This is a first maintenance release for v2.5, upgrade instructions are here.. Here is a list of issues we've addressed:
- Server - we've found a resource leak in log4j socket receiver which might have caused issues in a very long runs without restart. We have completely replaced it with our own and it is much better now.
- Server - added two items in admin status panel - one is to obtain thread dumps and another one is active applications counter. All these are for feedback and troubleshooting.
- Server - removed descending indexes from MySQL default schema, it shouldn't have been there in the first place as MySQL doesn't support descending indexes.
- Server - added an option to use database connection pools, you can now specify c3p0 in your hibernate schema.
- Server - Important one about MySQL wait_timeout - it was causing loss of database connection when server was idle for longer than wait_timeout. Using connection pool the problem is solved nicely - specify hibernate.c3p0.idle_test_period so that it's smaller than wait_timeout and you shouldn't have this problem ever again.
- Server - we regularly update open source dependencies, so this time it were java mail, hibernate, c3p0, PostgreeSQL driver binaries.
- Client - it's now possible to drill into historical data from real-time views as in queries.
- Client - added authorized access to deletions from repository view. You will have to use your admin. credentials to delete records.
- Client - fixed bug in repository view when it was populated by large number of elements.
- Client - Re-drawing real-time views on Windows 7 seems to have a small issue. It's noticeable with very high loads when view fills up and starts to rotate. We are waiting for SWT package to be released for Windows 7 as it seems that problem might be in the way tables are drawn in this OS. Meanwhile, we have tried to improve the mechanism as much as we could and added an option to clear the view automatically when it fills up.
- Appender - removed annoying messages to stdout when its queue got filled up. Now it will only warn once.
We've grown one version taller and one year older 
With the help of our users, this release brings significant improvements and many new and exciting features.
If you are upgrading from previous releases, please read the upgrade instructions here.
Below is the summary of new features :
Notification triggers
This feature will complement our reporting mechanism. Notification triggers will work in real-time and send e-mail alert as soon as something important takes place.
How important and what is important, it is all up to you. A trigger is a very fine filter which can be tuned to seek out very particular log statements. In addition to being a filter, trigger can also work like a counter and only fire when certain amount of interesting events are detected within specified time span. For example, think of a trigger that detects a burst of exceptions in the data layer of your system. You don't want to receive an e-mail every time there is a problem. But you definitely want to know that 50 exceptions popped on that particular host in just 2 minutes.
New appender with queue and fail over
We made a new appender to go with your applications. It has two major features - it is asynchronous and it is fail over capable. Being asynchronous means that log statements coming from your application aren't sent to the server at your expense, but rather done on a background thread. This also will help to keep some of the log statements during server down-time, ensure faster start times and significantly boost performance in the cases of bursts of logs. As to the fail over, this new appender will be able to quietly switch to another server without disrupting your application work. There are plenty of configuration options and we hope it will be good for most of the users.
Improved handling of load spikes
logFaces server already has a built-in mechanism to handle heavy load spikes. In this release we have made significant improvement to this mechanism to make it more robust and flexible. When load on the server becomes too high, the data gets over flown to the local disk. We have integrated ehcache for handling all disk operations and it shows fantastic results in performance. It's highly configurable and can be adopted to various situations.
Sophisticated view filters
Here comes the visual part which we have improved significantly in v2.5. We are going to introduce view filters to focus or ignore particular log statements.
This concept is similar to already existing perspectives we have with the only difference being that view filters apply on client side. Good example is when you take a large query covering a whole day of data. Once you've got the data, you want to play around with it. For example, focus on particular thread or host?
Or ignore particular packages which aren't relevant? Or focus only on exceptions? All this could be done now without extra trip to the database. And yes, the components (read below) are also applicable and will make great filters - instead of focusing on particular items you will be able to focus on a whole layer.
Improved perspective settings
We have done some major face lift to real-time perspective settings. Now it will be possible to use wild cards when defining include and exclude filters. This should greatly simplify and speed up the process of tuning real-time views.
New face - components!
Component - is a new concept we introducing in v2.5. A component is simply a collection of packages.
Why do we want it? Two points here; one - to be able to work with a large number of packages easily, and two - let others (e.g. QA people) to see the system from higher level.
