# Log

This function is used to extract various information typically accessed by View menu items.

The produced information can be saved to a track variable, a Log named variable or to a file.

When running stepwise a single set of information for all available files will be produced unless you are saving to a track variable.

The path field is only evaluated once and may contain any of the escape sequences described in Escape Sequences. The resultant file path may be absolute (/), relative to the Home folder (~/) or relative to the track's containing folder (./) or (../). Any path which does not exist or is invalid is ignored. Tip: while batch processing, if the output filename resolves to be empty, the logged data will be written to the batch log. When running stepwise and a relative path is used it will be relative to the first available file. If the path to the file to be written does not exist, it will be created.

The following choices are available for what gets logged.

> Metdata as text
>   extract all of the current tag information.
> Raw data
>   extracts per audio file format information about a file since it was loaded or last saved.
> Metadata as text & raw data
>   is equivalent to doing both of the above.
> Changes to the initial state
>   itemize everything that has changed since the file was loaded or last saved.
> Validation errors
>   will extract information where tags do not live up to the strict requirements of the specifications.

The action test state is set to true if statement succeeds. The only case where it can be set to false is if the writing of a file failed.

Note that you can use the Preferences statement to override the limit settings for raw data.