re #34

Improveed handling if properties file missing.
Changed VS build to use dynamic loading

Code/Mantid/API/src/AlgorithmHistory.cpp

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 // Includes
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------
 #include "MantidAPI/AlgorithmHistory.h"
-
+#include "boost/date_time/posix_time/posix_time.hpp"
 
 namespace Mantid
 {

Code/Mantid/API/src/FrameworkManager.cpp

@@ -52,10 +52,12 @@ void FrameworkManager::initialize()
   workFactory = WorkspaceFactory::Instance();
   data = AnalysisDataService::Instance();
 
-  config->loadConfig("Mantid.properties");
   std::string pluginDir = config->getString("plugins.directory");
-  libManager = Mantid::Kernel::LibraryManager::Instance();
-  libManager->OpenAllLibraries(pluginDir, false);
+  if (pluginDir.length() > 0)
+  {
+    libManager = Mantid::Kernel::LibraryManager::Instance();
+    libManager->OpenAllLibraries(pluginDir, false);
+  }
   return;
 }
 

Code/Mantid/Kernel/inc/MantidKernel/ConfigService.h

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 // Includes
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------
 #include "MantidKernel/System.h"
+#include "MantidKernel/Logger.h"
 #include <iostream>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <string>
@@ -151,6 +152,9 @@ namespace Kernel
 		/// Pointer to the factory instance
 		static ConfigService* m_instance;
 
+    /// static reference to the logger class
+	  static Logger& g_log;
+
 	};
 
 } // namespace Kernel

Code/Mantid/Kernel/src/ConfigService.cpp

@@ -17,6 +17,9 @@ namespace Kernel
 	// Initialise the instance pointer to zero
 	ConfigService* ConfigService::m_instance=0;
 
+  // Get a reference to the logger
+  Logger& ConfigService::g_log = Logger::get("ConfigService");
+
   /** A static method which retrieves the single instance of the ConfigService
    *
    * @returns A pointer to the instance
@@ -102,11 +105,21 @@ namespace Kernel
    *  returns the value as a string.
    *
    *  @param keyName The case sensitive name of the property that you need the value of.
-   *  @returns The string value of the property
+   *  @returns The string value of the property, or an empty string if the key cannot be found
    */
 	std::string ConfigService::getString(const std::string& keyName)
 	{
-		return m_pConf->getString(keyName);
+    std::string retVal;
+    try
+    {
+      retVal = m_pConf->getString(keyName);
+    }
+    catch(Poco::NotFoundException& ex)
+    {
+      g_log.warning()<<"Unable to find " << keyName << " in the properties file";
+      retVal = "";
+    }
+		return retVal;
 	}
 
   /** Searches for a string within the currently loaded configuaration values and 

Code/Mantid/Main/Benchmark.cpp

 #include <iostream>
 #include <iomanip>
 #include <ctime>
-#include "Benchmark.h"
+#include "Benchmark.h"
+#include "MantidAPI\IAlgorithm.h"
 
 using namespace Mantid::Kernel;
 using namespace Mantid::DataObjects;
-using namespace Mantid::API;
-using namespace Mantid::Algorithms;
-
+using namespace Mantid::API;
 
 Workspace1D_sptr Benchmark::Create1DWorkspaceFib(int size)
 {
@@ -89,15 +88,16 @@ void Benchmark::RunPlusTest(int detectorCount, int timeBinCount)
   ADS->add("test_in11", work_in3);
   ADS->add("test_in12", work_in4);
 
-  Plus plus_alg;
+  
+  IAlgorithm* alg = FrameworkManager::Instance()->createAlgorithm("Plus");
 
-  plus_alg.initialize();
-  plus_alg.setPropertyValue("InputWorkspace_1","test_in11");
-  plus_alg.setPropertyValue("InputWorkspace_2","test_in12");    
-  plus_alg.setPropertyValue("OutputWorkspace","test_out1");
+  //alg.initialize();
+  alg->setPropertyValue("InputWorkspace_1","test_in11");
+  alg->setPropertyValue("InputWorkspace_2","test_in12");    
+  alg->setPropertyValue("OutputWorkspace","test_out1");
 
   clock_t start = clock();
-  plus_alg.execute();
+  alg->execute();
   clock_t end = clock();
 
   Workspace_sptr work_out1 = ADS->retrieve("test_out1");

