Log4j Version 1.2.14: Class WriterAppender

org.apache.log4j Class WriterAppender

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--org.apache.log4j.AppenderSkeleton
        |
        +--org.apache.log4j.WriterAppender

All Implemented Interfaces:

Appender, OptionHandler

Direct Known Subclasses:

ConsoleAppender, FileAppender

public class WriterAppender

extends AppenderSkeleton

WriterAppender appends log events to a Writer or an OutputStream depending on the user's choice.

Since:

1.1

Author:

Ceki Gülcü

immediateFlush

protected boolean immediateFlush

Immediate flush means that the underlying writer or output stream will be flushed at the end of each append operation. Immediate flush is slower but ensures that each append request is actually written. If immediateFlush is set to false, then there is a good chance that the last few logs events are not actually written to persistent media if and when the application crashes.

The immediateFlush variable is set to true by default.

encoding

protected String encoding

The encoding to use when writing.

The encoding variable is set to null by default which results in the utilization of the system's default encoding.

qw

protected QuietWriter qw

This is the quietWriter where we will write to.

WriterAppender

public WriterAppender()

This default constructor does nothing.

WriterAppender

public WriterAppender(Layout layout,
                      OutputStream os)

Instantiate a WriterAppender and set the output destination to a new OutputStreamWriter initialized with os as its OutputStream.

WriterAppender

public WriterAppender(Layout layout,
                      Writer writer)

Instantiate a WriterAppender and set the output destination to writer.

The writer must have been previously opened by the user.

setImmediateFlush

public void setImmediateFlush(boolean value)

If the ImmediateFlush option is set to true, the appender will flush at the end of each write. This is the default behavior. If the option is set to false, then the underlying stream can defer writing to physical medium to a later time.

Avoiding the flush operation at the end of each append results in a performance gain of 10 to 20 percent. However, there is safety tradeoff involved in skipping flushing. Indeed, when flushing is skipped, then it is likely that the last few log events will not be recorded on disk when the application exits. This is a high price to pay even for a 20% performance gain.

getImmediateFlush

public boolean getImmediateFlush()

Returns value of the ImmediateFlush option.

activateOptions

public void activateOptions()

Does nothing.

Overrides:

activateOptions in class AppenderSkeleton

append

public void append(LoggingEvent event)

This method is called by the AppenderSkeleton.doAppend(org.apache.log4j.spi.LoggingEvent) method.

If the output stream exists and is writable then write a log statement to the output stream. Otherwise, write a single warning message to System.err.

The format of the output will depend on this appender's layout.

Overrides:

append in class AppenderSkeleton

checkEntryConditions

protected boolean checkEntryConditions()

This method determines if there is a sense in attempting to append.

It checks whether there is a set output target and also if there is a set layout. If these checks fail, then the boolean value false is returned.

close

public void close()

Close this appender instance. The underlying stream or writer is also closed.

Closed appenders cannot be reused.

Since:

0.8.4

See Also:

setWriter(java.io.Writer)

closeWriter

protected void closeWriter()

Close the underlying Writer.

createWriter

protected OutputStreamWriter createWriter(OutputStream os)

Returns an OutputStreamWriter when passed an OutputStream. The encoding used will depend on the value of the encoding property. If the encoding value is specified incorrectly the writer will be opened using the default system encoding (an error message will be printed to the loglog.

getEncoding

public String getEncoding()

setEncoding

public void setEncoding(String value)

setErrorHandler

public void setErrorHandler(ErrorHandler eh)

Set the ErrorHandler for this WriterAppender and also the underlying QuietWriter if any.

Overrides:

setErrorHandler in class AppenderSkeleton

setWriter

public void setWriter(Writer writer)

Sets the Writer where the log output will go. The specified Writer must be opened by the user and be writable.

The java.io.Writer will be closed when the appender instance is closed.

WARNING: Logging to an unopened Writer will fail.

Parameters:

writer - An already opened Writer.

subAppend

protected void subAppend(LoggingEvent event)

Actual writing occurs here.

Most subclasses of WriterAppender will need to override this method.

Since:

0.9.0

requiresLayout

public boolean requiresLayout()

The WriterAppender requires a layout. Hence, this method returns true.

reset

protected void reset()

Clear internal references to the writer and other variables. Subclasses can override this method for an alternate closing behavior.

writeFooter

protected void writeFooter()

Write a footer as produced by the embedded layout's Layout.getFooter() method.

writeHeader

protected void writeHeader()

Write a header as produced by the embedded layout's Layout.getHeader() method.