Log « Development « Java Articles

This article has three sections. The first covers logfiles, event sources, event categories, event identifiers, and event messages. The second section demonstrates how to create a message file as a DLL, how to make the DLL self-registering, and how to create a JNI DLL that exposes a method to direct events to the NT Event Log. Finally, you'll see a sample Java program illustrating the JNI method in action.

Traditionally this means using a logging framework like log4j or the Java Logging API, and then writing and maintaining all necessary log statements manually. This is very tedious and error-prone, and well-suited for automation. Java 5 added the Java Instrumentation mechanism, which allows you to provide "Java agents" that can inspect and modify the byte code of the classes as they are loaded.

Common Base Event logging provides problem-determination data rich in activity and control-flow information that the Log and Trace Analyzer uses to accelerate problem determination and increase system serviceability and quality. This tutorial shows how to streamline Common Base Event logging instrumentation in the Java programming language to reduce complexity and instrumentation code size. You'll learn techniques and best practices that reduce maintenance requirements and let you increase customized, vendor-specific content.

Logging provides a way to capture information about the operation of an application. Once captured, the information can be used for many purposes, but it is particularly useful for debugging, troubleshooting, and auditing. This article takes a look at logging in Java applications, presenting information on logging software, benefits, costs, and basic techniques.