Code/Mantid/Main/Benchmark.h

@@ -5,8 +5,7 @@
 // Includes
 //----------------------------------------------------------------------
 #include "MantidAPI/AnalysisDataService.h"
-#include "MantidAlgorithms/Plus.h"
-#include "MantidAlgorithms/Multiply.h"
+#include "MantidAPI/FrameworkManager.h"
 #include "MantidAPI/Workspace.h"
 #include "MantidAPI/Algorithm.h"
 #include "MantidDataObjects/Workspace1D.h" 

Code/Mantid/Main/Main.cpp

@@ -8,8 +8,7 @@
 
 using namespace Mantid::Kernel;
 using namespace Mantid::DataObjects;
-using namespace Mantid::API;
-using namespace Mantid::Algorithms;
+using namespace Mantid::API;
 
 
 
@@ -17,7 +16,7 @@ int main()
 {
 
   FrameworkManager* fm = FrameworkManager::Instance();
-  //fm->initialize();
+  fm->initialize();
 
   Benchmark b;
   b.RunPlusTest();

Code/Mantid/Main/Main.vcproj

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
 			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCLinkerTool"
-				AdditionalDependencies="$(SolutionName)API.lib $(SolutionName)Kernel.lib $(SolutionName)Algorithms.lib $(SolutionName)Geometry.lib $(SolutionName)DataHandling.lib $(SolutionName)DataObjects.lib"
+				AdditionalDependencies="$(SolutionName)API.lib $(SolutionName)Kernel.lib $(SolutionName)Geometry.lib"
 				OutputFile="$(OutDir)\$(SolutionName)$(ProjectName).exe"
 				AdditionalLibraryDirectories="..\..\Third_Party\lib\win32;..\Debug"
 				GenerateDebugInformation="true"
@@ -122,9 +122,9 @@
 			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCLinkerTool"
-				AdditionalDependencies="$(SolutionName)API.lib $(SolutionName)Kernel.lib $(SolutionName)Algorithms.lib $(SolutionName)Geometry.lib $(SolutionName)DataHandling.lib $(SolutionName)DataObjects.lib"
+				AdditionalDependencies="$(SolutionName)API.lib $(SolutionName)Kernel.lib $(SolutionName)Geometry.lib $(SolutionName)DataObjects.lib"
 				OutputFile="$(OutDir)\$(SolutionName)$(ProjectName).exe"
-				AdditionalLibraryDirectories="..\Release"
+				AdditionalLibraryDirectories="..\Release;..\..\Third_Party\lib\win32"
 			/>
 			<Tool
 				Name="VCALinkTool"

Code/Mantid/debug/Mantid.properties

+#framework configuration
+plugins.directory = .
+
+#logging configuration
+logging.loggers.root.level = debug
+logging.loggers.root.channel.class = SplitterChannel
+logging.loggers.root.channel.channel1 = consoleChannel
+logging.loggers.root.channel.channel2 = fileChannel
+logging.channels.consoleChannel.class = ConsoleChannel
+logging.channels.consoleChannel.formatter = f1
+logging.channels.fileChannel.class = FileChannel
+logging.channels.fileChannel.path = mantid.log
+logging.channels.fileChannel.formatter.class = PatternFormatter
+logging.channels.fileChannel.formatter.pattern = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S,%i [%I] %p %s - %t
+logging.formatters.f1.class = PatternFormatter
+logging.formatters.f1.pattern = %s-[%p] %t
+logging.formatters.f1.times = UTC;

Code/Mantid/release/Mantid.properties

+#framework configuration
+plugins.directory = .
+
+#logging configuration
+logging.loggers.root.level = debug
+logging.loggers.root.channel.class = SplitterChannel
+logging.loggers.root.channel.channel1 = consoleChannel
+logging.loggers.root.channel.channel2 = fileChannel
+logging.channels.consoleChannel.class = ConsoleChannel
+logging.channels.consoleChannel.formatter = f1
+logging.channels.fileChannel.class = FileChannel
+logging.channels.fileChannel.path = mantid.log
+logging.channels.fileChannel.formatter.class = PatternFormatter
+logging.channels.fileChannel.formatter.pattern = %Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S,%i [%I] %p %s - %t
+logging.formatters.f1.class = PatternFormatter
+logging.formatters.f1.pattern = %s-[%p] %t
+logging.formatters.f1.times = UTC;