session backlog	No saved action state
ANSI Colors	Checkable toolbar action	On first run	On or off	Both modes remove ANSI control sequences; on additionally renders supported SGR bold/faint/italic/underline/inverse plus standard, bright, 256-color, and RGB foreground/background styles	Applies only when entries contain ANSI escape sequences	ANSI colors can reduce contrast; per-severity coloring still applies to the level word	Visible pane and future reloads	log/render_ansi_colors across launches; saved immediately
Settings	Toolbar action	Enabled	One settings dialog at a time	Opens Log viewer settings	Disabled until that dialog closes	Dialog changes affect presentation and visible retention, not file logging	Console appearance	Dialog action state is session only
Show >=	Severity selector	info each console initialization	error, warn, info, debug, trace	Shows entries whose severity is at least the selected threshold; error also includes Fatal	Rebuilds from retained bridge entries	Lower thresholds render more text; the choice does not change collection or disk logging	Visible pane	Not saved
File log: level	Read-only toolbar indicator	Loaded from logging.conf, fallback info	Current configured file-sink level, including off	Reports the separate rotating file-log threshold	Refreshed on initialize, reload, tab activation, and focus	It is status only; a changed setting may not appear until one of those refresh paths	File logging context	Source value persists in logging.conf
Search...	Toolbar action; Ctrl+F	Enabled	One search dialog at a time	Opens Search log	Disabled until the search dialog closes	Search operates only on rendered visible text	Visible pane	Dialog/search state not saved
Export visible session text	Toolbar action; Ctrl+S	Suggested session_console.txt	Text files; .txt appended when absent; cancel allowed	Writes toPlainText() from the current pane	Requires writable selected file	Excludes threshold-hidden and trimmed entries; formatting/ANSI colors are not encoded; overwrite behavior belongs to the platform dialog	Visible pane	Last folder remembered under __SESSION_CONSOLE_FOLDER__, stored before the file is opened, so it is kept even when the write fails
Message pane	Read-only selectable text	Empty until retained entries are loaded	Up to configured visible document blocks; multiline entries can consume multiple blocks	Displays YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss.mmm - level - message, colors the severity word, supports selection/copy and scrolling	Only entries meeting Show >= are inserted	Default cap is 1,000 visible blocks; the bridge itself retains at most 10,000 entries	Current rendered view	Text not saved automatically
Find	Search text field	Empty	Any text; regex syntax when enabled	Supplies the search expression	Find next disabled while empty	Invalid regular expressions are reported only as no match	Visible pane	Not saved
Case sensitive	Search checkbox	Off	On or off	Requires matching capitalization	Applies to literal and regular-expression searches	Can hide otherwise equivalent text	Current search dialog	Not saved
Match whole word	Search checkbox	Off	On or off	Adds whole-word matching	Disabled while Regular expression is checked	Enabling regex does not clear an already checked value, so the current implementation can still pass the whole-word flag	Current search dialog	Not saved
Regular expression	Search checkbox	Off	Qt regular-expression syntax with the extended-pattern option: unescaped whitespace is ignored and # starts a comment, so foo bar matches foobar	Interprets Find as a pattern	Disables the Match whole word control	No separate invalid-pattern diagnostic	Current search dialog	Not saved
Backward	Search checkbox	Off	On or off	Searches toward the start from the current cursor	Applies to literal and regex searches	The wrap fallback searches backward from document position 0 and finds nothing, so a backward search never wraps to the bottom	Current search dialog	Not saved
Find next	Search button; Enter	Disabled	Enabled when Find is nonempty	Selects the next match; forward search wraps to the start after no later match	Search dialog open and query nonempty	Failed match moves the console cursor to the end after notifying	Visible pane	Cursor resets when dialog closes, Clear, reload, or session clear occurs
Clear	Search button	Enabled	Action	Resets the search cursor and moves the console cursor to the end	Search dialog open	Does not erase the query or console entries	Current search	Not saved
Close	Search button	Enabled	Action	Closes Search log and re-enables Search...	Search dialog open	Resets the search cursor on destruction	Current search dialog	Not saved
Font color + Select color	Read-only color value and picker; each picker starts from the console's applied color, not a pending value	Current theme text token	Any color accepted by the color dialog	Changes ordinary console text color in the settings preview	Applied to console only by Apply or OK	Poor contrast can make messages unreadable	Console appearance	log/font_color after apply
Background color + Select color	Read-only color value and picker	Current theme code-background token	Any color accepted by the color dialog	Changes pane background in preview	Applied by Apply or OK	Affects ANSI faint/inverse blending and contrast	Console appearance	log/background_color after apply
Font Highlight + Select color	Read-only color value and picker	Current theme text-on-accent token	Any color accepted by the color dialog	Changes selected-text foreground	Applied by Apply or OK	Poor contrast can obscure search selections	Console selection	log/font_highlight_color after apply
Background Highlight + Select color	Read-only color value and picker	Current theme highlight-background token	Any color accepted by the color dialog	Changes selection background	Applied by Apply or OK	Poor contrast can obscure selected matches	Console selection	log/background_highlight_color after apply
Default font Size	Integer spin box, points	12 pt	4–30 pt	Sets the saved base size and current console size	Preview updates immediately; console updates on Apply/OK	Larger text increases wrapping and reduces visible context	Console appearance	log/font_size after apply
Max lines	Integer spin box, document blocks	1,000 loaded setting; builder fallback 10,000 is replaced by current console value	50–50,000	Caps rendered document blocks and reloads the pane after apply	Effective source backlog is at most 10,000 entries; multiline entries can use multiple blocks	Raising it increases rendering/memory cost but cannot restore entries already evicted from the bridge	Visible pane	log/max_lines after apply
Font	Font-family selector	System fixed-width font	Installed font families	Changes sample and console family	Console updates on Apply/OK	Proportional fonts can make aligned diagnostic text harder to scan	Console appearance	log/font_family after apply
Bold	Settings checkbox	Off	On or off	Makes base console font bold	Preview immediate; console on Apply/OK	ANSI bold may be indistinguishable when the base is already bold	Console appearance	log/font_bold after apply
Italic	Settings checkbox	Off	On or off	Makes base console font italic	Preview immediate; console on Apply/OK	ANSI italic may be indistinguishable when the base is already italic	Console appearance	log/font_italic after apply
Settings sample pane	Read-only preview	Six generated sample lines; two selected	Display only	Previews font, colors, severity colors, and selection	Updates while settings fields change	It is synthetic and is not the current session log	Settings dialog	Not persisted
Apply	Settings dialog action	—	Action	Applies all fields, rebuilds the console once, and saves settings without closing	Settings dialog open	A lower line cap can immediately remove rendered older blocks; retained bridge entries remain available until bridge eviction/clear	Console appearance/view	Persists settings
OK	Settings dialog action	—	Action	Applies and saves, then closes	Settings dialog open	Same side effects as Apply	Console appearance/view	Persists settings
Reset	Settings dialog action	—	Action	Restores current-theme colors, fixed-width font, 12 pt, 1,000 lines, Bold/Italic off in the dialog preview	Requires Apply or OK to affect console	Does not reset wrap, ANSI mode, filter, zoom, contents, or file logging	Pending settings fields	Not persisted until apply
Cancel	Settings dialog action	—	Action	Closes without applying pending fields	Settings dialog open	Previously applied changes remain	Current dialog	No new persistence

