What happened to error logging?

I have been pretty quiet for a few months as the pandemic's cancellation of yacht racing has seriously impacted the use of  my sailing app.

However, I have been busy but the latest update is crashing in the field with this pretty uninformative error log which was captured on a VA-HR running 5.20:

ERROR: Unhandled Exception
DETAILS: NONE
STORE_ID: 74c474f841404794afb7f56817083bd5
CALLSTACK:
UnexpectedTypeException: Expected Number/Float/Boolean/Long/Double, given null
native function
native function
native function

I am going to attempt to reproduce it in the simulator, but what happened to the error logging?

  • I read that there are 2 types of log files. CIQ_LOG.TXT and CIQ_LOG.YML

    Under which Version of devices or SDK does the YML file exists? I have a Fenix3 and a Fenix5+ and both of these are still on the CIQ_LOG.txt.

    (btw - how does one "quote" replies using this interface? 

    Please don't hijack my thread. The issue about .txt and .yml file names has nothing to do with my question. Please start your own thread for your question.

  • So ,would it be fair to say that nothing has happened to error logging on CIQ-2 devices like the VA-HR?

    I would say so. We have made changes to the 2.4 VM, but those changes were very targeted and would not have included changes to the error logging system. Do you have any other information to the contrary?

    If that is the case, what do I do, as a dedicated developer, to resolve this instability in my long-running app ?

    There are really only three things that can be done here.

    1. Attempt to debug the problem given the minimal information that the old logging system is providing
    2. Provide a test app and instructions to us so that we can reproduce the problem.
    3. Reproduce on a device that has support for the improved data logging in CIQ_LOG.yml, and use this information to debug the problem or report to us.

    I understand it is frustrating that the information provided by the logging system isn't useful. This is something we have worked to improve. Unfortunately those improvements do not extend back to the devices that you support.

  • Do you have any other information to the contrary?

    No, I mistook the appearance of "native function" in the stack trace as a change in the way app seers were being reported. I was not previously aware of this type of report (no reference in the documentation). 

    There are really only three things that can be done here.

    Actually, there aren't, since:

    1. this is the only information I have, apart form a very incomplete report from the user, so debugging is not possible.

    2. I really don't think Garmin has the resources to pursue this option as the only instructions I could provide would start with something like - "Test environment: a racing yacht participating in a yacht race ....."

    3. If I could reproduce the condition, I wouldn't be here.

    I understand it is frustrating

    Yes, very frustrating that Garmin has not addressed the perennial challenge of legacy support faced by bundled system providers.

    I guess I'll have to face the backlash of my users by floating the idea of termination support of my app on CIQ-2 devices.