Activating and Using Change Logs

Please Note: This article applies to Connected 10.2 or greater

The following topics are covered in this article:

• How to Activate Change Logs
• Viewing the Change Logs in Record Info
• Viewing Record Info and/or Change Logs in Notes
• Exporting Change Log Entries
• Importing Data and Change Logs

Change logs are designed to track exact changes made to primary records. Primary records are those which can affect many other records/reports based on those settings. For example, knowing a Customer's credit limit was increased from $50,000 to $60,000 on a specific date/time and by which user can be useful information for managers and other users of Connected.

Change Log capture is available in all window Modify operations, including Accounts, Customers, Vendors, I/C Inventory Items, Jobs, and Job Phase Editor.   

If change logs are not activated, the date added and each subsequent modification (date/time/user) will be available in the Connected Record Info.    If change logs are activated, the record info in the primary record screens will show the date/time/user of the record edit AND will also show the exact change(s) made.

For example, the following change log is from a series of edits to a customer profile record.

How to Activate Change Logs

Change logs are activated using the following steps:

1. Select File -> Company Setup.
2. In the Company Setup window, click the "Options" tab.
3. Click on the Use Change Logs checkbox.
4. Select from all applicable options: G/L Accounts, A/R Customers, A/P Vendors, I/C Inventory Items, and/or J/C Jobs. 
5. Click OK to exit and save the changes.

The location of the settings is shown in the following screen:

Viewing the Change Logs in Record Info

Once the Change Logs have been activated, all changes made to the selected primary record windows will be recorded in an expanded record info.  The following screens shows a change log example using the Customers window:

Click on the blue change log hyperlink, as shown in the screen above, and Connected will open up either Notepad application on a Windows PC or Text Edit on a macOS to show a text file with the exact changes made during that specific modification.

Viewing Record Info and/or Change Logs in Notes

Record info and change logs can also be viewed within Connected Notes.  This can be useful to see all of the activity for a primary record, like a customer, in one place.

To view record info/change logs in Connected Notes:

1. Open the Connected Notes window for one of the primary records (customer, vendor, account, inventory item, or job), as shown in the following screen:   

2: Click the Actions icon and select the "Show Filter Controls" option.

3. Select the checkbox to the left of record info and save the selection.   The record info will show in the note list view, along with notes and emails.

4.  Click on the Record Info line to see the contents of the change log.

NOTE:  To access the actual change log text file, Connected Attachments have to be enabled.

Exporting Change Log Entries

Change log entries can grow after time.  In some cases, the entries and their details may need to be reviewed.  If a lot of change log data needs review, exporting the change logs can be helpful.

To export record info and/or change log detail:

1.  Open the Record Info screen for a primary record.   The following screen uses a Customer's record info as an example.

2.  Click the Action menu and select from either "Export Change Logs" or "Export Change History".    If the later is selected, only a summary is exported.   If "Export Change Logs" is selected, all change logs are compiled into a single text file which can be opened in Excel.

The following is an example of the change log export, as viewed in Excel:

Importing Data and Change Logs

Certain import functions in Connected will create a change log records.  These include import new and import updates to G/L Accounts, Customers, Items, Vendors, and the inventory Price Matrix.