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<header>
<copyright>
<year>1996</year><year>2009</year>
<holder>Ericsson AB. All Rights Reserved.</holder>
</copyright>
<legalnotice>
The contents of this file are subject to the Erlang Public License,
Version 1.1, (the "License"); you may not use this file except in
compliance with the License. You should have received a copy of the
Erlang Public License along with this software. If not, it can be
retrieved online at http://www.erlang.org/.
Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
under the License.
</legalnotice>
<title>error_logger</title>
<prepared></prepared>
<docno></docno>
<date></date>
<rev></rev>
</header>
<module>error_logger</module>
<modulesummary>Erlang Error Logger</modulesummary>
<description>
<p>The Erlang <em>error logger</em> is an event manager (see
<seealso marker="doc/design_principles:des_princ">OTP Design Principles</seealso> and
<seealso marker="stdlib:gen_event">gen_event(3)</seealso>),
registered as <c>error_logger</c>. Error, warning and info events
are sent to the error logger from the Erlang runtime system and
the different Erlang/OTP applications. The events are, by default,
logged to tty. Note that an event from a process <c>P</c> is
logged at the node of the group leader of <c>P</c>. This means
that log output is directed to the node from which a process was
created, which not necessarily is the same node as where it is
executing.</p>
<p>Initially, <c>error_logger</c> only has a primitive event
handler, which buffers and prints the raw event messages. During
system startup, the application Kernel replaces this with a
<em>standard event handler</em>, by default one which writes
nicely formatted output to tty. Kernel can also be configured so
that events are logged to file instead, or not logged at all, see
<seealso marker="kernel_app">kernel(6)</seealso>.</p>
<p>Also the SASL application, if started, adds its own event
handler, which by default writes supervisor-, crash- and progress
reports to tty. See
<seealso marker="sasl:sasl_app">sasl(6)</seealso>.</p>
<p>It is recommended that user defined applications should report
errors through the error logger, in order to get uniform reports.
User defined event handlers can be added to handle application
specific events. (<c>add_report_handler/1,2</c>). Also, there is
a useful event handler in STDLIB for multi-file logging of events,
see <c>log_mf_h(3)</c>.</p>
<p>Warning events was introduced in Erlang/OTP R9C. To retain
backwards compatibility, these are by default tagged as errors,
thus showing up as error reports in the logs. By using
the command line flag <c><![CDATA[+W <w | i>]]></c>, they can instead
be tagged as warnings or info. Tagging them as warnings may
require rewriting existing user defined event handlers.</p>
</description>
<funcs>
<func>
<name>error_msg(Format) -> ok</name>
<name>error_msg(Format, Data) -> ok</name>
<name>format(Format, Data) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send an standard error event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Format = string()</v>
<v>Data = [term()]</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard error event to the error logger.
The <c>Format</c> and <c>Data</c> arguments are the same as
the arguments of <c>io:format/2</c>. The event is handled by
the standard event handler.</p>
<pre>
1> <input>error_logger:error_msg("An error occurred in ~p~n", [a_module]).</input>
=ERROR REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::14:03:19 ===
An error occurred in a_module
ok</pre>
<warning>
<p>If called with bad arguments, this function can crash
the standard event handler, meaning no further events are
logged. When in doubt, use <c>error_report/1</c> instead.</p>
</warning>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>error_report(Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a standard error report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard error report event to the error logger.
The event is handled by the standard event handler.</p>
<pre>
2> <input>error_logger:error_report([{tag1,data1},a_term,{tag2,data}]).</input>
=ERROR REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::13:45:41 ===
tag1: data1
a_term
tag2: data
ok
3> <input>error_logger:error_report("Serious error in my module").</input>
=ERROR REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::13:45:49 ===
Serious error in my module
ok</pre>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>error_report(Type, Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a user defined error report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Type = term()</v>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a user defined error report event to the error logger.
