VBA and Event Logs

[Valendros]

I'm making an excel spreadsheet that saves the event log of specific print servers, takes out all non-print data, saves the logs into monthly chunks (pretty large files), and will output data to me about who printed, which files, on which printers, how many pages, amount of data, etc.

I've pretty much made the spreadsheet, but currently have to manually get the files via the log viewer saving them down as CSV, then editing them to fit my data requirements. I'd like to automate this process so each week it will simply go in and get and update the data from the previous time I saved it to the current log files.

In case you're curious why I'd like something like this - I'm in the IT department of an engineering firm who's yearly buget for paper alone is more than what I make in 5 years. They want a way to track who is printing, and from what project, without adding any steps to the user's side of the fence (Engineers may know how to design skyscrapers that don't fall down, but damned if they know how to click 'yes' on a simple dialog box). Besides, why buy a new peice of software when the windows event log already saves all the data I'm looking for?

[raypayette]

Since you are doing it manually, simply use the Macro recorder(click Tools, Macro, Record New macro); perhaps add a shortcut key such as Ctrl+x.

[Valendros]

Well, but there are more problems with doing it manually than just taking up my time. To copy even one event log (right click, save log as...) it can take 45-60 minutes since it's over the network and it freezes up the viewer and slows down the machine quite a bit.

I would rather be able to copy the event logs I need from each machine into one folder, have a sort of an event log reader make a csv copy automatically. That's really the only part I need help with. Once its in a CSV format in a file, I can parse, edit, save, load, grab the data, etc. It's just the event log part that I don't know how to do.

[raypayette]

I would convert the log files into Excel but I would not convert them back.
Perhaps this should help:
http://searchwinit.techtarget.com/ti...215282,00.html

[Valendros]

Well that's what I've been doing, but it really does take quite a long time to get the data off of 4 servers that are in the process of still doing the things they need to do (in this case, sending prints to printers). I'd rather copy the log files (from \\server\c$\windows\system32\config\) to a local folder, then be able to read the data that isn't formatted in any excel recognizable fasion...

Bascially what I'm looking for, I guess, is something that can, by virtue of a command line or other simple code, translate any saved event log file I specify into a CSV format. I've been looking everywhere, but I can't find it.