Now, component is only a visual representation which you use to cut your system into a larger blocks. Once you have done that, you will be able to access the log data instantly, or filter it out, or focus on it. Real quick. Just a convenience, but we think it should be very handy particularly for those who swim in an ocean of packages and loggers.
We are pleased to announce the release of version 2.4.4
Along with minor bug fixes, this release brings up logFaces API and some improvements in data mining experience.
logFaces API
The motivation for the API is to allow usage of aggregated log data programmatically. If you are familiar with the way log4j works, look at logFaces API as a "super-receiver", which simultaneously gets data from many applications and hosts. You will be able to monitor errors coming from various ends in your system and use this information for your own needs. Many systems today have their own management or administration consoles, using logFaces API you will be able to embed log data into your own consoles, build customized log viewers or react to events in your system.
The API can be downloaded separately from here, it's packaged into a zip archive and contains everything you would need to get started - binary dependencies, documentation and code examples. Please have a look at User Manual describing in great details how to use the API.
Improved data mining experience
We have added a new feature in the client to simplify working with large result sets. Now you've got an option to filter out retrieved data on the spot and without extra trip to the database. When you do a query, you can reduce logs by severity levels, hosts, loggers, threads, text and MDC variables. Check out the new options in drop down menu :
This maintenance update fixes several issues related to e-mails and reports. We have added an option to test e-mail settings in administration console and also provided several improvements in report definitions. Particularly, - issue reports on a fractions of the hour, use wildcards for matching loggers and using optional zipping of the attachments. Management of reports is also simplified and improved. Starting from this release you will be able to check if there are any server updates we release. This can be done directly from admin. console status tab. There are also several interesting additions to the client and user experience :
Colorized overview of query results
When you fetch lots of log, you'd want to see quickly where (if any) problems are in the huge list of results. We have added a right side overview panel which will mark in bright colors all potential problems. This will allow jump real quick into particular line within the result set. Check out this screen shot :
Bookmarks in queries
While working with large result sets, you often want to move quickly from one point in time to the other. Now right clicking on the event, you can set a bookmark and then jump to it later with one click. Bookmarks are displayed on the overview bar next to the query results.
Clipboard operations
If you want to assign a bug or open a support ticket with attached log message - now you can copy log events directly from client views through the clipboard. The clipboard will contain well formatted textual log statements of your choice. You would then paste it into any textual content. The format is adjustable, several events can be copied at once.
Particular day errors and traces
We have added another fast query which can be executed directly from the repository without creating a special query. Right click in repository view and select "Particular day", this will take to errors or traces of specific day.
Similar events counter
If you see something suspicious in your log data, right click on event and ask to find similar events. We will tell you how many times and when this particular event have taken place. Very useful for finding repetitive occurrences of the same issue.
More flexible drill downs
Drill downs are now extended with an option to drill into information related to selected application, host or logger. This should be more convenient way to extract concise information.
We are pleased to announce the release of version 2.4.2 - maintenance release with some important updates, thanks to our users feedback! Along with bug fixes, there are several new and exciting features - see below :
Logback appender
Long awaited and asked by many - logback appender is now part of our distribution. We also provide source code just in case someone would want to improve it. Check out user manual on how to use it and where to find it.
Database schema is externalized
If you're an advanced user and DBA - now you can now have some control over the database schema. This should help to tune database performance by adjusting size constraints and indexes. More details again are in user manual.
Exception stack trace view
Now you've got spacious stack trace viewer. And it also links you to the source code, just click on the trace and see where the call is coming from. Check this out :
MDC queries
This concludes our saga with supporting mapped diagnostic context. Now you can query log data based on MDC and see those parameters as columns in all views. Administration console now provides mapping of MDC names your application generates to our database columns.
Small widgets
Handy little tool - database records counter on status bar - click on it to refresh. In addition to domain filter, we've also added a package filter in repository view. This should allow faster navigation in the maze of packages.
New features for this release :
- Dashboard of counters
- Source code correlation
- Improved MDC support
- More drill down options and queries
- Improved user experience
- Improved performance with large data loads
- Platform neutral distribution
This is a maintenance release with bug fixes reported by users.
After long time of internal use and development we are releasing logFaces for public review as a downloadable standalone product.
Should we call this a logFaces's birthday?
