Enhanced Mapped Diagnostic Content Logging in PAS for OpenEdge
Progress has implemented Mapped Diagnostic Content (MDC) logging in OpenEdge 11.7.4. MDC allows the PAS for OpenEdge instances to dynamically inject request context information into the logging subsystems, where the request contexts can be exposed via tokens in log entry formats.
Tomcat logging states that each deployed application creates and maintains its own log file in a single file system directory. A PAS for OpenEdge is similar to one or more multi-threaded ABL application servers embedded into a single multi-threaded Tomcat instance. Therefore, PAS for OpenEdge client requests transition through multiple software components, and each produces related entries in multiple log files per component.
This design can hamper the troubleshooting process because of a lack of sub-component context. The lack of context stems from being unable to join the logging entries for a single request in a client session for a single server client through the request lifecycle. This makes PAS for OpenEdge log files difficult to use for anything other than failures that are self-describing in a single log entry.
With MDC logging, the PAS for OpenEdge default log entry formats can include essential request context information in all log files, as well as allow for user-made customizations when additional context is needed.
