Required skills for using the Generic Log Adapter

Most of the information necessary to use the Generic Log Adapter can be found in these help pages; however certain required skills are beyond the scope of this document.

There are two types of log adapters, those that use rules-based log adapter components and those that use static log adapter components. The two types of adapters, used with different types of logs, require different user skills.

Rules-based adapter

Rules-based adapters can be used for application log files that have fixed log record formats. This type of adapter requires the user's ability to write regular expressions which are used to parse log file information. For more information about regular expressions, see Regular expression grammar.

Static adapter

Static adapters can be used for application log files that have more complex log record formats that would be difficult to summarize using rules. This type of adapter requires the user's ability to extend an abstract Java class. The Java class extension replaces the extractor, parser and formatter components of the adapter configuration file.

Parent topic: Stand-alone Generic Log Adapter User's Guide