Question

In my log4j.properties I have:

log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG,stdout

log4j.logger.notRootLogger=DEBUG,somewhereelse

The appenders stdout and somewhereelse are both configured properly, stdout writes to the console and somewhereelse writes to a file.

In my code in each class either I set either:

static Logger log =  Logger.getLogger("notRootLogger);

^ When I don’t want stuff going to the console.

-OR-

static Logger log = Logger.getRootLogger();

^ When I do.

What do I have to do in log4.properties to stop the things that are written to notRootLogger ending up in stdout? Is there some sort of inheritance of wherever the root logger writes to going on that needs to be turned off somehow?

I don’t want to have to configure a logger for every single class individually that I just want to log to the console.

Answer 1

You need to set additivity = false, IIRC. From the log4j manual:

Each enabled logging request for a
given logger will be forwarded to all
the appenders in that logger as well
as the appenders higher in the
hierarchy. In other words, appenders
are inherited additively from the
logger hierarchy. For example, if a
console appender is added to the root
logger, then all enabled logging
requests will at least print on the
console. If in addition a file
appender is added to a logger, say C,
then enabled logging requests for C
and C’s children will print on a file
and on the console. It is possible to
override this default behavior so that
appender accumulation is no longer
additive by setting the additivity
flag to false.

Try this:

log4j.rootLogger=DEBUG,stdout
log4j.logger.notRootLogger=DEBUG,somewhereelse
log4j.additivity.notRootLogger=false