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how to get real time log via perforce api similar to p4v log

I am facing issue with perforce api (.net), as i am unable to pull sync logs in real time.
- What am I trying to do
I am trying to pull real time logs as Sync is triggered using the
Perforce.P4.Client.SyncFiles() command. Similar to the P4V GUI Logs, which update when we try to sync any files.
- What is happening now
As the output is generated only after the command is done execution its not something intended for.
Also tried looking into Perforce.P4.P4Server.RunCommand() which does provide detailed report but only after the execution of the command.
Looked into this
Reason is -
I am trying to add a status update to the Tool i am working on which shows which Perforce file is currently being sync'd.
Please advise. Thanks in Advance.
-Bharath

In the C++ client API (which is what P4V is built on), the client receives an OutputInfo callback (or OutputStat in tagged mode) for each file as it begins syncing.
Looking over the .NET documentation I think the equivalents are the P4CallBacks.InfoResultsDelegate and P4CallBacks.TaggedOutputDelegate which handle events like P4Server.InfoResultsReceived etc.

I ended up with the same issue, and I struggled quite a bit to get it to work, so I will share the solution I found:
First, you should use the P4Server class instead of the Perforce.P4.Connection. They are two classes doing more or less the same thing, but when I tried using the P4.Connection.TaggedOutputReceived events, I simply got nothing back. So instead I tried with the P4Server.TaggedOutputReceived, and there, finally, I got the TaggedOutput just like I wanted.
So, here is a small example:
P4Server p4Server = new P4Server(cwdPath); //In my case I use P4Config, so no need to set user or to login, but you can do all that with the p4Server here.
p4Server.TaggedOutputReceived += P4ServerTaggedOutputEvent;
p4Server.ErrorReceived += P4ServerErrorReceived;
bool syncSuccess=false;
try
{
P4Command syncCommand = new P4Command(p4Server, "sync", true, syncPath + "\\...");
P4CommandResult rslt = syncCommand.Run();
syncSuccess=true;
//Here you can read the content of the P4CommandResult
//But it will only be accessible when the command is finished.
}
catch (P4Exception ex) //Will be caught only when the command has failed
{
Console.WriteLine("P4Command failed: " + ex.Message);
}
And the method to handle the error messages or the taggedOutput:
private void P4ServerErrorReceived(uint cmdId, int severity, int errorNumber, string data)
{
Console.WriteLine("P4ServerErrorReceived:" + data);
}
private void P4ServerTaggedOutputEvent(uint cmdId, int ObjId, TaggedObject Obj)
{
Console.WriteLine("P4ServerTaggedOutputEvent:" + Obj["clientFile"]); //Write the synced file name.
//Note that I used this only for a 'Sync' command, for other commands, I guess there might not be any Obj["clientFile"], so you should check for that.
}

Can Directory.Move fail because I am browsing the folder?

I have two folder in a remote FileShare and I am trying to move the first one inside the second. To do this, I wrote a CLR that pretty much does the following:
if (Directory.Exists(destinationFolder))
{
Directory.Delete(destinationFolder, true);
}
if (Directory.Exists(sourceFolder))
{
Directory.Move(sourceFolder, destinationFolder);
}
This works as expected but there are some cases that am getting the following error:
System.IO.IOException: Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
System.IO.IOException: at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath) at System.IO.Directory.InternalMove(String sourceDirName, String destDirName, Boolean checkHost)
I was not able to narrow it down. It seems random to me since I can not reproduced it. I run this code block, over 50 times and I could not get the same error (or any error to tell the truth) as before.
- Do you see anything wrong with code?
- Do you have any "guesses" on what may caused this error?
The only thing I can think, is even though the Directory.Delete(destinationFolder, true); return the system does not delete the directory immediately and thus when Directory.Move(sourceFolder, destinationFolder); runs, the destinationFolder still exists.
(29/12/2016) This is not a duplicate of Cannot create a file when that file already exists when using Directory.Move. There, the user has a 'mistake' in her code and creates (Directory.CreateDirectory(destinationdirectory);) the destination folder. I am not creating the destination folder, nevertheless, I am deleting it if exists. I looked the comments and the answers but none of them gave a solution to my issue.
(30/12/2016) I have tried all the suggestions from the comments and answer but still nothing strange happens. No errors and no unexpected behaviors.

