Frequently Asked Questions

[1] How to do the initial setup of my logging framework

[1] How to do the initial setup of my logging framework

If you are already familiar with your logging framework you might want to skip this section.

This chapter gives you a slight idea how to make the initial setup of your logger. This is NOT supported by Log4E at the moment and was not the intended use at the beginning of this project.
Log4E does not ship any logging framework which means that you have to download and install it for yourself!

Below, you find some examples how to do the initial setup (again: you have to do this for yourself).

Log4j

    1. Download Log4j at http://logging.apache.org/ and copy the log4j.jar to your lib directory.

    2. Create a new file 'log4j.properties' or 'log4j.xml' in your source directory.

    For example:
    	.../MyEclipseProject/
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/log4j.properties
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/com/mycompany/myapp/...
    
    3. Edit the 'log4j.properties' to declare your own categories, log levels and appenders (which means the output like standard out or a log file).

    log4j.properties example:
    	#######################################################################
    	# Categories and levels
    	#######################################################################
    	
    	log4j.rootCategory=ERROR, FileApp, ConApp
    	log4j.category.de.jayefem=DEBUG, FileApp, ConApp
    	
    	#######################################################################
    	# Appenders
    	#######################################################################
    	
    	# ConApp is set to be a ConsoleAppender.
    	log4j.appender.ConApp=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
    	# ConApp uses PatternLayout.
    	log4j.appender.ConApp.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
    	# Define Pattern
    	log4j.appender.ConApp.layout.ConversionPattern=%d [%t] %-5p %c - %m%n
    	
    	# FileApp
    	log4j.appender.FileApp=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
    	log4j.appender.FileApp.File=D:/proj/Devel/Java/de.jayefem.log4e/log/log4e.log
    	log4j.appender.FileApp.MaxFileSize=500KB
    	# Keep one backup file
    	log4j.appender.FileApp.MaxBackupIndex=1
    	log4j.appender.FileApp.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
    	log4j.appender.FileApp.layout.ConversionPattern=%d [%t] %-5p %c - %m%n
    
    "de.jayefem", "ConApp", "FileApp" and the path to the logfile are selfdefined. All other words are keywords of Log4j.

    4. That's all. Have fun.

    Note that there are much more possibilities to configure Log4j. Check http://logging.apache.org/ for more.

Jakarta Commons Logging

    Jakarta Commons Logging Framework is a wrapper for all common logging frameworks. If you want to use it, you have to install it AND the underlying logging framework. To install the Commons Logging download it from http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/logging/ and put the commons-logging.jar in your lib directory.
    The Commons Logging Frameworks uses Log4j by default. When Log4j isn't found in classpath and JDK 1.4 or higher is being used, the JDK 1.4 logger will be used. If none of the above applies, Commons Logging will fall back to the internal SimpleLog.

    It is also possible to specify the logging framework directly:

    1. Create a new file 'commons-logging.properties' in your source directory.

    For example:

    	.../MyEclipseProject/
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/commons-logging.properties
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/com/mycompany/myapp/...
    
    2. Edit the 'commons-logging.properties'.

    commons-logging.properties example:
    	# 
    	#org.apache.commons.logging.LogFactory=org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogFactoryImpl
    	# SimpleLog
    	#org.apache.commons.logging.Log = org.apache.commons.logging.impl.SimpleLog 
    	# JDK 1.4 logger
    	#org.apache.commons.logging.Log=org.apache.commons.logging.impl.Jdk14Logger
    	# Avalon Toolkit
    	#org.apache.commons.logging.Log=org.apache.commons.logging.impl.LogKitLogger
    	# Log4j
    	org.apache.commons.logging.Log=org.apache.commons.logging.impl.Log4JLogger
    


    As though it is not recommended to use Simplelog because it is not threadsafe, here's an example how to set it up:

    1. Create a new file 'simplelog.properties' in your source directory.

    For example:

    	.../MyEclipseProject/
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/simplelog.properties
    	.../MyEclipseProject/src/com/mycompany/myapp/...
    
    2. Edit the 'simplelog.properties' to declare your own categories and log levels.

    simplelog.properties example:
    	# Default logging detail level for all instances of SimpleLog. Must be one of 
    	# ("trace", "debug", "info", "warn", "error", or "fatal"). If not specified, 
    	# defaults to "info".
    	org.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.defaultlog=warn
    	
    	# Logging detail level for a SimpleLog instance named "xxxxx". Must be one of 
    	# ("trace", "debug", "info", "warn", "error", or "fatal"). If not specified, the 
    	# default logging detail level is used.
    	org.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.log.de.jayefem.log4e=debug
    	
    	# Set to true if you want the Log instance name to be included in output 
    	# messages. Defaults to false.
    	org.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.showlogname=false
    	
    	# Set to true if you want the last componet of the name to be included in 
    	# output messages. Defaults to true.
    	org.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.showShortLogname=true
    	
    	# Set to true if you want the current date and time to be included in output 
    	# messages. Default is false.
    	org.apache.commons.logging.simplelog.showdatetime=true
    

    See http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/logging/ for more.

JDK 1.4 logging

    1. Use JDK 1.4 or higher :-)

    2. Create a new file 'logging.properties'.

    3. Invoke your application with:
    java -Djava.util.logging.config.file=D:\your\path\to\logging.properties com.mycompany.myproject.MyClass

    logging.properties example:
    	# handlers
    	handlers=java.util.logging.FileHandler, java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler
    	
    	# general level
    	.level=INFO
    	
    	# file handler
    	java.util.logging.FileHandler.pattern = %h/java%u.log
    	java.util.logging.FileHandler.limit = 50000
    	java.util.logging.FileHandler.count = 1
    	java.util.logging.FileHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.XMLFormatter
    	
    	# console handler
    	java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.level = FINEST
    	java.util.logging.ConsoleHandler.formatter = java.util.logging.SimpleFormatter
    	test.de.jayefem.log4e.logkits.JDK1_4_Logging.level = FINEST
    

    To play around with it, feel free to use my test class JDK1_4_Logging.java

    Since I am not an expert of JDK 1.4 logging there might be better ways to configure the logging framework. Suggestions are welcome.
    See http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/api/java/util/logging/package-summary.html for more information.



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