using log4j for clearing a file?

Question

im using log4j to write into a file with the following properties file :

log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, FA

#File Appender
log4j.appender.FA=org.apache.log4j.FileAppender
log4j.appender.FA.File=temp.ppr
log4j.appender.FA.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.FA.layout.ConversionPattern= %m%n

My problem is , that in each run of my program , i want to clear the file "temp.ppr" , and then write to it efficiently with lo4j? or do you recommend other solutions?

thanks

Answer 1

You could do this:

log4j.appender.FA=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.FA.MaxBackupIndex=1

And then in the startup code of the application:

Logger.getRootLogger().getAppender("FA").rollOver()

That way, for each run of the program, the existing log is moved to "temp.ppr.1" and "temp.ppr" starts new. This way, you always have the log of the previous run as well.

Answer 2

Have you tried just setting the append property on the FileAppender to false?

log4j.appender.FA.append=false

Answer 3

I would suggest as part of your build tool (Apache Ant or Maven) to take care of clearing the file you don't want. Alternatively if you want to keep a backup you can use the RollingFileAppender