Error and informational messages

A connector can send information about its state to a log destination. The following types of information are recommended for logging:

Although a connector can send informational or error messages, this logging process is referred to as error logging.

Note:
These messages are independent of any trace messages defined for the connector.

Indicating a log destination

A connector sends its log messages into its log destination. The log is an external destination that is available for viewing by those needing to review the execution state of the connector. The log destination is defined at connector configuration time by the setting of the Logging field in the Trace/Log Files tab of Connector Configurator as one of the following:

By default, the connector's log destination is set to the console, which indicates use of the startup script's command prompt window as the log destination. Set this log destination as appropriate for your connector.

WebSphere InterChange Server

You can also set the LogAtInterchangeEnd connector configuration property to indicate whether messages are also logged to the InterChange Server's log destination:

  • Messages logged locally only: LogAtInterchangeEnd is false.
  • Messages are logged both locally and sent to InterChange Server's log destination: LogAtInterchangeEnd is true.

By default, LogAtInterchangeEnd is set to false, so that messages are only logged locally. If messages are sent to InterChange Server, they are written to the destination specified for InterChange Server messages.

Note:
Logging to InterChange Server's log destination also turns on email notification, which generates email messages for the MESSAGE_RECIPIENT parameter specified in the InterchangeSystem.cfg file when errors or fatal errors occur. As an example, when a connector loses its connection to its application, if LogAtInterchangeEnd is set to true, an email message is sent to the specified message recipient.

These connector properties are set with Connector Configurator. For more information on InterChange Server's message logging, see the System Administration Guide in the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server documentation set.

Sending a message to the log destination

Table 46 shows the ways that a connector sends an error, warning, and information message to its log destination.

Table 46. Methods for sending a message to the log destination

Connector library method Description
logMsg() and generateMsg()
Takes as input a text string or a string generated from a message in a message file. Optionally, it can take a message-type constant to indicate whether the message is an error, warning, or informational. To generate a character string from the message text in a message file, use the generateMsg() method.
generateAndLogMsg()
Combines the functionality of the logMsg() and generateMsg() methods into a single call.

For more information on how to generate a message, see "Generating a message string".

In the C++ connector library, the logMsg(), generateMsg(), and generateAndLogMsg() methods are defined in two classes:

Both the generateMsg() and generateAndLogMsg() methods require a message type as an argument. This argument indicates the severity of the message. For more information, see "Generating a message string".

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