Viewing Chat/IM

Figure 1: Viewing Chat/IM

When you are reviewing Chat/IM, the following buttons are available to you:

Search Chat/IM This function works like a filter. Only the data that matches the search is displayed. The search criteria you enter are maintained while you stay in the Viewer. For example, if you do a Chat/IM search, switch to the Email tab, and then come back to the Chat/IM tab, the results of the Chat/IM search continues to be displayed. You must either do another search or close the Search window in order to view all the recordings for that particular window type again. The dialog box search settings that were entered are saved while you stay in the program. All the settings are global to all tabs except for the "Check In" fields, which are specific to each tab.

The Search dialogue window displays the following fields:

Search for This is where you enter the actual search string. The following rules apply:

All words entered must be found to detect a match
The words can be spread throughout any of the Check In fields selected, i.e. you enter GOOD DAY, select the URL, and Caption check in fields. If the URL contains GOOD and the caption DAY, then it is considered a match
You can use quotes to find phrases, i.e. the words must be found in that specific sequence to match. If you enter hello there it will not match there hello or any other combination. You must have matching quotes or the string will be rejected
Double quotes will be dumped and you will end up with just the words i.e. "hello there" treats the string as two empty phrases and then it looks for the words hello and there in any order
Phrases are space sensitive, hello there will not match hello there

Exact upper and lower case match The default search is case insensitive. If you check this box then the case must match
Include partial word match The default search must find the words surrounded by any character that is not an alpha or numeric character. When you check this box, anywhere the characters appear is considered a match. For example, with the box checked, SOFT would match MICROSOFT

Search in This determines what data fields in which to look for a match. You must check at least one
Date selection Entries are self-explanatory. Date values entered are inclusive. For example, the date values 4/1/03 to 4/2/03 will include anything from 4/1/03 at 12:00:00 AM to 4/2/03 at 11:59:59 PM

Delete Clicking on this button allows you to delete a particular recorded Chat /IM session in its entirety while leaving other recorded sessions in place
Settings Clicking on this button lets you determine how you want data to be recorded and reviewed. Click on this button and you will be presented with a list of optional settings
Help Clicking on this button will provide you with helpful advice for troubleshooting or information on a particular topic. You will be shown a table of contents, from which you can click on the topic of interest and you will receive detailed instructions that should help you considerably

The Chat/IM viewing window is divided into two (2) panes

Top Pane When this window opens, the top pane displays information about the Chat/IMs recorded, which include:

Program The program used to perform the Chat (i.e. Yahoo Messenger, AOL)
Window Title The title of the window in which the Chat was recorded (i.e. Yahoo Instant Messenger)
Date The date the Chat was recorded

Note: You can sort each category by clicking on the header itself, which can be very helpful. For example, if you want to view all Window Titles alphabetically, click on the Window Title header.

Lower Pane Displays what was said during the Chat session by the computer's user and participants