Log4J Appenders

Comparison Matrix

Appender TimeAndSizeRollingAppender Log4J Extras 1.1 RollingFileAppender Log4J 1.2.16 DailyRollingFileAppender Log4J 1.2.16 RollingFileAppender
Feature
Roll by time only Yes1 Yes Yes No
Roll by size only Yes2 Yes No Yes
Roll by time and by size Yes No No No
Writes footer before roll Yes No No No
Number of files renamed on rollover 1 Active log file plus all backups3 1 Active log file plus all backups
Backup to separate directory No Yes No No
Embed date pattern in filename pattern No Yes No -
Embed backup count in filename pattern No Yes - No
Localized date pattern support Yes No No -
Time zone support Yes No No -
Configurable roll at time boundaries Yes No No -
Configurable roll on application start-up Yes No No No
Backup compression support Yes Yes No No
GZ configuration Case-insensitive parameter '.gz' at end of filename pattern - -
GZ deflater buffer size 128 KB 512 bytes - -
ZIP configuration Case-insensitive parameter '.zip' at end of filename pattern - -
ZIP compression level All constants specified in java.util.zip.Deflater Default - -
Compression thread Daemon, launched at Appender activation, shared between Appender instances Non-daemon, launched at every rollover - -
Compression uses NIO Yes No - -
Leave n backups uncompressed Yes No - -
Pluggable file roll event listeners Yes No No No
Pluggable file compression event listeners Yes No - -
Flush to storage Yes No No No
License Apache 2.0 Apache 2.0 Apache 2.0 Apache 2.0
JRE Compatibility 1.4.2 1.1 1.1 1.1
Log4J Compatibility 1.2.15+ 1.2 Self Self
URL http://www.simonsite.org.uk http://logging.apache.org/log4j/companions/extras/ http://logging.apache.org/log4j/ http://logging.apache.org/log4j/

  1. For all practical purposes: using the maximum log file size supported by the VM and OS.
  2. For all practical purposes: most granular unit of time supported is a year.
  3. Where configured to roll by size.