Audit log

Audit logs provide a comprehensive record of changes made to a table. In powertable, the audit log helps you track changes made to data, user access activities, and configuration settings.

Using audit log, you can

• Track data, access, and configuration changes.
• Review who made a change and when they made it.
• Search and filter logs to locate specific records.
• Export audit logs for auditing, reporting, and compliance purposes.

In this article, you learn how to view, search, filter, and export audit logs.

View audit logs & track changes#

To view audit logs:

1. Select PowerTable > Audit. The audit log window opens and displays recent changes made to the table.

2. Select the appropriate tab to review a specific type of change:

• Data - Displays data modifications made to records.
• Access - Displays changes made to row and column access permissions.
• Table - Displays changes made to table settings and configurations.

Data

The Data tab provides a chronological record of transactions and actions performed on the source table.

The audit log includes the following information:

• Row ID of the modified record.
• Type of modification.
• Modified columns.
• Previous and new values.
• User who made the change.
• Date and time of the change.
• Approver details, if approval flow is enabled - Approver name(s) and date and time of approval.

The audit log captures significant actions such as Insert, Update, Delete, and Soft Delete.

Access

The Access tab tracks changes made to row and column access permissions, including who made the changes and when the changes were made.

Table

The Table tab records changes to table settings and column configurations, including the addition of new columns and updates to existing column settings.

Search and filter audit logs#

Use the Search and Filter options to locate specific changes and records.

Search log

Enter a Row ID, Modified Column, Action, or Source Type to search for specific audit log entries. The logs are dynamically filtered and displayed based on the search criteria.

Filter by user

To view changes made by a specific user, select the user from the All Users dropdown.

Filter by time period

Filter logs by a predefined time period or a custom date range. By default, Last 24 Hours is selected.

Advanced filters

Select Filter to filter the logs based on the below options:

• Action - Filter logs by action type, such as Insert, Update, Delete, or Soft Delete.
• Approved By - Filter logs based on the user who approved the changes.
• Modified By - Filter logs based on the user who made the changes.
• Transaction ID - Filter logs by specific transaction IDs.
• Reset All - Clear all applied filters.

Export audit logs#

You can export audit logs in Excel (.xlsx) format for offline analysis and reporting.

1. To export, select Download Logs.

2. Specify the time period for the exported logs using the Include Data For dropdown.

3. By default, Last 30 Days is selected. To export logs for a certain time period, select Custom Date Range and enter the relevant dates.
4. Select Export.
5. After the file link is generated, right-click the link and save the file to your local system.

Refresh logs#

Use Refresh to retrieve the latest logs.

Revert Changes#

Use Revert Changes to revert previously written-back updates, enabling you to safely restore records to an earlier state. In case of incorrect changes, you can easily undo them with this option.

Only UPDATE actions can be reverted.

1. Select one or more records from the audit log that contain updated values.
2. Select Revert Changes.

3. Confirm the changes and select Revert.

The updates are rolled back to their previous state.

The revert actions are logged as shown below along with action type, user information, and reverted timestamp. The old entries are also kept intact for complete traceability.

Revert Changes is not supported for Type 3 SCD records.

Reversion in case of multiple updates in a row

If a record has been updated multiple times, the earliest modification before the selected items will be used for reversion.

For example, in this image below, the product color is modified thrice. NA > Pink > Red > Black.

The change from Pink to Red is selected for reversion.

• Any changes made after the selected modification will be undone. Both the changes - from Pink to Red and the subsequent change from Red to Black are undone.
• The record is reverted to the last modification made (NA > Pink) before the chosen change.

• On selecting Revert, the reverted state becomes the current version.

Error log

If a record is deleted after an update, that update cannot be reverted because the record no longer exists. PowerTable displays these records on the Error tab in the confirmation preview so that you can review them before proceeding.

Consider the following example, where all changes were selected for reversion. The confirmation preview shows the old and new values for records that can be reverted. For row ID 611, an error is displayed because the record was deleted after it was updated.

To exclude the deleted row(s) and proceed with reverting the remaining records, select Exclude errors and Revert.

View writeback logs#

Writeback logs provide a high-level view of writeback operations performed on a table. You can use writeback logs to monitor the status of transactions, track import and update activities, and review execution details for each writeback operation.

To view writeback logs:

1. Select PowerTable, select the dropdown arrow next to Audit, and then select Writeback Logs.
   

   

The Writeback Logs page opens and displays all writeback transactions for the selected table.

The writeback logs page includes the following information:

• ID - Unique identifier for the writeback transaction.
• Database - Name of the database associated with the transaction.
• Source - Source system where the transaction was executed.
• Transaction - Type of writeback operation performed.
• Row Count - Number of rows affected by the transaction.
• Duration - Time taken to complete the transaction.
• Status - Current status of the transaction.
• Started At - Date and time when the transaction started.
• Started By - User who performed the transaction.

Search and filter writeback logs

Use the search and filter options to locate specific writeback transactions.

The following filters are available:

• ID - Search for a specific writeback transaction by its ID.
  

  

• Transaction - Filter transactions by operation type, such as Insert, Update, Delete, SCD Update, or Bulk Import.
  

  

• Started By - Filter transactions by the user who initiated the writeback operation.
  

  

• Status - Filter transactions by status, such as Success, Partial Success, Failed, Running, or Queued.
  

  

• Job Type - Filter transactions by execution type, such as Direct or Approvals.
  

  

• Started At - Filter transactions by time period, including Within the Last 24 Hours, Last 7 Days, Last 30 Days, or a custom date range by using Between.
  

  

• Reset Filter - Clear all applied filters and restore the default view. This option becomes available when one or more filters are applied.
  

  

View last updated details#

Use the Last Updated Details columns to view the most recent update information for each record directly in the PowerTable sheet.

To insert these columns:

1. Select PowerTable, and then select the dropdown arrow next to Audit.

2. Enable the Last Updated Details toggle.
   

   

Two additional columns are added to the table:

• Last Edited At – Displays the date and time when the record was last modified.

• Last Edited By – Displays the user who last modified the record.
  

  

Disable the Last Updated Details toggle to hide these columns from the table.