The only thing I can think [of] is even though the Directory.Delete(destinationFolder, true); return the system does not delete the directory immediately and thus when Directory.Move(sourceFolder, destinationFolder); runs, the destinationFolder still exists.
I would highly doubt that this is the cause of any issue. I suppose it is not impossible, especially since this is a folder on another system (remote file share) and not local, but I would still expect any write-behind caching being done on the remote system to be completely transparent to any file system requests, not just some of them.
I think it is more likely, given the code shown in the question, that somehow you initiated two threads at nearly the exact same time and hit a race condition wherein both threads were attempting to process the move operation at the same time. You can both detect such a condition and avoid any errors by making the following changes to your code:
string _LogFile = String.Concat(#"C:\TEMP\SQLCLR_", Guid.NewGuid(), ".log");
File.AppendAllText(_LogFile, #"Starting operation for: " + sourceFolder +
#" --> " + destinationFolder);
if (Directory.Exists(destinationFolder))
{
File.AppendAllText(_LogFile, #"Deleting: " + destinationFolder);
Directory.Delete(destinationFolder, true);
}
if (Directory.Exists(sourceFolder))
{
if (!Directory.Exists(destinationFolder))
{
File.AppendAllText(_LogFile, #"Moving: " + sourceFolder);
Directory.Move(sourceFolder, destinationFolder);
}
else
{
File.AppendAllText(_LogFile, #"Oops. " + destinationFolder +
#" already exists. How odd indeed!");
}
}
This will log the operation to a text file. It will indicate exactly which steps are being taken. It will also check for the existence of the destination before calling "move", something which is not currently being checked.
If there are two competing threads, you will get 2 log files since they are named using a GUID.
If, somehow, it actually is a delayed delete issue on the remote OS, that would be indicated by a single log file containing a line for the "Deleting.." and then one for the "Moving...". OR, if the "exists" check sees the not-yet-deleted destination, then you will see a line for "Oops".

According to MSDN you´ll get that exception in the following cases:
An attempt was made to move a directory to a different volume.
destDirName already exists.
The sourceDirName and destDirName parameters refer to the same file or directory.
The directory or a file within it is being used by another process.
You´ll have to check with some of above cases, there will be the solution for sure.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.directory.move(v=vs.110).aspx

Why does System.IO.File.Exists(string path) return false?

System.IO.File.Exists(string path)
returns always false, even when the file exists on the specified path. What could be the possible solution?

It could well be a permission problem. From the documentation:
The Exists method returns false if any error occurs while trying to determine if the specified file exists. This can occur in situations that raise exceptions such as passing a file name with invalid characters or too many characters, a failing or missing disk, or if the caller does not have permission to read the file.
One way of seeing what's happening is to just try to read the file (e.g. with File.OpenRead). I'd be surprised if that succeeds - but if it fails, the exception should give you more information.

Hiding file endings in windows can sometimes cause confusion: you KNOW your file is named file.txt when it is actually named file.txt.txt because the last 4 characters have been hidden by the OS.

One possibility not mentioned in any of the answers here is 'File System Redirection' on Windows 8.1 onward.
For example, if your program is a 32-bit application and you're running on 64-bit Windows then an attempt to access %windir%\System32 would be redirected to %windir%\SysWOW64. And if the file you're trying to access doesn't exist in %windir%\SysWOW64 then System.IO.File.Exists(string path) would return False.
Link to a nice article explaining this behavior

I was puzzling over this as well, then realized I was using File.Exists when I should have been using Directory.Exists.

in my case, a different "dash" in file name causes the issue.
var f1 = "4-37R.pdf";
var f2 = "4‐37R.pdf";
var r = f1==f2?"same":"diff";
Console.Write(r); //diff
turns out
var c1 = '-';
var c2 = '‐';
Console.WriteLine((int)c1); //45
Console.WriteLine((int)c2); //8208
use the same '-' fixes the issue.

How I got around this was using Server.MapPath(fileName) as it kept trying to find the file somewhere else.
System.IO.File.Exists(Server.MapPath(string path))

This had me stumped for a while while I was debugging a service locally, I was running File.Exists("U:\dir1") against a server location mapped on my workstation as (U:). I replaced the U:\dir1 to "\\serverPath\dir1" and File.Exists then returned true.