Behavior and state model

The platform logger initializes three separate sinks: rotating files, an in-memory ring buffer of 10,000 records, and a replaceable session-console sink. The GUI then initializes a SessionConsoleBridge with a 10,000-entry maximum and attaches its sink. Every message, from a worker or the main thread, is formatted without process/thread columns and queued onto the GUI thread. Focused tests establish that queued worker and main-thread entries keep their arrival order, that the oldest entry is evicted at capacity, and that clearing drops the bridge backlog.

The main logger remains open to Trace so individual sinks can filter independently. The console bridge therefore receives all severities; Show >= filters only while entries are inserted into the pane. Changing the selector or reloading rebuilds the pane from the bridge backlog. The separate file sink uses Settings > Logging and the indicator reports that configured level.

The visible cap is enforced by removing blocks from the start of the document. It counts document blocks rather than bridge entries, so an entry containing embedded newlines can consume more than one visible line. A configured cap above 10,000 cannot increase the bridge's fixed entry backlog.

ANSI parsing always removes recognized CSI control sequences from the displayed and exported text. When ANSI Colors is on, supported SGR attributes and colors become theme-aware rich-text formatting; when off, the same message is plain text. The severity token is then colored separately. Fatal messages use the visible level name fatal and pass the error threshold.

Auto-scroll is stateful: it follows appended visible entries only while the scrollbar is at, or within four units of, its maximum. Scrolling upward pauses following. Reload always rebuilds and moves to the bottom. In no-wrap mode, automatic movement also returns the horizontal scrollbar to the left.

Inputs, outputs, and metadata

• Input is formatted runtime text plus severity. The console does not parse or change images, metadata, masks, sequences, process parameters, or history.
• A session entry is formatted as timestamp, severity, and message. Rotating file lines additionally include process and thread fields and are not the same text representation.
• Export writes the current pane as plain text. It does not write hidden severities, entries trimmed by Max lines, bridge entries evicted past 10,000, file-log-only history, colors, font styling, or search state.
• A missing .txt suffix is added. Cancel creates no file. A write-open failure shows File Error: Unable to open file for writing.
• Clearing the console does not delete or truncate AfterNight.log and its rotated files. Conversely, changing file-log retention does not change the current in-memory bridge capacity.

Performance and responsiveness

Appending a visible entry updates the document on the GUI thread and trims from its beginning when over the line cap. Lowering Show >= or increasing Max lines can make reload, ANSI parsing, document layout, search, and memory use more expensive. Use Info or Warn during ordinary diagnosis, keep the default 1,000 visible blocks unless older context is necessary, and export before clearing. Worker threads do not write widgets directly; their messages use a queued bridge callback.

