Appender::DBI(3) User Contributed Perl Documentation Appender::DBI(3)NAMELog::Log4perl::Appender::DBI - implements appending to a DB
SYNOPSIS
my $config = q{
log4j.category = WARN, DBAppndr
log4j.appender.DBAppndr = Log::Log4perl::Appender::DBI
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.datasource = DBI:CSV:f_dir=t/tmp
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.username = bobjones
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.password = 12345
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.sql = \
insert into log4perltest \
(loglevel, custid, category, message, ipaddr) \
values (?,?,?,?,?)
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.1 = %p
#2 is custid from the log() call
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.3 = %c
#4 is the message from log()
#5 is ipaddr from log()
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.usePreparedStmt = 1
#--or--
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.bufferSize = 2
#just pass through the array of message items in the log statement
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.layout = Log::Log4perl::Layout::NoopLayout
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.warp_message = 0
};
$logger->warn( $custid, 'big problem!!', $ip_addr );
CAVEAT
This is a very young module and there are a lot of variations in setups
with different databases and connection methods, so make sure you test
thoroughly! Any feedback is welcome!
DESCRIPTION
This is a specialized Log::Dispatch object customized to work with
log4perl and its abilities, originally based on Log::Dispatch::DBI by
Tatsuhiko Miyagawa but with heavy modifications.
It is an attempted compromise between what Log::Dispatch::DBI was doing
and what log4j's JDBCAppender does. Note the log4j docs say the
JDBCAppender "is very likely to be completely replaced in the future."
The simplest usage is this:
log4j.category = WARN, DBAppndr
log4j.appender.DBAppndr = Log::Log4perl::Appender::DBI
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.datasource = DBI:CSV:f_dir=t/tmp
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.username = bobjones
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.password = 12345
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.sql = \
INSERT INTO logtbl \
(loglevel, message) \
VALUES ('%c','%m')
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.layout = Log::Log4perl::Layout::PatternLayout
$logger->fatal('fatal message');
$logger->warn('warning message');
===============================
|FATAL|fatal message |
|WARN |warning message |
===============================
But the downsides to that usage are:
· You'd better be darn sure there are not quotes in your log message,
or your insert could have unforseen consequences! This is a very
insecure way to handle database inserts, using place holders and
bind values is much better, keep reading. (Note that the log4j docs
warn "Be careful of quotes in your messages!") *.
· It's not terribly high-performance, a statement is created and
executed for each log call.
· The only run-time parameter you get is the %m message, in reality
you probably want to log specific data in specific table columns.
So let's try using placeholders, and tell the logger to create a
prepared statement handle at the beginning and just reuse it (just like
Log::Dispatch::DBI does)
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.sql = \
INSERT INTO logtbl \
(custid, loglevel, message) \
VALUES (?,?,?)
#---------------------------------------------------
#now the bind values:
#1 is the custid
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.2 = %p
#3 is the message
#---------------------------------------------------
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.layout = Log::Log4perl::Layout::NoopLayout
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.warp_message = 0
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.usePreparedStmt = 1
$logger->warn( 1234, 'warning message' );
Now see how we're using the '?' placeholders in our statement? This
means we don't have to worry about messages that look like
invalid input: 1234';drop table custid;
fubaring our database!
Normally a list of things in the logging statement gets concatenated
into a single string, but setting "warp_message" to 0 and using the
NoopLayout means that in
$logger->warn( 1234, 'warning message', 'bgates' );
the individual list values will still be available for the DBI appender
later on. (If "warp_message" is not set to 0, the default behavior is
to join the list elements into a single string. If PatternLayout or
SimpleLayout are used, their attempt to "render()" your layout will
result in something like "ARRAY(0x841d8dc)" in your logs. More
information on "warp_message" is in Log::Log4perl::Appender.)
In your insert SQL you can mix up '?' placeholders with conversion
specifiers (%c, %p, etc) as you see fit--the logger will match the
question marks to params you've defined in the config file and populate
the rest with values from your list. If there are more '?'
placeholders than there are values in your message, it will use undef
for the rest. For instance,
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.sql = \
insert into log4perltest \
(loglevel, message, datestr, subpoena_id)\
values (?,?,?,?)
