WebReports Logs Overview

The Logs page records WebReports application activity, report execution events, and exceptions. Use it to understand what happened, when it happened, and which user, connection, report, or schedule was involved. You can narrow the results by time and category, filter individual columns, sort events into a timeline, group related records, and export evidence to Excel.

This guide uses fictional demo activity for demo.admin@example.com, the DemoSQL, DemoAnalytics, and DemoArchive connections, and the same demo reports used throughout the WebReports articles. Screenshots show October 20, 2026, from 1:45 PM to 2:30 PM. Your records will differ.

In this article: Open Logs and choose a category · Date range · Columns · Filters · Grouping · Exceptions · Export · Worked example

Select a screenshot to open its full-size image.

Why use the logs?

• Investigate a report problem: find execution messages and errors around the time a report was run.
• Follow a scheduled or queued report: review the recorded stages, such as execution starting, query processing, and output storage.
• Review application activity: look for sign-ins, report display activity, and Bridgit Visualize chat events where those events are recorded.
• Look for patterns: filter or group events to see whether activity is associated with a particular connection, user, report, or schedule.
• Provide useful troubleshooting details: collect timestamps, messages, exceptions, and relevant rows for your administrator or BridgeWorks Support.

A log entry describes an event. Read its message and surrounding entries before deciding what it means. An informational entry does not, by itself, prove that an entire report finished successfully; an error also needs context. Logs do not rerun a report or repair a connection. To view or download a generated report, use Completed Reports.

Open Logs and choose a category

1. Sign in to WebReports.
2. Select Logs in the left navigation menu. The page heading is System Logs.
3. Set the time period and select the category that best matches your investigation.

If Logs is not available to your account, contact your WebReports administrator.

System Logs with the All tab selected. The same demo account, date range, reports, connections, and events are used throughout this guide.

Selecting a tab updates the results immediately. The columns and available controls can differ by category; the Exceptions layout is described below.

Choose the date and time range

Use Start and End to include the period before and after the activity you are investigating. A small window is easier to read than several days of unrelated events.

1. Select the calendar icon in either field.
2. Choose the date and adjust the hour, minute, and AM/PM value.
3. Select OK to apply the choice, or Cancel to close the picker without applying it.
4. Set the other end of the range. Make sure Start is earlier than End.

The results update automatically when a changed value is applied; you do not need to select Refresh just to apply the date range. If an expected event is missing, widen the range. When discussing timestamps with someone else, include the time zone used for your investigation.

Set the date and time in the picker, then select OK. This example ends at 2:30 PM on October 20, 2026.

Read the log columns

In the WebReports, Executions, and All views, use the fields together to establish context:

Some events do not have a user, connection, view, or schedule value. A blank field does not automatically indicate a failure. It means that the displayed entry does not provide a value in that field.

Navigate, sort, and arrange the table

Scroll vertically to review more records. Use horizontal scrolling when the table extends beyond the available width, especially to read long Message or Exception values. A clipped cell is not the complete diagnostic text; use the exported record when you need to preserve the full details.

Select a column heading to sort by that field. Select it again to reverse the direction; the arrow beside the heading indicates the current order. For a timeline, sort Log Time ascending to read the earliest event first, or descending to see recent activity first.

Drag a column heading to another position to place related information together. For example, move View beside User while investigating a specific report. Column widths cannot be resized manually.

Where the Column Chooser icon is available, open it to review additional fields, such as Exception and Application Type. Use the chooser's field controls to adjust which columns are shown, then close it with the X. The available fields depend on the log view.

The Column Chooser shows additional fields available in this log view, including Exception and Application Type.

Find records with column filters

The filter row beneath the column headings lets you narrow an individual field. Use it to search for a report name, user, connection, schedule, or part of a message.

1. Find the field you want to narrow, such as View.
2. Select the operator icon in that field's filter row. For text fields, available choices include Contains, Does not contain, Starts with, Ends with, Equals, and Does not equal.
3. Choose the operator and enter a value. For example, use Contains and enter DemoReceivables under View.
4. Review the matching rows. Add another column filter if you need a narrower result.

Date and numeric fields offer comparison operators appropriate to their type, such as Equals, Greater than, Less than, or Between where available. A filter under Log Time further narrows the records already included by the Start and End fields.

Use the View filter row to find DemoReceivables records. The operator menu controls how the entered text is matched.

Multiple active filters work together. If you filter View and User, the displayed records must match both criteria as well as the selected category and date range. To remove a filter-row condition, clear its value or choose Reset from that field's operator menu. Check for other active conditions if the table still looks restricted.

Choose specific values from a heading filter

The filter icon beside a column heading provides a value list. For example, to inspect error entries:

1. Select the filter icon beside Log Type.
2. Clear Select All and select Error. Leave other values unchecked.
3. Select OK. Only matching records remain. Select Cancel instead to discard the pending choice.

Choose Error in the Log Type heading filter, then select OK to apply the choice.

(Blanks) represents records without a value in that column; it is not an error type. To clear a heading filter, reopen the list, select Select All, and select OK. A separate filter-row condition can still restrict that column, so clear it too when necessary.

