In this tutorial, we will show you how to use the classic log4j 1.2.x to log a debug or error message in a Java application.

1. Project Directory

Review the final project structure, a standard Maven style Java project.

2. Get Log4j

Declares the following dependencies :

	<dependency>
		<groupId>log4j</groupId>
		<artifactId>log4j</artifactId>
		<version>1.2.17</version>
	</dependency>

For non-Maven user, visit log4j official page, download the jar and put it in the project library path manually.

3. log4j.properties

Create a log4j.properties file and put it into the resources folder. Refer to the step #1 above.

# Root logger option
log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, stdout, file
# Redirect log messages to console
log4j.appender.stdout=org.apache.log4j.ConsoleAppender
log4j.appender.stdout.Target=System.out
log4j.appender.stdout.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.stdout.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n
# Redirect log messages to a log file, support file rolling.
log4j.appender.file=org.apache.log4j.RollingFileAppender
log4j.appender.file.File=C:\\log4j-application.log
log4j.appender.file.MaxFileSize=5MB
log4j.appender.file.MaxBackupIndex=10
log4j.appender.file.layout=org.apache.log4j.PatternLayout
log4j.appender.file.layout.ConversionPattern=%d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} %-5p %c{1}:%L - %m%n

Let break it down :

1. %d{yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss} = Date and time format, refer to SimpleDateFormat JavaDoc.
2. %-5p = The logging priority, like DEBUG or ERROR. The -5 is optional, for the pretty print format.
3. %c{1} = The logging name we set via getLogger(), refer to log4j PatternLayout guide.
4. %L = The line number from where the logging request.
5. %m%n = The message to log and line break.

Log message examples :

2014-07-02 20:52:39 DEBUG className:200 - This is debug message
2014-07-02 20:52:39 DEBUG className:201 - This is debug message2

4. Demo – How to log a Message?

To log a message, first, create a final static logger and define a name for the logger, normally, we use the full package class name.

	final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(classname.class);

Then, logs messages with different priorities, for example, debug, info, warn, error and fatal. Normally, you just need to use debug or error.

	//logs a debug message
	if(logger.isDebugEnabled()){
	    logger.debug("This is debug");
	//logs an error message with parameter
	logger.error("This is error : " + parameter);
	//logs an exception thrown from somewhere
	logger.error("This is error", exception);

4.1 Example : Logger is set to debug priority.

log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG, stdout
#...

package com.mkyong;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
public class HelloExample{
	final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(HelloExample.class);
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HelloExample obj = new HelloExample();
		obj.runMe("mkyong");
	private void runMe(String parameter){
		if(logger.isDebugEnabled()){
			logger.debug("This is debug : " + parameter);
		if(logger.isInfoEnabled()){
			logger.info("This is info : " + parameter);
		logger.warn("This is warn : " + parameter);
		logger.error("This is error : " + parameter);
		logger.fatal("This is fatal : " + parameter);

Output

2014-07-02 20:52:39 DEBUG HelloExample:19 - This is debug : mkyong
2014-07-02 20:52:39 INFO  HelloExample:23 - This is info : mkyong
2014-07-02 20:52:39 WARN  HelloExample:26 - This is warn : mkyong
2014-07-02 20:52:39 ERROR HelloExample:27 - This is error : mkyong
2014-07-02 20:52:39 FATAL HelloExample:28 - This is fatal : mkyong

4.2 Example – Logger is set to error priority.

log4j.rootLogger=error, stdout
#...

Run the HelloExample again, you will get the following output

2014-07-02 20:56:02 ERROR HelloExample:27 - This is error : mkyong
2014-07-02 20:56:02 FATAL HelloExample:28 - This is fatal : mkyong

Review the log4j’s Priority class.

package org.apache.log4j;
public class Priority {
  public final static int OFF_INT = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
  public final static int FATAL_INT = 50000;
  public final static int ERROR_INT = 40000;
  public final static int WARN_INT  = 30000;
  public final static int INFO_INT  = 20000;
  public final static int DEBUG_INT = 10000;
    //public final static int FINE_INT = DEBUG_INT;
  public final static int ALL_INT = Integer.MIN_VALUE;

If priority is defined in log4j.properties, only the same or above priority message will be logged.

5. Demo – How to log an Exception

An example to show you how to use log4j to log an exception.

package com.mkyong;
import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
public class HelloExample2{
	final static Logger logger = Logger.getLogger(HelloExample2.class);
	public static void main(String[] args) {
		HelloExample2 obj = new HelloExample2();
		try{
			obj.divide();
		}catch(ArithmeticException ex){
			logger.error("Sorry, something wrong!", ex);
	private void divide(){
		int i = 10 /0;

Output

2014-07-02 21:03:10 ERROR HelloExample2:16 - Sorry, something wrong!
java.lang.ArithmeticException: / by zero
	at com.mkyong.HelloExample2.divide(HelloExample2.java:24)
	at com.mkyong.HelloExample2.main(HelloExample2.java:14)

Done.

References

1. log4j 1.2 official page
2. log4j pattern layout
3. Wikipedia : log4j
4. Spring MVC + log4j example
5. log4j.properties examples