I was experiencing this myself too. In my case, I was deleting the file and re-creating it. In the process that was deleting the file, I forgot to add in WaitForExit() before using File.Exists later on

I just learned today that System.IO.File.Exists will return false if the file exists but is empty

System.IO.File.Exists(string path) returned false for me while trying to read C:\OpenSSL\bin\file.txt.
Running the application in Administrator mode did not help.
(I was logged on the administrator account, Windows 10)
Once I moved the file to C:\Users\MyUser\Desktop\file.txt, File.Exists() returned true.

Here's one more, which took me far too long to twig to.
The file name was in a constructed variable that was use to write the file, then the same variable used to check that it had been successfully written, so it could not have been different versions of '-'. I am running mono on Linux and debugging as a different user than the program is normally run by/as. Many of these types of errors are related to permissions and I spent a while banging my head on that. When File.OpenRead also threw "file not found" I finally noticed my file name had a space character at the end. I only saw this when I copied the exception message, which showed quote marks around the file name string, revealing the included space.
Apparently you can write a file name with a trailing space, but File.Exists trims that off and doesn't recognize it. When I eliminated the trailing space File.Exists worked as expected.

There can be requirement to use the DirectoryProvider Refresh() process to get the correct result from the Exists function.
e.g. code as per:
private DirectoryInfo CreateDirectory(string folderPath, int code, string message)
{
DirectoryInfo di;
try
{
di = DirectoryProvider.CreateDirectory(folderPath);
}
catch
{
throw new WebServiceException(code, HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, message);
}
di.Refresh();
if (!DirectoryProvider.Exists(di))
{
throw new WebServiceException(code, HttpStatusCode.BadRequest, message);
}
return di;
}

I was using System.IO.Path.Combine and assuming it would remove any trailing white space. For the life of me I could figure out why System.IO.File.Exists(path) was returning false.
I used the below snippet to test why it was failing
Turns out that a trailing white space was introduced causing an
"The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect inside batch"
Hopefully someone will avoid the same stupid mistake as me
bool FileExists(string path){
try
{
using var stream = File.Open(path, FileMode.Open);
return true;
}
catch (FileNotFoundException)
{
return false;
}
catch (DirectoryNotFoundException)
{
return false;
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.message);
throw;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.message);
throw;
}
}

File Not Found, but the file is there!

public static List<Product> Load(string filename)
{
if (!File.Exists(filename))
{
throw new FileNotFoundException("Data could not be found ", filename );
}
}
Visual Studio 2010 gives the following exception, "FileNotFoundException"
emmm.. ok. this problem seem to have been solved.
.
But however, I still can not find the file!! But the file is there, in the same directory, Ive already verified and double-verified the name is correct! I have no idea what is going on.
The file is called "Products.xml".

You are the one who is throwing the exception. Do you mean to put up an error message?

File.Exists may return false if the user that the code runs under does not have access to the file, as well as if the does not exist.
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.io.file.exists.aspx

The file is called "Products.xml".
You expose yourself to random failure with a filename like that. You should use the full path name of the file, like c:\mumble\foo\products.xml. If you don't then you completely rely on your program's working directory being set correctly. The value of Environment.CurrentDirectory.
Even if it is set correctly by whatever program is starting yours (like a shortcut on the desktop), you still can get into trouble when code you didn't write changes the working directory. A good example is OpenFileDialog with the RestoreDirectory property left to the default value of false.
Always use full path names in your code. Or let the user select the file.

It looks like the problem is File.Exists is returning false and you're throwing an exception which is not handled by your code. Did you intend for this exception to be handled or does this represent a fatal error to your program?

The file located at filename does not exist, and thus it throws the exception with the following line: throw new FileNotFoundException("Data could not be found ", filename );
Did you mean to just output an error?

In you code first check for empty filename as the passed parameter may be empty string, plus apply try catch block on the code as the passed filename might not satisfy the path rules for a file. in catch block through your exception too.

