Interpreting trace output

On an application server, trace output can be directed either to a file or to an in-memory circular buffer. If trace output is directed to the in-memory circular buffer, it must be dumped to a file before it can be viewed.

On an application client or stand-alone process, trace output can be directed either to a file or to the process console window.

In all cases, trace output is generated as plain text in either basic, advanced or log analyzer format as specified by the user. The basic and advanced formats for trace output are similar to the basic and advanced formats that are available for the JVM message logs.

Basic and advanced format fields

Basic and Advanced Formats use many of the same fields and formatting techniques. The fields that can be used in these formats include:

TimeStamp

The timestamp is formatted using the locale of the process where it is formatted. It includes a fully qualified date (YYMMDD), 24 hour time with millisecond precision and the time zone.

ThreadId

An 8 character hexadecimal value generated from the hash code of the thread that issued the trace event.

ThreadName

The name of the Java thread that issued the message or trace event.

ShortName

The abbreviated name of the logging component that issued the trace event. This is typically the class name for WebSphere Application Server internal components, but may be some other identifier for user applications.

LongName

The full name of the logging component that issued the trace event. This is typically the fully qualified class name for WebSphere Application Server internal components, but may be some other identifier for user applications.

EventType

A one character field that indicates the type of the trace event. Trace types are in lower case. Possible values include:

>

a trace entry of type method entry.

<

a trace entry of type method exit.

1

a trace entry of type fine or event.

2

a trace entry of type finer.

3

a trace entry of type finest, debug or dump.

Z

a placeholder to indicate that the trace type was not recognized.

ClassName

The class that issued the message or trace event.

MethodName

The method that issued the message or trace event.

Organization

The organization that owns the application that issued the message or trace event.

Product

The product that issued the message or trace event.

Component

The component within the product that issued the message or trace event.

Basic format

Trace events displayed in basic format use the following format:

<timestamp><threadId><shortName><eventType>[className][methodName]<textmessage>
               [parameter 1]
               [parameter 2]

Advanced formats

Trace events displayed in advanced format use the following format:

<timestamp><threadId><eventType><UOW><source=longName>[className][methodName]
<Organization><Product><Component>[thread=threadName]
<textMessage>[parameter 1=parameterValue][parameter 2=parameterValue]

Log Analyzer

Specifying the log analyzer format allows you to open trace output using the Log Analyzer. This is useful if you are trying to correlate traces from two different server processes, because it allows you to use the merge capability of the Log Analyzer).

Related tasks
Managing the application server trace service

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