Locating Supported Input Data File Types

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To locate saved data that you want to load into Message Analyzer from supported file types and to access session configuration features prior to loading the data, you should first create a Data Retrieval Session as described in Starting a Message Analyzer Session. To load data very quickly from supported file types into Message Analyzer without accessing the session configuration settings of the New Session dialog, you can use any of the methods described in Performing Data Retrieval. The exception to these “fast” methods is for text log files with a .log extension, where instead, Message Analyzer automatically opens the New Session dialog so that you can select a Text Log Configuration file that is required for parsing text logs.

Note

For Data Retrieval Sessions that contain a large message collection with many files targeted for loading data, you can search the files list to quickly locate any file by specifying file name characters in the search text box on the toolbar of the Files tab. For easy location capability, you should consider using relevant file naming conventions, as described in Naming Saved Files, when saving files from which you expect to reload data at some point.

Supported Input File Types

The data that you load into Message Analyzer must be derived from one or more of the supported file types, as described in the table that follows. Some of these file types are in Message Analyzer default native format while others are non-native. Some input files have certain requirements, as indicated in the table. Note that you can save Message Analyzer data in the .matp native file format only, even if you initially loaded data from a message file that has a non-native format.

Table 9. Message Analyzer Supported Input File Types

Message file name extension Description Support Uses/Requirements
.aztable Azure table storage Non-native Display data from Azure table storage (requires input connection information, as described in Retrieving Azure Storage Table Data).
.blg Binary performance file (PerfMon) Non-native Standard input file support. A Message Analyzer Profile is available for this input file type.
.cap Network Monitor capture file Native Open Network Monitor .cap files. Note that Message Analyzer can export trace data in the .cap file format. Several Message Analyzer Profiles are available for this input file type.
.csv Comma Separated Value file Non-native Standard input file support.
.dmp Crash Dump Files Non-native Standard input file support.
.etl Windows event trace log file Non-native Open .etl files with embedded manifests containing event metadata per event. Otherwise, may require generating an ETL manifest; see Understanding Event Parsing with a Provider Manifest. Several Message Analyzer Profiles are available for this input file type.
.evtx Event log file Non-native Standard input file support. A Message Analyzer Profile is available for this input file type.
.json Javascript object notation log files Non-native Standard input file support.
.log Textual log file Non-native Requires either selecting or creating an OPN Configuration file; see Opening Text Log Files. Note that the OPN configuration file selection requirement also applies to Azure storage logs. Message Analyzer Profiles are available for this input file type.
.matp Compressed trace parsed file Native Open files saved in Message Analyzer native file format.
.matu Compressed trace unparsed file Native Open Message Analyzer unparsed (.matu) files or PowerShell initiated traces that are saved in the same unparsed file format; see the Save-PefMessageCollection cmdlet documentation.
.oms Operations Management Suite (OMS) logs Non-native Requires an Azure Subscription and credentials to log in to Azure, as described in Loading OMS Log Data.
.opn Open Protocol Notation files Native Display the source code for any OPN message parser.
.pcap Packet capture trace file Non-native Standard input file support. Message Analyzer Profiles are available for this input file type.
.pcapng PCAP next generation trace file Non-native Standard input file support. Message Analyzer Profiles are available for this input file type.
.pmlcsv Process monitor (procmon) trace file Non-native Requires changing a procmon file that was saved in .csv format to use the .pmlcsv file extension, to map properly to the correct Message Analyzer data loader.
.pmlxml Process monitor (procmon) trace file Non-native Standard input file support.
.ps1 PowerShell script file Non-native Requires a script that runs a specified cmdlet, for example, to get event log data or target input files as a data source.
.saz Session Archive Zip files Non-native Open Fiddler archives containing HTTP(s) data. A Message Analyzer Profile is available for this input file type.
.sqltable SQL table files Non-native Standard input file support.
.trc Network Associates Sniffer - DOS files Non-native Standard input file support.
.tsv Tab Separated Value file Non-native Standard input file support.
.xml XML file Non-native Standard input file support.

More Information
To learn more about how to use Message Analyzer Profiles to automatically display a predefined viewer and layout configuration for a targeted analysis context when loading data from applicable file types, see Working With Message Analyzer Profiles.
To learn more about different methods that you can use to quickly load data into Message Analyzer, see Performing Data Retrieval.
To learn more about saving your message data in the native .matp file format, see Saving Files in Native Format.
To learn more about how to create an OPN Configuration file for a text log, see the OPN Configuration File for Textlog Adapter document download.