    LOG:  Facilities for handling log files.

    Log files are repositories of data produced by iterative programs.  A
    log file contains a series of records, each identified by its type and
    its numerical index.  Programs may create new log files, or read and
    append records to an existing log file.

    Normally, a newly created log file will have various specifications
    stored in the first few records, with index -1.  Other programs will
    then be able to obtain this data without requiring further user input.
    Programs of an iterative nature may write indefinite numbers of other
    records, with the iteration to which each record pertains being
    identified by its index, from zero on up.  By convention, index zero
    is used for special initialization purposes; iterations normally
    starting at index one.  The indexes of successive records in a log
    file must be non-decreasing.

    Log files contain binary data.  They are not human readable, and they
    may not be portable between different computer systems.

    Access by programs to log files is supported by the 'log' module.  The
    'log-copy', 'log-last', and 'log-records' utilities may be useful to
    the users of programs that use log files.

                Copyright (c) 1995-2004 by Radford M. Neal