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<h1>Reading Log Files</strong></h1>
<p><code>FileAppender</code> and derived classes give you the
ability to output log messages to a files. LogFactor5 provides
developers with two easy ways to open and view these log
files. Log files can be opened locally using the File->Open
menu item or log files can be opened from a remote server
using the File->Open URL menu item.
</p>
<p>An additional feature that was added to LogFactor5 was the
ability to start the console window independently of
log4j. That is to say, you do not need to add a
<code>LF5Appender</code> to your properties file to use
LogFactor5. The benefit of this feature is that developers who
run utilities like Ant to test their applications can now view
their log files off-line (i.e. after their application has
completed the test and the JVM has shut down). Moreover, the
ability to open log files on a remote server provides the
ability for multiple developers working on the same
application to view log files independently. It also gives
developers the ability to view log files both internally and
from remote locations.
</p>
<p>LogFactor5 can read in log files created with
<code>RollingFileAppender</code>. The format of the log file
can be set in the log4j.properties or a standard properties
file and <b>must</b> follow the LogFactor5 layout conventions
in order for LogFactor5 to read the file. The following is an
example of a properties file with the LogFactor5 conversion
pattern added:
</p>
<pre><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">
log4j.rootLogger=debug, R
# R is the RollingFileAppender that outputs to a rolling log
# file called sample.log.
log4j.appender.R=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.R.File=sample.log
# Define a pattern layout for the file.
# For more information on conversion characters (i.e. d,p,t,c,l,m,n)
# please see the PatternLayout class of the Log4j API.
log4j.appender.R.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
# The following normally appears on one single line.
<b>log4j.appender.R.layout.ConversionPattern=[slf5s.start]%d{DATE}[slf5s.DATE]%n\
%p[slf5s.PRIORITY]%n%x[slf5s.NDC]%n%t[slf5s.THREAD]%n\
%c[slf5s.CATEGORY]%n%l[slf5s.LOCATION]%n%m[slf5s.MESSAGE]%n%n</b>
# Set the max size of the file
log4j.appender.R.MaxFileSize=500KB</font></pre>
<p>You are free to use any or all of the main conversion
characters to create your log file (i.e. %p for
Priority). There are only two requirements for the conversion
pattern. First, the conversion pattern string <b>must</b>
start with the tag <b>[slf5s.start]</b>. Second, for each
log4j conversion character listed in the conversion pattern
string, a corresponding LogFactor5 tag <b>must</b> be placed
immediately <b>after</b> the character. The following is a
complete list of the log4j characters and LogFactor5 tags:
</p>
<pre><font face="Times New Roman, Times, serif">Date - %d{DATE}[slf5s.DATE]
Priority - %p[slf5s.PRIORITY]
NDC - %x[slf5s.NDC]
Thread - %t[slf5s.THREAD]
Category - %c[slf5s.CATEGORY]
Location - %l[slf5s.LOCATION]
Message - %m[slf5s.MESSAGE]</font>
</pre>
<p> <b>Note:</b> The order of the characters does not matter so
you are free to layout your log file any way you like. Just
remember to include the LogFactor5 start tag at the beginning
of the string and any LogFactor5 tags after each corresponding
log4j conversion character. For more information or to see a
working example, try the OpeningLogFiles example in the
examples directory.
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