JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.2

java.util.logging
Class Formatter

java.lang.Object
  extended byjava.util.logging.Formatter
Direct Known Subclasses:
SimpleFormatter, XMLFormatter

public abstract class Formatter
extends Object

A Formatter provides support for formatting LogRecords.

Typically each logging Handler will have a Formatter associated with it. The Formatter takes a LogRecord and converts it to a string.

Some formatters (such as the XMLFormatter) need to wrap head and tail strings around a set of formatted records. The getHeader and getTail methods can be used to obtain these strings.

Since:
1.4

Constructor Summary
protected Formatter()
          Construct a new formatter.
 
Method Summary
abstract  String format(LogRecord record)
          Format the given log record and return the formatted string.
 String formatMessage(LogRecord record)
          Localize and format the message string from a log record.
 String getHead(Handler h)
          Return the header string for a set of formatted records.
 String getTail(Handler h)
          Return the tail string for a set of formatted records.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

Formatter

protected Formatter()
Construct a new formatter.

Method Detail

format

public abstract String format(LogRecord record)
Format the given log record and return the formatted string.

The resulting formatted String will normally include a localized and formated version of the LogRecord's message field. The Formatter.formatMessage convenience method can (optionally) be used to localize and format the message field.

Parameters:
record - the log record to be formatted.
Returns:
the formatted log record

getHead

public String getHead(Handler h)
Return the header string for a set of formatted records.

This base class returns an empty string, but this may be overriden by subclasses.

Parameters:
h - The target handler.
Returns:
header string

getTail

public String getTail(Handler h)
Return the tail string for a set of formatted records.

This base class returns an empty string, but this may be overriden by subclasses.

Parameters:
h - The target handler.
Returns:
tail string

formatMessage

public String formatMessage(LogRecord record)
Localize and format the message string from a log record. This method is provided as a convenience for Formatter subclasses to use when they are performing formatting.

The message string is first localized to a format string using the record's ResourceBundle. (If there is no ResourceBundle, or if the message key is not found, then the key is used as the format string.) The format String uses java.text style formatting.

Parameters:
record - the log record containing the raw message
Returns:
a localized and formatted message

JavaTM 2 Platform
Std. Ed. v1.4.2

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For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

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