An event handler to handle the event is supposed to have been
added. The event is ignored by the standard event handler.</p>
<p>It is recommended that <c>Report</c> follows the same
structure as for <c>error_report/1</c>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>warning_map() -> Tag</name>
<fsummary>Return the current mapping for warning events</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Tag = error | warning | info</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Returns the current mapping for warning events. Events sent
using <c>warning_msg/1,2</c> or <c>warning_report/1,2</c>
are tagged as errors (default), warnings or info, depending
on the value of the command line flag <c>+W</c>.</p>
<pre>
os$ <input>erl</input>
Erlang (BEAM) emulator version 5.4.8 [hipe] [threads:0] [kernel-poll]
Eshell V5.4.8 (abort with ^G)
1> <input>error_logger:warning_map().</input>
error
2> <input>error_logger:warning_msg("Warnings tagged as: ~p~n", [error]).</input>
=ERROR REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::15:31:23 ===
Warnings tagged as: error
ok
3>
User switch command
--> q
os$ <input>erl +W w</input>
Erlang (BEAM) emulator version 5.4.8 [hipe] [threads:0] [kernel-poll]
Eshell V5.4.8 (abort with ^G)
1> <input>error_logger:warning_map().</input>
warning
2> <input>error_logger:warning_msg("Warnings tagged as: ~p~n", [warning]).</input>
=WARNING REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::15:31:55 ===
Warnings tagged as: warning
ok</pre>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>warning_msg(Format) -> ok</name>
<name>warning_msg(Format, Data) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a standard warning event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Format = string()</v>
<v>Data = [term()]</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard warning event to the error logger.
The <c>Format</c> and <c>Data</c> arguments are the same as
the arguments of <c>io:format/2</c>. The event is handled by
the standard event handler. It is tagged either as an error,
warning or info, see
<seealso marker="#warning_map/0">warning_map/0</seealso>.</p>
<warning>
<p>If called with bad arguments, this function can crash
the standard event handler, meaning no further events are
logged. When in doubt, use <c>warning_report/1</c> instead.</p>
</warning>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>warning_report(Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a standard warning report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard warning report event to the error logger.
The event is handled by the standard event handler. It is
tagged either as an error, warning or info, see
<seealso marker="#warning_map/0">warning_map/0</seealso>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>warning_report(Type, Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a user defined warning report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Type = term()</v>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a user defined warning report event to the error
logger. An event handler to handle the event is supposed to
have been added. The event is ignored by the standard event
handler. It is tagged either as an error, warning or info,
depending on the value of
<seealso marker="#warning_map/0">warning_map/0</seealso>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>info_msg(Format) -> ok</name>
<name>info_msg(Format, Data) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a standard information event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Format = string()</v>
<v>Data = [term()]</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard information event to the error logger.
The <c>Format</c> and <c>Data</c> arguments are the same as
the arguments of <c>io:format/2</c>. The event is handled by
the standard event handler.</p>
<pre>
1> <input>error_logger:info_msg("Something happened in ~p~n", [a_module]).</input>
=INFO REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::14:06:15 ===
Something happened in a_module
ok</pre>
<warning>
<p>If called with bad arguments, this function can crash
the standard event handler, meaning no further events are
logged. When in doubt, use <c>info_report/1</c> instead.</p>
</warning>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>info_report(Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a standard information report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a standard information report event to the error
logger. The event is handled by the standard event handler.</p>
<pre>
2> <input>error_logger:info_report([{tag1,data1},a_term,{tag2,data}]).</input>
=INFO REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::13:55:09 ===
tag1: data1
a_term
tag2: data
ok
3> <input>error_logger:info_report("Something strange happened").</input>
=INFO REPORT==== 11-Aug-2005::13:55:36 ===
Something strange happened
ok</pre>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>info_report(Type, Report) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Send a user defined information report event to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Type = term()</v>
<v>Report = [{Tag, Data} | term()] | string() | term()</v>
<v> Tag = Data = term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Sends a user defined information report event to the error
logger. An event handler to handle the event is supposed to
have been added. The event is ignored by the standard event
handler.</p>
<p>It is recommended that <c>Report</c> follows the same
structure as for <c>info_report/1</c>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>add_report_handler(Handler) -> Result</name>
<name>add_report_handler(Handler, Args) -> Result</name>
<fsummary>Add an event handler to the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Handler, Args, Result -- see gen_event:add_handler/3</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Adds a new event handler to the error logger. The event
handler must be implemented as a <c>gen_event</c> callback
module, see
<seealso marker="stdlib:gen_event">gen_event(3)</seealso>.</p>
<p><c>Handler</c> is typically the name of the callback module
and <c>Args</c> is an optional term (defaults to []) passed
to the initialization callback function <c>Module:init/1</c>.
