Using the afp2pdf tracing and logging facility

Parameters to control settings for the tracing and logging facility of afp2pdf transform are specified in a configuration file. By default, the name of the file is tracer.cfg. The tracing facility can provide a large amount of information about how the transform performed the operations and also how the code was run.

The new tracing/logging facility uses a hierarchical model with nine levels of details:

OFF

All traces are not logged.

SEVERE

Only severe errors are logged.

WARNING

The severe errors and warnings are logged.

CONFIG

All above and also the configuration information are logged.

INFO

All above and general information messages are logged.

FINE

All above and fine debugging messages are logged.

FINER

All above and finer debugging messages are logged.

FINEST

All above and finest debugging messages are logged.

ALL

All messages are logged.

By default, all traces are off and no messages are logged in the trace file. To start the tracer/logger, follow these steps:

1. The tracer.cfg file is located in the same directory as the afp2pdf.exe, and it looks like this:

   ; BEGIN OF TRACER.CFG FILE
   ;
   ; This file is used for configuring the tracer.
   ;
   ; ALL KEYS AND VALUES FROM THIS FILE ARE CASE SENSITIVE!!!
   ;
   ; Key name:         TRACE-LEVEL
   ; Possible values:  OFF,SEVERE,WARNING,CONFIG,INFO,FINE,FINER,FINEST,ALL
   ; Default value:    OFF
   ; Description:      Set the level of details that are recorded by the 
   ;							tracer. The order of the values is also the level 
   ;							of visibility. For example: if the tracer is set 
   ;							to level CONFIG, all levels prior to this level 
   ;							are recorded (SEVERE, WARNING and CONFIG).
   ;                   OFF is to shutdown the trace completely
   ;                   ALL is the most detailed level of tracing
   TRACE-LEVEL         = INFO
   
   ; Key name:         TRACE-PATH
   ; Possible values:  A valid location on the disk. If empty then the 
   ;							trace will use the current working directory.
   ; Default value:
   ; Description:      Specifies where the log files are going to be 
   ;							created.
   TRACE-PATH          =
   
   ; Key name:         TRACE-FILENAME
   ; Possible values:  A filename that contains the %d or %u inside 
   ;							of it.
   ; Default value:    trace%d.log
   ; Description:      This is used as template for creating the trace 
   ;							filename. The %d or %u is used to specify the 
   ;							current number of the trace.
   TRACE-FILENAME      = trace%d.log
   
   ; Key name:         MAX-BACKUP-TRACE
   ; Possible values:  A positive number
   ; Default value:    3
   ; Description:      This field specifies how many backups of the 
   ;							trace should be kept on the disk before 
   ;							start deleting them.
   MAX-BACKUP-TRACE    = 3
   
    
   ; Key name:         TRACE-MAX-SIZE
   ; Possible values:  A positive number for the size of the trace 
   ;							file in bytes.
   ; Default value:    5242880 ~ 5Mb 
   ; Description:      This field specifies how big the trace file 
   ;							should be before wrapping the file.
   TRACE-MAX-SIZE      = 5242880
   
   ; Key name:         OUTPUT-TO-STDERR
   ; Possible values:  YES,NO
   ; Default value:    NO
   ; Description:      This field tells if the trace messages should 
   ;							be sent to standard error or not. This parameter 
   ;							can be combined with OUTPUT-TO-STDOUT and 
   ;							OUTPUT-TO-FILE for writing to multiple locations.
   OUTPUT-TO-STDERR    = NO
   
   ; Key name:         OUTPUT-TO-STDOUT
   ; Possible values:  YES,NO
   ; Default value:    NO
   ; Description:      This field tells if the trace messages should be 
   ;							sent to standard output or 
   ;                   not
   OUTPUT-TO-STDOUT    = NO
   
   ; Key name:         OUTPUT-TO-FILE
   ; Possible values:  YES,NO
   ; Default value:    YES
   ; Description:      This field tells if the trace messages should be 
   ;							sent to the trace file or not
   OUTPUT-TO-FILE      = NO
   
   ; END OF TRACER.CFG FILE
   

   Note: All keys and values in tracer.cfg are case-sensitive.
2. Copy the sample tracer.cfg file into the var/afp2pdf for AIX or Linux or the install_path\var\afp2pdf for Windows directory.
3. Configure the parameter OUTPUT-TO-FILE to YES. And specify the location where the trace files should be created by configuring the parameter TRACE-PATH to var/afp2pdf for AIX or Linux or the install_path\var\afp2pdf for Windows.
4. On the next launch of the executable, the application will write the traces to the path configured in step 3.