Logging 

Logging Definition

Logging means “creating and storing a permanent record of events that can be reviewed, printed, and analyzed”. This record usually contains information about the source of the record, a timestamp of the event, a message, and a severity which specifies the importance of the record. As in the logs all the information of an event is kept which administrators need to control the status of the system, the database, and all applications, the logs are most important. Logs get written automatically and with a predefined granularity (the severity) which can be modified during runtime.

 

SAP has a common Logging API which is used by the J2EE engine and all SAP Java applications, so all the logs have a common format and can be displayed and analyzed in the same viewer.

 

Tracing Definition

Tracing is a “facility that writes detailed information about an operation to an output file. The trace facility produces a detailed sequence of statements that describe the events of an operation as they are executed.” Administrators and developers use the trace facility for diagnosing an abnormal condition; therefore tracing is not normally turned on. Traces can be switched on if a problem has occurred and a detailed analysis of a distinct part of a program is necessary.

 

We have to distinguish between the traces written by the Logging API, that is, the finer granularity of the logging, and performance traces which are measured by other counters. For more information about the performance traces see Performance Trace.

 

Logging Use Cases

Use Case	See
Administration
Learn more about logging functionality	SAP logging API
View logs	Log Viewer
View a log file from the file system	Standalone Log Viewer
Customize log settings	Log Configurator Service
Development
Develop logging for an application	Logging (Development Manual)
Read the quick rules for logging	How-To (Development Manual)
Understand the semantics of logging	Semantical Guidelines (Development Manual)