Building Interactive Tables with ShowTheBest.Com: Log File

ShowTheBest.Com

Interactive tables on your web pages

ShowTheBest.Com Log File

File The ShowTheBest.Com log file stbLogfile.txt contains the values of all user responses to your Interactive Table. It records the values of the weight and field widgets after each user submission. Use this form to gather statistics on your users.

Note: In order to record the log file in your Interactive Table, don't forget to check "Capture Log File " in the ShowTheBest.Com Controls Tool.

Here is a sample ShowTheBest.Com log file:

In Excel it looks like

The first column records your user's remote IP address. The last column records the date and time of the interaction. The rest of the columns record the importance factors and values for all non-information fields in the Interactive Table. (Recall that when maps were specified with the ShowTheBest.Com Design Tool, information fields leave unchecked the Field Map checkbox.)

For example, if there are 10 non-information fields then the next 10 columns contain the numerical weights that the user selected. If the importance widget is an input box, then the input that the user typed in is recorded. If the importance widget is a choice selection, then the relative numerical equivalence is recorded.

The next set of fields record the values. For example, if there are 10 non-information fields then the next 10 columns (it could be more!) contain the values that the user selected. If the value widget is an input box, then the input that the user typed in is recorded. If the importance widget is a choice selection, then the selection value (not the relative numerical equivalence) is recorded.

Note that if the field is a preference, then both preferences are recorded in order of Preference 1, Preference 2, Preference 3. (Ths why there could be more than 10 columns of recorded value for an Interactive Table of 10 non-information fields.)

Some of the questions that you can answer using the log file are (for example):

What was the average importance factor for field 4?
How many users choose "Lowest Price" as the most important factor?
How many users preferred French cuisine over Italian Cuisine.