You either:
A) Don't want to throw the exception via this line
throw new FileNotFoundException()
and instead want to display a Dialog to the user, or use some other error handling technique in there. To output an error either use one of the following:
Console.WriteLine("File not found")
MessageBox.Show("File not found");
B) Higher up in your call stack have a try/catch and handle your error there, similarly with a dialog or another error handling approach suitable for your application.
try
{
Load(filename);
}
catch(FileNotFoundException fe)
{}

logging exception in c#

logging exception
the code below allows to save the content of an exception in a text file. Here I'm getting only the decription of the error.
but it is not telling me where the exception occured, at which line.
Can anyone tell me how can I achive that so I can get even the line number where the exception occured?
#region WriteLogError
/// <summary>
/// Write an error Log in File
/// </summary>
/// <param name="errorMessage"></param>
public void WriteLogError(string errorMessage)
{
try
{
string path = "~/Error/" + DateTime.Today.ToString("dd-mm-yy") + ".txt";
if (!File.Exists(System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(path)))
{
File.Create(System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(path))
.Close();
}
using (StreamWriter w = File.AppendText(System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(path)))
{
w.WriteLine("\r\nLog Entry : ");
w.WriteLine("{0}", DateTime.Now.ToString(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture));
string err = "Error in: " + System.Web.HttpContext.Current.Request.Url.ToString()
+ ". Error Message:" + errorMessage;
w.WriteLine(err);
w.WriteLine("__________________________");
w.Flush();
w.Close();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
WriteLogError(ex.Message);
}
}
#endregion

I find that the easiest way to log exceptions in C# is to call the ToString() method:
try
{
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Console.WriteLine(ex.ToString());
}
This usually gives you all the information you need such as the error message and the stack trace, plus any extra exception specific context information. (however note that the stack trace will only show you source files and line numbers if you have your application compiled with debug information)
It is worth noting however that seeing a full stack trace can be fairly offputting for the user and so wherever possible you should try to handle exceptions and print out a more friendly error message.
On another note - you should replace your method WriteLogError with a fully featured logging framework (like Serilog) instead of trying to write your own.
Your logging method is not thread safe (your log file will probably end up with log messages being intermingled with each other) and also should definitely not call itself if you catch an exception - this will mean that any exceptions that occur whilst logging errors will probably cause a difficult to diagnose StackOverflow exception.
I could suggest how to fix those things, however you would be much better served just using a proper logging framework.

Just log ToString(). Not only will it give you the stack trace, but it'll also include the inner exceptions.

Also, when you deploy a release build of your code to a production environment for instance, don't forget to include the .pdb files in the release package. You need that file to get the line number of the code that excepted (see How much information do pdb files contain? (C# / .NET))

Your solution is pretty good. I went through the same phase
and eventually needed to log more and more (it will come...):
logging source location
callstack before exception (could be in really different place)
all internal exceptions in the same way
process id / thread id
time (or request ticks)
for web - url, http headers, client ip, cookies, web session content
some other critical variable values
loaded assemblies in memory
...
Preferably in the way that I clicked on the file link where the error occurred,
or clicked on a link in the callstack, and Visual Studio opened up at the appropriate location.
(Of course, all you need to do is *.PDB files, where the paths from the IL code
to your released source in C # are stored.)
So I finally started using this solution:
It exists as a Nuget package - Desharp.
It's for both application types - web and desktop.
See it's Desharp Github documentation. It has many configuration options.
try {
var myStrangeObj = new { /*... something really mysterious ...*/ };
throw new Exception("Something really baaaaad with my strange object :-)");
} catch (Exception ex) {
// store any rendered object in debug.html or debug.log file
Desharp.Debug.Log(myStrangeObj, Desharp.Level.DEBUG);
// store exception with all inner exceptions and everything else
// you need to know later in exceptions.html or exceptions.log file
Desharp.Debug.Log(ex);
}
It has HTML log formats, every exception in one line,
and from html page you can open in browser, you can click
on file link and go to Visual Studio - it's really addictive!
It's only necessary to install this Desharp editor opener.
See some demos here:
Web Basic App
Web MVC App
Console App
Try to check out any of those repos and log something by the way above.
then you can see logged results into ~/Logs directory. Mostly anything is configurable.

I am only answering for the ask, other people have already mentioned about the code already. If you want the line number to be included in your log you need to include the generated debug files (pdb) in your deployment to the server. If its just your Dev/Test region that is fine but I don't recommend using in production.

Please note that the exception class is serializable. This means that you could easily write the exception class to disk using the builtin XmlSerializer - or use a custom serializer to write to a txt file for example.
Logging to output can ofcourse be done by using ToString() instead of only reading the error message as mentioned in other answers.
Exception class
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.exception?redirectedfrom=MSDN&view=netframework-4.7.2
Info about serialization, the act of converting an object to a file on disk and vice versa.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/csharp/programming-guide/concepts/serialization/