[ANSWERED]Indigo errors in /var/log/system.log

I started seeing Indigo errors in the console log (/var/log/system.log) after making a change in a message the Phidgets plugin displays on a TextLCD screen and saves in a state for the Indigo TextLCD device. These messages can contain non-printable ascii characters and that is what was causing the problem. I fixed the code to remove non-printable characters from the state value, so all is well.

However, what I really wanted to report is that these errors did not show up in the Indigo log. Had I not been tracking down some other issue I might not have seen them. Not really a big deal, but it does seem Indigo should log something to alert the user.

Here is an example of the system.log messages:

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Dec 13 11:51:06 Richards-Mac-mini.local IndigoPluginHost[12461]: XML writer: dropped invalid character 08
Dec 13 11:51:06 --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Dec 13 11:51:06 Richards-Mac-mini.local IndigoPluginHost[12461]: XML writer: packet dump
Dec 13 11:51:06 Richards-Mac-mini.local IndigoPluginHost[12461]:   hex dump: 3C 50 61 63 6B 65 74 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 64 69 63 74 22 3E 3C 54 79 70 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 43 6F 6D 6D 61 6E 64 3C 2F 54 79 70 65 3E 3C 54 61 72 67 65 74 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 53 65 72 76 65 72 3C 2F 54 61 72 67 65 74 3E 3C 4E 61 6D 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 55 70 64 61 74 65 44 65 76 69 63 65 53 74 61 74 65 56 61 6C 75 65 3C 2F 4E 61 6D 65 3E 3C 44 61 74 61 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 64 69 63 74 22 3E 3C 43 6C 65 61 72 45 72 72 6F 72 53 74 61 74 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 62 6F 6F 6C 22 3E 74 72 75 65 3C 2F 43 6C 65 61 72 45 72 72 6F 72 53 74 61 74 65 3E 3C 44 65 63 69 6D 61 6C 50 6C 61 63 65 73 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 69 6E 74 65 67 65 72 22 3E 2D 31 3C 2F 44 65 63 69 6D 61 6C 50 6C 61 63 65 73 3E 3C 49 44 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 69 6E 74 65 67 65 72 22 3E 31 34 33 31 35 38 34 35 37 3C 2F 49 44 3E 3C 4E 61 6D 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 4B 69 74 63 68 65 6E 2D 54 65 78 74 44 69 73 70 6C 61 79 3C 2F 4E 61 6D 65 3E 3C 53 74 61 74 65 4B 65 79 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 6C 61 73 74 55 70 64 61 74 65 3C 2F 53 74 61 74 65 4B 65 79 3E 3C 53 74 61 74 65 56 61 6C 75 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 32 30 31 33 2D 31 32 2D 31 33 20 31 31 3A 35 31 3A 30 36 3C 2F 53 74 61 74 65 56 61 6C 75 65 3E 3C 2F 44 61 74 61 3E 3C 2F 50 61 63 6B 65 74 3E 00 3C 50 61 63 6B 65 74 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 64 69 63 74 22 3E 3C 54 79 70 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 43 6F 6D 6D 61 6E 64 3C 2F 54 79 70 65 3E 3C 54 61 72 67 65 74 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 53 65 72 76 65 72 3C 2F 54 61 72 67 65 74 3E 3C 4E 61 6D 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 55 70 64 61 74 65 44 65 76 69 63 65 53 74 61 74 65 56 61 6C 75 65 3C 2F 4E 61 6D 65 3E 3C 44 61 74 61 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 64 69 63 74 22 3E 3C 43 6C 65 61 72 45 72 72 6F 72 53 74 61 74 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 62 6F 6F 6C 22 3E 74 72 75 65 3C 2F 43 6C 65 61 72 45 72 72 6F 72 53 74 61 74 65 3E 3C 44 65 63 69 6D 61 6C 50 6C 61 63 65 73 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 69 6E 74 65 67 65 72 22 3E 2D 31 3C 2F 44 65 63 69 6D 61 6C 50 6C 61 63 65 73 3E 3C 49 44 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 69 6E 74 65 67 65 72 22 3E 31 34 33 31 35 38 34 35 37 3C 2F 49 44 3E 3C 4E 61 6D 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 4B 69 74 63 68 65 6E 2D 54 65 78 74 44 69 73 70 6C 61 79 3C 2F 4E 61 6D 65 3E 3C 53 74 61 74 65 4B 65 79 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 74 65 78 74 4C 69 6E 65 5F 30 3C 2F 53 74 61 74 65 4B 65 79 3E 3C 53 74 61 74 65 56 61 6C 75 65 20 74 79 70 65 3D 22 73 74 72 69 6E 67 22 3E 47 3A 20 34 34 2E 32 20 54 3A 20 36 32 2E 39
Dec 13 11:51:06 Richards-Mac-mini.local IndigoPluginHost[12461]: ascii dump: <Packet type="dict"><Type type="string">Command</Type><Target type="string">Server</Target><Name type="string">UpdateDeviceStateValue</Name><Data type="dict"><ClearErrorState type="bool">true</ClearErrorState><DecimalPlaces type="integer">-1</DecimalPlaces><ID type="integer">143158457</ID><Name type="string">Kitchen-TextDisplay</Name><StateKey type="string">lastUpdate</StateKey><StateValue type="string">2013-12-13 11:51:06</StateValue></Data></Packet> <NULL> <Packet type="dict"><Type type="string">Command</Type><Target type="string">Server</Target><Name type="string">UpdateDeviceStateValue</Name><Data type="dict"><ClearErrorState type="bool">true</ClearErrorState><DecimalPlaces type="integer">-1</DecimalPlaces><ID type="integer">143158457</ID><Name type="string">Kitchen-TextDisplay</Name><StateKey type="string">textLine_0</StateKey><StateValue type="string">G: 44.2 T: 62.9

[matt (support)]

Looks like it doesn't like the encoding of your textLine_0 state value. Probably a degree symbol isn't UTF8 encoded?

I agree those errors need to be better logged. A bit problematic because they occur in the plugin sandbox process and not the Indigo Server (so logging them to the Event Log file is harder).

...Probably a degree symbol isn't UTF8 encoded?...

Actually, it is a couple of arbitrary hex bytes which point to a custom character defined in the TextLCD unit. Otherwise the displayed message is printable-ascii.

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but the other one I found was locked. Has there been a solution found for writing the degree symbol to the log? I can display the symbol just fine to the UI, variables and control pages no problem. When I try:

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indigo.server.log(str('°'))  # Shift-Option-8


Indigo prints the degree symbol to the log just fine. But when I try to log the device dict:

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indigo.server.log(str(indigo.devices[70268800]))


Indigo throws an exception. If it makes a difference, I'm writing this to a plugin sensor device:

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dev.updateStateOnServer("sensorValue", value = owsTemp, decimalPlaces=2,  uiValue=owsTemp + u' °' + prefDegrees)

Everything runs just fine and the value displays in the UI as expected; it's just a bit of work to get to the dict. Not a super huge deal, just curious.

[matt (support)]

Instead of using str() above try using unicode().

Pow! Worked like a charm.

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indigo.server.log(unicode(indigo.devices[70268800]))

Thanks Matt!