Setting up the log configurations

Log Writers – specifies where the log messages is written (a file, the event log, a database, ...)

Log writers are of two types:

1. FileLogWriter— writes log messages into files in the file system

   The XML attributes supported by FileLogWriter are listed in the table below:

   XML Attribute	Description
   Name	The name of the log writer. This name has to be specified as XML attribute writerName on the <Channel /> element. This is a mandatory attribute.
   type	The class name and assembly implementing the file log writer. Default value is update.Lib.Logging.Writers.FileLogWriter,update.Lib. It is a mandatory attribute.
   filePath	The path to the log file. You can use environment variables. Relative paths relatives to the applications base directory. It is a mandatory attribute.
   maxSizeKB	The maximum size of the log file in KB. What happens if this limit is exceed can be defined by XML attribute rollingMode.
   closeOnIdleTimeout	The number of seconds after which the log file is closed when being idle. Use the rollingMode attribute to define when backup log files is created. "None" - No backup log files is created "Startup" - A new backup log file is created every time the process starts. "Size" - A new backup log files is created when the size specified in maxSizeKB is exceeded. "Date" - A new backup log file is created for every day. Multiple values can be combined using "," (for example, "Startup,Size")
   encoding	Specify the encoding (default is the operating system's current ANSI codepage). Common values are "utf-8" and "utf-16". See http://msdn.microsoft.com/de-de/library/system.text.encoding.aspx for a complete list.
   compressBackup	If "True" the backup log files is compressed using gzip (default "False").
   maxBackups	The maximum number of backup log files that is created. If this limit is exceeded the oldest log files is deleted.
   backupFolder	The folder where backup log files is stored. You can use environment variables. Relative paths relates to the applications base directory.
   autoFlush	If "True" (default) the log file is flushed after every write. This ensures that in case the logging process is terminated all the log messages are in the file.
   includeDateInBackupFileName	If "True" a date is included in the backup file name. If "False" (default) the backup files is numbered consecutively.

   A sample usage of the FileLogWriter element is shown below:

   ...   
   <Logging>
       ...
       <Writer name="fileLogWriter"
               type="update.Lib.Logging.Writers.FileLogWriter,update.Lib"
               filePath="myapplication.log"
   />
       ...
   </Logging>
   ... 

2. SysLogWriter— sends log messages over a network using TCP or UDP packets.

   Though it does not contain any SysLog-specific logic, it is designed to be used in combination with some flavor of the SysLogFormatter.

   The XML attributes supported by SysLogWriter are listed in the table below:

   XML Attribute	Description
   Name	The name of the log writer. This name has to be specified as XML attribute writerName on the <Channel /> element.
   type	The class name and assembly implementing the Sys log writer. Default value is update.Lib.Logging.Writers.SysLogWriter,update.Lib.
   filePath	The path to the log file. You can use environment variables. Relative paths relates to the applications base directory.
   host	The hostname or IP address of the target for the communication.
   port	The port number of the target for the communication.
   protocol	The communication protocol to be used (tcp or udp are supported).

   A sample usage of the FileLogWriter element is shown below.

   ...   
   <Logging>
       ...
       <Writer name="mySysLogWriter"
               type="update.Lib.Logging.Writers.SysLogWriter,update.Lib"
               host="syslogserver.acme.com"
               port="514"
               protocol="udp"
   />
       ...
   </Logging>
   ...

Log Formatters – specifies how the lines in the log is formatted.

You can specify the formats of the log messages using the log formatter elements. The following elements are available:

DefaultLogFormatter

The DefaultLogFormatter is a generic formatter. The following sample shows an example of its usage:

...   
<Logging>
    ...
    <Formatter name="myFormatter"
            type="update.Lib.Logging.Formatters.DefaultLogFormatter,update.Lib"
/>
    ...
</Logging>
...

The XML attributes supported by DefaultLogFormatter element are listed in the table below:

WebSysLogFormatter

The web SysLog formatter formats the messages in a web context so that they can be interpreted by a SysLog server. Apart from the standard set of XML attributes it supports the following:

The following sample shows the usage of WebSysLogFormatter element:

...   
<Logging>
    ...
    <Formatter name="myFormatter"
            type="update.Web.Logging.WebSysLogFormatter,update.Web"
/>
    ...
</Logging>
...

Channel

A channel element combines a formatter element and a writer element. A channel element defines how the messages are written (using the formatter elements) and where to write the log messages (using the writer elements).

The following code example, shows the usage of a Channel element:

...   
<Logging>
     ...
     <Channel logLevel="Warning"
             writerName="myLogWriter"
             formatterName="myLogFormatter" />
     ...
</Logging>
...

The Channel element supports the following XML attributes: