Customizing core log files

Issues that you encounter while generating documents from the templates and document specifications are listed in the core log files. You can customize the location of the rpe.log file, for example.

Before you begin

You can enable debug mode to include messages in the core log files that describe how each element is processed during document generation. By default, debug mode is not enabled. See Setting the engine preferences for information about enabling debug mode.

About this task

The location of the file that contains logging customizations is %RPE_HOME%\config\log4j.properties. Properties that include the text txtOutput apply to the core log files.
Table 1. Log properties
Log property Default value Description
log4j.appender.txtOutput.File ${java.io.tmpdir}/RPE/rpe.log The default location of the rpe.log file is the user home directory in the application data. You can edit this value to another directory location. See the Example: Changing the output location below.
log4j.appender.txtOutput.MaxFileSize 1000KB The size at which a new log file is created. When the size of the rpe.log file is equal or greater than 1MB, then the file is renamed rpe.log.1, rpe.log.2, etc and the rpe.log is generated new. rpe.log is always the newest log file.
log4j.appender.txtOutput.Threshold DEBUG The minimal degree of severity of the messages in the log file. You can enter any of the following thresholds, listed from least to greatest severity:
  1. DEBUG
  2. INFO
  3. WARNING
  4. ERROR
You can also set the threshold value to OFF to disable logging.
log4j.appender.txtOutput.layout.ConversionPattern %d{dd-MM-yyyy}T%d{HH:mm:ss:SS} %m %n
  • %d{dd-MM-yyyy}T%d{HH:mm:ss:SS}: The date and the time of the log event
  • %m: Log message
  • %n: Enters a carriage return

Example: Changing the output location

About this task

The default location of the rpe.log file is the user home folder:
Table 2. Paths to rpe.log by operating system
Operating system Path to rpe.log
Windows XP C:\Documents and Settings\user\temp\RPE\rpe.log
Windows 7 C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Temp\RPE\rpe.log

Procedure

  1. Open the %RPE_HOME%\config\log4j.properties file with a text editor.
  2. Locate the line:

    log4j.appender.txtOutput.File=${java.io.tmpdir}/RPE/rpe.log

    The ${java.io.tmpdir} indicates the default location of the user home folder.
  3. Edit the file path after the equals sign to a new location for your log file. Example:

    log4j.appender.txtOutput.File=C:\rpe.log

  4. Save the changes.

Feedback