Worked example

• Evidence mode: Source-and-test-derived.
• Starting state, actions, settings, checkpoints, result, and limitations: Open View > Session Console after reproducing a warning. Leave Show >= at info and confirm the warning is present. Scroll upward and confirm the view stays in place while later messages are retained. Search a unique word, then export to session_console.txt; the selected file contains the current visible plain text. Raise the threshold to error and observe that Info and Warn lines disappear from the pane; select Reload session lines after returning to info to rebuild them from the retained backlog. This example proves source/test-defined state transitions only; it does not claim a production log volume, disk-permission result, timing, or platform rendering.

Warnings and limitations

• Clear Session is immediate, session-wide, and not undoable. It does not preserve threshold-hidden entries for later reload.
• The console is not a complete forensic log. Capacity eviction, visible-line trimming, bridge initialization time, and clearing can all omit messages.
• The filter has no Fatal item; Fatal is included by the error threshold.
• Search covers only currently rendered text. Forward search wraps; backward search never wraps from the top to the bottom.
• Enabling regular-expression mode disables but does not clear a selected whole-word option, and an invalid pattern has no dedicated syntax message.
• Toolbar zoom has no explicit bound and is not saved. Use Zoom 100% after an impractical zoom level.
• Appearance overrides are saved color values, and closing the console once stores the current theme's colors as such values, so a later theme switch keeps them. Reset followed by Apply is the supported way to resolve them to current-theme defaults again.
• Exported text can disclose private local context. Review it before sharing.

Troubleshooting

Symptom or exact error	Verified cause/enablement path	Recovery	Evidence source
Session Console opened but older expected messages are absent	Message preceded bridge initialization, was evicted beyond 10,000 entries, was cleared, is below the selected threshold, or was trimmed from the visible pane	Lower Show >=, raise Max lines if appropriate, and reload. If still absent, inspect rotating file logs when their separate level retained the event	main.cpp; SessionConsoleBridge.cpp; LogViewerControl.cpp
Info or Warn lines disappear after selecting error	The selector is an inclusive minimum-severity threshold	Select warn, info, debug, or trace, then allow the automatic reload	LogViewerControl::currentMinimumLevel; appendSessionEntry
Session Console still shows messages while file Minimum Level is Off	The in-memory session sink is independent of the rotating file sink	Use Show >= or close/clear the console for its view; use Logging settings for disk output	Logging.cpp; LoggingConfig.cpp; LogViewerControl.cpp
Search reports No occurrences found.	Text is not in the rendered pane, options exclude it, or the regular expression is invalid	Lower the severity filter/reload; simplify the query; disable Case sensitive, Match whole word, or Regular expression	LogViewerControl::findText; LogViewerFindTextControl.cpp
Backward search does not wrap to a later occurrence	The fallback restarts a backward find at document position 0, where nothing precedes it	Clear/reset search, disable Backward, find forward, or move the visible cursor near the end before retrying	LogViewerControl::findText
Export is shorter than expected	Export writes only the visible pane after threshold filtering and block trimming	Lower the threshold, raise Max lines within available backlog, reload, then export; use rotating files for separate disk history	LogViewerControl::save; reloadContent; trimVisibleLines
File Error: Unable to open file for writing	Destination could not be opened writable	Choose a writable local folder/name and retry; check permissions and free space	LogViewerControl::save
New output keeps jumping or stops following	Auto-scroll follows only while at the bottom	Scroll up intentionally to pause; return to the bottom or reload to resume	LogViewerControl::initialize; appendSessionEntry; scrollToBottom
Colors or selection are unreadable	Persisted colors - including the theme colors stored when the console last closed - have poor contrast for the active theme, or ANSI formatting overrides parts of a line	Open Settings, use Reset, then Apply; optionally turn ANSI Colors off	resolveThemeDefaults; LogViewerSettingsControl::on_dialog_box_button_clicked
File-log indicator looks stale after Logging settings changed	Indicator refresh occurs on initialize, reload, console focus, or active-tab change	Focus the console or select Reload session lines	LogViewerControl::updateFileLogLevelIndicator; focus/tab handlers

Related workflow steps

• Toolbar & Menus defines the global View action and its availability.
• Settings Dialog configures the separate rotating file sink, directory, level, size, and file count.
• Process Windows explains validation, progress, cancellation, and failure states that can emit console diagnostics.
• The process-specific troubleshooting table for the operation that failed uses the exported console evidence to select the next recovery step.

References and provenance

• AfterNight session-console control, bridge, logging sink/configuration, app wiring, and focused tests are the authoritative implementation provenance for this page.
• The console uses the spdlog severity ordering and message formatting exposed through AfterNight's platform logging wrapper, AfterNightPlatform/Logging.h; no external behavior beyond the reviewed vendored/API use is claimed here.