The function returns <c>ok</c> if successful.</p>
<p>The event handler must be able to handle the
<seealso marker="#events">events</seealso> described below.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>delete_report_handler(Handler) -> Result</name>
<fsummary>Delete an event handler from the error logger</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Handler, Result -- see gen_event:delete_handler/3</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Deletes an event handler from the error logger by calling
<c>gen_event:delete_handler(error_logger, Handler, [])</c>,
see <seealso marker="stdlib:gen_event">gen_event(3)</seealso>.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>tty(Flag) -> ok</name>
<fsummary>Enable or disable printouts to the tty</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Flag = bool()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Enables (<c>Flag == true</c>) or disables
(<c>Flag == false</c>) printout of standard events to the tty.</p>
<p>This is done by adding or deleting the standard event handler
for output to tty, thus calling this function overrides
the value of the Kernel <c>error_logger</c> configuration
parameter.</p>
</desc>
</func>
<func>
<name>logfile(Request) -> ok | Filename | {error, What}</name>
<fsummary>Enable or disable error printouts to a file</fsummary>
<type>
<v>Request = {open, Filename} | close | filename</v>
<v> Filename = atom() | string()</v>
<v>What = allready_have_logfile | no_log_file | term()</v>
</type>
<desc>
<p>Enables or disables printout of standard events to a file.</p>
<p>This is done by adding or deleting the standard event handler
for output to file, thus calling this function overrides
the value of the Kernel <c>error_logger</c> configuration
parameter.</p>
<p>Enabling file logging can be used in combination with calling
<c>tty(false)</c>, in order to have a silent system, where
all standard events are logged to a file only.
There can only be one active log file at a time.</p>
<p><c>Request</c> is one of:</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{open, Filename}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Opens the log file <c>Filename</c>. Returns <c>ok</c> if
successful, or <c>{error, allready_have_logfile}</c> if
logging to file is already enabled, or an error tuple if
another error occurred. For example, if <c>Filename</c>
could not be opened.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>close</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Closes the current log file. Returns <c>ok</c>, or
<c>{error, What}</c>.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>filename</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Returns the name of the log file <c>Filename</c>, or
<c>{error, no_log_file}</c> if logging to file is not
enabled.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
</desc>
</func>
</funcs>
<section>
<marker id="events"></marker>
<title>Events</title>
<p>All event handlers added to the error logger must handle
the following events. <c>Gleader</c> is the group leader pid of
the process which sent the event, and <c>Pid</c> is the process
which sent the event.</p>
<taglist>
<tag><c>{error, Gleader, {Pid, Format, Data}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>error_msg/1,2</c> or <c>format</c> is
called.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{error_report, Gleader, {Pid, std_error, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>error_report/1</c> is called.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{error_report, Gleader, {Pid, Type, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>error_report/2</c> is called.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{warning_msg, Gleader, {Pid, Format, Data}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>warning_msg/1,2</c> is called, provided
that warnings are set to be tagged as warnings.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{warning_report, Gleader, {Pid, std_warning, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>warning_report/1</c> is called, provided
that warnings are set to be tagged as warnings.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{warning_report, Gleader, {Pid, Type, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>warning_report/2</c> is called, provided
that warnings are set to be tagged as warnings.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{info_msg, Gleader, {Pid, Format, Data}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>info_msg/1,2</c> is called.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{info_report, Gleader, {Pid, std_info, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>info_report/1</c> is called.</p>
</item>
<tag><c>{info_report, Gleader, {Pid, Type, Report}}</c></tag>
<item>
<p>Generated when <c>info_report/2</c> is called.</p>
</item>
</taglist>
<p>Note that also a number of system internal events may be
received, a catch-all clause last in the definition of
the event handler callback function <c>Module:handle_event/2</c>
is necessary. This also holds true for
<c>Module:handle_info/2</c>, as there are a number of system
internal messages the event handler must take care of as well.</p>
</section>
<section>
<title>SEE ALSO</title>
<p>gen_event(3), log_mf_h(3), kernel(6), sasl(6)</p>
</section>
</erlref>