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.1 = %p
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.3 = %d
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.warp_message=0
$logger->info('arrest him!', $subpoena_id);
results in the first '?' placholder being bound to %p, the second to
"arrest him!", the third to the date from "%d", and the fourth to your
$subpoenaid. If you forget the $subpoena_id and just log
$logger->info('arrest him!');
then you just get undef in the fourth column.
If the logger statement is also being handled by other non-DBI
appenders, they will just join the list into a string, joined with
$Log::Log4perl::JOIN_MSG_ARRAY_CHAR (default is an empty string).
And see the "usePreparedStmt"? That creates a statement handle when
the logger object is created and just reuses it. That, however, may be
problematic for long-running processes like webservers, in which case
you can use this parameter instead
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.bufferSize=2
This copies log4j's JDBCAppender's behavior, it saves up that many log
statements and writes them all out at once. If your INSERT statement
uses only ? placeholders and no %x conversion specifiers it should be
quite efficient because the logger can re-use the same statement handle
for the inserts.
If the program ends while the buffer is only partly full, the DESTROY
block should flush the remaining statements, if the DESTROY block runs
of course.
* As I was writing this, Danko Mannhaupt was coming out with his
improved log4j JDBCAppender (http://www.mannhaupt.com/danko/projects/)
which overcomes many of the drawbacks of the original JDBCAppender.
DESCRIPTION 2
Or another way to say the same thing:
The idea is that if you're logging to a database table, you probably
want specific parts of your log information in certain columns. To
this end, you pass an list to the log statement, like
$logger->warn('big problem!!',$userid,$subpoena_nr,$ip_addr);
and the array members drop into the positions defined by the
placeholders in your SQL statement. You can also define information in
the config file like
log4j.appender.DBAppndr.params.2 = %p
in which case those numbered placeholders will be filled in with the
specified values, and the rest of the placeholders will be filled in
with the values from your log statement's array.
MISC PARAMETERS
usePreparedStmt
See above.
warp_message
see Log::Log4perl::Appender
max_col_size
If you're used to just throwing debugging messages like huge
stacktraces into your logger, some databases (Sybase's DBD!!) may
suprise you by choking on data size limitations. Normally, the
data would just be truncated to fit in the column, but Sybases's
DBD it turns out maxes out at 255 characters. Use this parameter
in such a situation to truncate long messages before they get to
the INSERT statement.
CHANGING DBH CONNECTIONS (POOLING)
If you want to get your dbh from some place in particular, like maybe a
pool, subclass and override _init() and/or create_statement(), for
instance
sub _init {
; #no-op, no pooling at this level
}
sub create_statement {
my ($self, $stmt) = @_;
$stmt || croak "Log4perl: sql not set in ".__PACKAGE__;
return My::Connections->getConnection->prepare($stmt)
|| croak "Log4perl: DBI->prepare failed $DBI::errstr\n$stmt";
}
LIFE OF CONNECTIONS
If you're using "log4j.appender.DBAppndr.usePreparedStmt" this module
creates an sth when it starts and keeps it for the life of the program.
For long-running processes (e.g. mod_perl), connections might go stale,
but if "Log::Log4perl::Appender::DBI" tries to write a message and
figures out that the DB connection is no longer working (using DBI's
ping method), it will reconnect.
The reconnection process can be controlled by two parameters,
"reconnect_attempts" and "reconnect_sleep". "reconnect_attempts"
specifies the number of reconnections attempts the DBI appender
performs until it gives up and dies. "reconnect_sleep" is the time
between reconnection attempts, measured in seconds.
"reconnect_attempts" defaults to 1, "reconnect_sleep" to 0.
Alternatively, use "Apache::DBI" or "Apache::DBI::Cache" and read
CHANGING DB CONNECTIONS above.
Note that "Log::Log4perl::Appender::DBI" holds one connection open for
every appender, which might be too many.
SEE ALSO
Log::Dispatch::DBI
Log::Log4perl::JavaMap::JDBCAppender
COPYRIGHT AND LICENSE
Copyright 2002-2009 by Mike Schilli <m@perlmeister.com> and Kevin Goess
<cpan@goess.org>.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
under the same terms as Perl itself.
perl v5.14.1 2011-05-02 Appender::DBI(3)