DOCUMENT:Q216089 11-JAN-2001 [vbwin] TITLE :HOWTO: Back Up the NT Event Log in Visual Basic PRODUCT :Microsoft Visual Basic for Windows PROD/VER:WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,6.0 OPER/SYS: KEYWORDS:kbAPI kbEventLog kbOSWinNT400 kbSDKWin32 kbVBp kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB kbD ====================================================================== ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The information in this article applies to: - Microsoft Visual Basic Standard Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition, 32-bit, for Windows, version 4.0 - Microsoft Visual Basic Learning Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 - Microsoft Visual Basic Professional Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 - Microsoft Visual Basic Enterprise Edition for Windows, versions 5.0, 6.0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SUMMARY ======= Event logging in Windows provides a standard, centralized way for Windows and applications to record important software and hardware events. It also supplies a standard user interface for viewing the logs and a programming interface for examining the logs. This article illustrates how to back up the NT Event Log with Visual Basic versions 4.0 and later. This can be done using the BackupEventLog API call. While Visual Basic versions 5.0 and later have built-in functionality for event-logging, they do not provide the backup functionality that the Win32 API does. MORE INFORMATION ================ The following example shows how to back up the local Application Event Log to a file named appback.evt: Step by Step Example: 1. Create a new standard project in Visual Basic. Form1 is created by default. 2. Add a CommandButton to Form1 and change its name to "cmdBackupEventLog " (without the quotation marks). 3. Add the following code to the Form1 code window: Private Declare Function BackupEventLog Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "BackupEventLogA" ( _ ByVal hEventLog As Long, _ ByVal lpBackupFileName As String) _ As Long Private Declare Function CloseEventLog Lib "advapi32.dll" ( _ ByVal hEventLog As Long) _ As Long Private Declare Function OpenEventLog Lib "advapi32.dll" Alias "OpenEventLogA" ( _ ByVal lpUNCServerName As String, _ ByVal lpSourceName As String) _ As Long Private Sub cmdBackupEventLog_Click() Dim hEventLog As Long Dim lretv As Long hEventLog = OpenEventLog(VBNullString, "Application") If hEventLog = 0 Then Debug.Print "OpenEventLog Failed" Exit Sub End If lretv = BackupEventLog(hEventLog, "appback.evt") If lretv = 0 Then Debug.Print "BackupEventLog Failed" Exit Sub End If lretv = CloseEventLog(hEventLog) If lretv = 0 Then Debug.Print "CloseEventLog Failed" Exit Sub End If End Sub 4. Press the F5 key to run the project and click cmdBackupEventLog. This backs up the Event Log to the file appback.evt. REFERENCES ========== For additional information about event logging from Visual Basic, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: Q154576 HOWTO: Write to the NT Event Log from Visual Basic Q161306 INFO: App.LogEvent Only Logs in Compiled Applications Q184747 INFO: Event Logging in Visual Basic Q216097 HOWTO: Clear the NT Event Log in Visual Basic Q216146 HOWTO: Get the Number of NT Event Log Records in Visual Basic Additional query words: ====================================================================== Keywords : kbAPI kbEventLog kbOSWinNT400 kbSDKWin32 kbVBp kbVBp400 kbVBp500 kbVBp600 kbGrpDSVB kbDSupport Technology : kbVBSearch kbAudDeveloper kbZNotKeyword6 kbZNotKeyword2 kbVB500Search kbVB600Search kbVBA500 kbVBA600 kbVB500 kbVB600 kbVB400Search kbVB400 Version : WINDOWS:4.0,5.0,6.0 Issue type : kbhowto ============================================================================= THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY. Copyright Microsoft Corporation 2001.