Setting Custom Log Levels

This section explains how to configure custom logging levels for applications that make use of the java.util.logging package and access the Application Server's logging sub system.

The java.util.logging package provides a hierarchical name space in which logger instances can be created. Whether a particular logging record is output to an Application Server instance's log file depends on the log level of the Log Record and the log level specified.

The Application Serverlogger settings configuration provides over twenty logging modules that allow fine grained control over the Application Server's own internal logging. There is also an option to create additional custom Log Modules by specifying a module name and the logging level that the module should use.

The important point here is that the logger is a static name and no inheritance is provided. Therefore, if a custom logger is configured with the name com.someorg.app and an application attempts to look up the logger com.someorg.app.submodule, then it will not be provided with a logger that inherits the settings from com.someorg.app. Instead, com.someorg.app.submodule will have a default logger that is set to log at the INFO level or higher.

If an application needs to use logger inheritance, this can be configured by editing the logging.properties file of the Java runtime that is being used to run the Application Server. For example, adding the following entry to the logging.properties file, would result in com.someorg.app.submodule inheriting the same FINE level when it is created:

com.someorg.app.level = FINE

For more details about the Java logging API, refer to the Java documentation at http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/api/java/util/logging/package-summary.html, as well as the other java.util.logging classes.