sentinel log-viewer

sentinel log-viewer receives and displays log entries so developers can inspect application output in one focused window. It works as a network endpoint for software using nLog or log4net, accepting messages sent directly from those logging frameworks. It can also collect entries from multiple configured sources, making it useful when related activity is spread across several applications or sessions.

The viewer provides configurable filtering and highlighting, including separate foreground and background colours for visually marking important messages. A display limit can be enabled in Preferences to cap the number of entries retained in the logging window. An optional Context column reads a named message property, which can associate entries with a particular unit test or another execution context, such as an MSTest2 test.

Developers and other Windows users can use it while debugging, testing, or monitoring software that emits nLog or log4net output, rather than treating it as a general-purpose file utility. Preferences on the General and Commands tabs persist between sessions, and the Commands tab includes an experimental command that clears the log when a message description exactly matches #!Clear, regardless of logging level; clearing more often than every 200 milliseconds can cause WPF renderer exceptions.

Version 0.14.1 addresses restoration of sessions using a file-monitoring provider, removes a crash caused by a missing Segoe UI font, and supports the configurable entry limit and preference persistence. It also includes the experimental internal-command work, a toggleable Context column, corrected update-checking behavior, and a .NET Framework 4.6.1 base runtime aligned with .NET Standard 2.0. sentinel log-viewer is published by Ray Hayes for Windows in the System Tools category under a freeware license.