Group related records

Grouping organizes the matching records into sections with the same column value. It helps you compare activity by Log Type, connection, user, report, or schedule. Filtering limits which records are included; grouping organizes the records that remain. You can use the two together.

Grouping restriction: In WebReports 2026.10.12 and later, the Log Time and Message columns cannot be grouped. Use sorting or filtering on those fields instead, and choose a supported column such as Log Type or Connection Name for grouping. The Exceptions tab has a different layout; this restriction refers to the columns named Log Time and Message.

1. Locate the area labeled Drag a column header here to group by that column.
2. Drag a supported column heading, such as Log Type, into that area.
3. Review the groups created from the column's values. Use the arrow beside a group to expand or collapse its records.
4. If you add another supported grouping field, review the resulting hierarchy shown in the table. Start with one field while troubleshooting so the view stays easy to follow.

Grouping by Log Type organizes the same demo events into Error and Info sections. Log Time and Message cannot be grouped in WebReports 2026.10.12 and later.

In the demo, grouping by Log Type separates the one Error record from the seven Info records. A connection grouping would help distinguish DemoSQL, DemoAnalytics, DemoArchive, and any blank connection values.

Filter or remove a group

Use the grouped field's filter control to choose the values you want to keep, then select OK. To remove the grouping, drag the heading out of the grouping area and back into the table headings. Removing a group does not clear its filter. If records are still missing, clear that field's heading filter and filter-row condition separately.

If a grouping attempt produces an error, preserve the error details, select Refresh to restore the table, and try one supported field at a time. Include the field names and WebReports version when reporting a recurring problem.

Review Exceptions

Select Exceptions to examine the Time and Exception columns. An exception may contain an exception type, a descriptive message, and a stack trace identifying where the failure was recorded. Long text may continue beyond the visible area.

The Exceptions tab displays Time and Exception details. The demo timeout corresponds to the 2:25 PM DemoArchive error.

Read the exception text and note its time. Then compare nearby entries in All, WebReports, or Executions to identify the associated activity. Similar timestamps help establish context, but do not assume that every nearby event belongs to the same request.

The demo exception is System.TimeoutException: Connection test timed out: DemoArchive. It matches the demo Error at 2:25 PM. This illustrates how to correlate records; it does not establish the cause of a timeout in your environment or prescribe a connection change.

Export logs to Excel

Use the Export dropdown in the upper-right corner of the table to download records for further review or troubleshooting.

• Export all data to Excel: creates the broader table export. Review the date range, category, and active filters before exporting, and review the downloaded file to confirm the scope.
• Export selected rows to Excel: exports the records you explicitly select. First use the checkboxes beside the relevant rows, then choose this option.

Select the relevant row checkboxes, then choose Export selected rows to Excel for a focused export.

The file downloads through your browser. To share a precise set of diagnostic events, select the relevant rows and use the selected-rows option. Keep enough surrounding events to show the sequence. Review the export for credentials, connection details, query text, or other sensitive information before sharing it.

Refresh and restore the default view

Select Refresh to reload the logs and restore the default table view. Refresh clears filter/search values and column filters, removes grouping, clears selected rows, and restores the default column order. Record or export the evidence you need before resetting a carefully arranged view.

Refresh resets the view; it does not delete recorded log entries or rerun a report. After refreshing, check the displayed category and Start/End values before continuing.

Example: investigate a scheduled report

1. Set Start and End to include the expected run time. In the demo, the Demo Receivables schedule starts at 2:15 PM on October 20, 2026.
2. Select Executions.
3. Filter View to DemoReceivables.vdm and, if needed, Schedule to Demo Receivables.
4. Sort Log Time ascending to follow the sequence: execution started at 2:15:00 PM, query completed at 2:15:04 PM, and PDF output saved at 2:15:06 PM.
5. If an expected stage is missing or an error appears, widen the time range, inspect surrounding activity, and check Exceptions for related details.
6. Use Completed Reports to verify the generated output. Export the relevant log rows if further investigation is needed.

Demo Receivables execution events, filtered to the demo report and sorted from earliest to latest.

The demo sequence is illustrative. Different report types and execution paths can record different stages; do not expect every run to produce identical messages.

If you cannot find the activity you expect

• No rows: check the category and date/time range, then clear active column conditions. Expand collapsed groups and verify that a previous filter is not hiding records.
• A report name is missing: check both the View and Message fields. Some application or service events do not populate View.
• Too many records: shorten the time range, filter a known connection/report/user, and add one condition at a time.
• A message is cut off: scroll horizontally or export the relevant rows to preserve the available text.
• The view is difficult to follow: save relevant evidence, select Refresh, and rebuild the view with one filter or grouping field at a time.

An empty result only means no matching entries are displayed under the current conditions. It does not, on its own, prove that an action never occurred.

When asking for help, include your WebReports version, the date/time range and time zone, the selected category, the report filename, connection and schedule names where relevant, Log ID values, the exact Message or Exception text, and a focused export. Describe the action you expected and what happened instead.

Related articles

• Working with Tables in WebReports
• Working with Completed Reports in WebReports
• Managing Connections in WebReports