We’re pleased to announce the new release of LogDigger servlet library. There are several significant changes related to this release:

• The new name of the library is LogDigger Connector for Java.
• The library has been open sourced under the Apache License v2.0.
• There was a major refactoring of the package tree. Please check the change log file in the distribution or documentation for details.
• LogDigger appender for Log4j can be added to Log4j configuration and configured directly as any other appender.
• Better support for integration with Spring Framework (filter can be initialized through DelegatingFilterProxy)
• Support for use on the Google App Engine (experimental)

There’s also a quick start article that should put you on the right track with receiving server logs in your browser.

In version 0.4 we introduced dynamic changing of logging levels that does not waste server resources if logging of low priority events is not requested by Firefox add-on. Unfortunately, due to bug we had, Log4j appenders were able to register only events that were at level with root logger hence ignoring the rest of Log4j configuration.

LogDigger servlet library v0.4.2 addresses this problem so that all Log4j appenders receive events as LogDigger were not installed.

As always, feel free to use forum to ask us a question or report any issue you may have.

LogDigger Servlet Library v0.4 has been released today. The major improvement is handling of Log4j logging levels on the server side, as explained bellow.

Performance effect of the new LogDigger servlet library is near to none:

1. When there are no requests from authorized LogDigger clients (Firefox extension) all Log4j loggers in web application have their logging levels set at configuration defaults.
2. If LogDigger client accesses application requiring logs on the “server level”, no changes will be made to default logging levels and log messages will be collected and delivered as they pass Log4j event filtering mechanism.
3. When LogDigger client requires messages at level that is lower than logger’s default, LogDigger will temporary (until HTTP request completes) set logging level to the requested level and collect messages. Other Log4j appenders will not be affected by this change as LogDigger filters events before they’re delivered to configured appenders.

Above described mechanism can be tested using our Test Lab page delivered with the new demo application.

Log4j logging levels test in servlet