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+    
+        <a name="Apache log4net Frequently Asked Questions"></a><div class="section"><h2>Apache log4net Frequently Asked Questions</h2>
+            <sectionMenu name="Contents"></sectionMenu>
+            
+            <a name="Information"></a><div class="section"><h2>Information</h2>
+            
+                <a name="What is log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What is log4net?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        log4net is a tool to help the programmer output log statements to a variety of 
+                        output targets.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        In case of problems with an application, it is helpful to enable logging so 
+                        that the problem can be located. With log4net it is possible to enable logging at 
+                        runtime without modifying the application binary. The log4net package is designed 
+                        so that log statements can remain in <i>production</i> code without incurring a 
+                        high performance cost. It follows that the speed of logging (or rather not 
+                        logging) is crucial.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        At the same time, log output can be so voluminous that it quickly becomes 
+                        overwhelming. One of the distinctive features of log4net (and common to all of
+                        the log4x libraries) is the notion of <i>hierarchical 
+                        loggers</i>. Using these loggers it is possible to selectively control 
+                        which log statements are output at arbitrary granularity.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        log4net is designed with two distinct goals in mind: speed and flexibility. There 
+                        is a tight balance between these two requirements.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Is log4net a reliable logging system?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Is log4net a reliable logging system?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        No. log4net is not reliable. It is a best-effort and <em>fail-stop</em> logging system.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        By fail-stop, we mean that log4net will not throw unexpected exceptions at 
+                        run-time potentially causing your application to crash. <b>If for any reason, log4net 
+                        throws an uncaught exception</b> (except for <span class="code">ArgumentException</span> and 
+                        <span class="code">ArgumentNullException</span> which may be thrown), <b>please send an email 
+                        to the <a href="mailto:log4net-user@logging.apache.org">
+                        log4net-user@logging.apache.org</a> mailing list</b>. Uncaught exceptions 
+                        are handled as serious bugs requiring immediate attention.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Moreover, log4net will not revert to <span class="code">System.Console.Out</span>
+                        or <span class="code">System.Console.Error</span> when its designated 
+                        output stream is not opened, is not writable or becomes full. This avoids 
+                        corrupting an otherwise working program by flooding the user's terminal because 
+                        logging fails. However, log4net will output a single message to 
+                        <span class="code">System.Console.Error</span> and <span>System.Diagnostics.Trace</span>
+                        indicating that logging can not be performed.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What are the prerequisites for log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What are the prerequisites for log4net?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        log4net runs on many different frameworks and each framework has its own requirements.
+                        As a rule of thumb you will need an ECMA-335 compliant CLI runtime, for example, 
+                        the Microsoft .NET runtime 1.0 (1.0.3705) or 1.1 (1.1.4322).
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Not all frameworks are created equal and some features have been excluded from 
+                        some of the builds. See the <a href="framework-support.html">Framework Support</a> 
+                        document for more information.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Is there example code for using log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Is there example code for using log4net?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        There is a directory containing examples in <span class="code">log4net\examples</span>. 
+                        The examples are broken down by framework.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What are the features of log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What are the features of log4net?</h2>
+                    <ul>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is optimized for speed.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is based on a named logger hierarchy.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is fail-stop but not reliable.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is thread-safe.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is not restricted to a predefined set of facilities.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            Logging behavior can be set at runtime using a configuration file. 
+                            Configuration files are in XML format.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net is designed to handle exceptions from the start.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net can direct its output to many sinks including: a file, the console, the NT EventLog or even e-mail.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net categorizes logging into levels: DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR and FATAL.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            The format of the log output can be easily changed by implementing a new layout class.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            The target of the log output as well as the writing strategy can be altered by 
+                            writing a new appender class.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            log4net supports multiple output appenders per logger.</li>
+                    </ul>
+                    
+                        See the <a href="../features.html">features</a> overview document for more information on the features of log4net.
+                    
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+
+
+                <a name="Is log4net thread-safe?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Is log4net thread-safe?</h2>
+                    
+                        Yes, log4net is thread-safe.
+                    
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+
+
+                <a name="What does log output look like?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What does log output look like?</h2>
+                    
+                        The log output can be customized in many ways. Moreover, one can completely 
+                        override the output format by implementing one's own <span class="code">ILayout</span>
+                    
+                    
+                        Here is an example output using <span class="code">PatternLayout</span> with the conversion 
+                        pattern <span class="code">%timestamp [%thread] %-5level %logger{2} %ndc - %message%newline</span>
+                    
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+176 [main] INFO  examples.Sort - Populating an array of 2 elements in reverse order.
+225 [main] INFO  examples.SortAlgo - Entered the sort method.
+262 [main] DEBUG SortAlgo.OUTER i=1 - Outer loop.
+276 [main] DEBUG SortAlgo.SWAP i=1 j=0 - Swapping intArray[0] = 1 and intArray[1] = 0
+290 [main] DEBUG SortAlgo.OUTER i=0 - Outer loop.
+304 [main] INFO  SortAlgo.DUMP - Dump of integer array:
+317 [main] INFO  SortAlgo.DUMP - Element [0] = 0
+331 [main] INFO  SortAlgo.DUMP - Element [1] = 1
+343 [main] INFO  examples.Sort - The next log statement should be an error message.
+346 [main] ERROR SortAlgo.DUMP - Tried to dump an uninitialized array.
+467 [main] INFO  examples.Sort - Exiting main method.</pre></div>
+                    
+                        The first field is the number of milliseconds elapsed since the start of the 
+                        program. The second field is the thread outputting the log statement. The third 
+                        field is the level of the log statement. The fourth field is the rightmost 
+                        two components of the name of the logger making the log request. The fifth field (just 
+                        before the '-') is the <em>nested diagnostic context</em> (<span class="code">NDC</span>). Note the 
+                        nested diagnostic context may be empty as in the first two statements. The text 
+                        after the '-' is the message of the statement.
+                    
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+
+
+                <a name="What are Loggers?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What are Loggers?</h2>
+                    
+                        The logger concept lies at the heart of log4net's configuration. Loggers are organized into a 
+                        hierarchy and give the programmer <em>run-time</em> control on which logging statements 
+                        are printed or not.
+                    
+                    
+                        Loggers are assigned levels through the configuration of log4net. A log statement is 
+                        routed through to the appender depending on its level <em>and</em> its logger.
+                    
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+                
+                
+                <a name="Why should I donate my extensions to log4net back to the project?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Why should I donate my extensions to log4net back to the project?</h2>
+                    
+                        Contrary to the GNU Public License (GPL) the Apache Software License does not 
+                        make any claims over your extensions. By extensions, we mean totally new code 
+                        that invokes existing log4net code. <em>You are free to do whatever you wish with 
+                        your proprietary log4net extensions.</em> In particular, you may choose to 
+                        never release your extensions to the wider public. For details see the
+                        <a href="http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0">Apache License, Version 2.0</a>.
+                    
+                    <p>
+                        We are very careful not to unnecessarily change the log4net client API so that newer log4net 
+                        releases are backward compatible with previous versions. We are a lot less 
+                        scrupulous with the internal log4net API. Thus, if your extension is designed to 
+                        work with the internals of a specific log4net version, then when the next release
+                        of log4net comes out, you will probably need to adapt your proprietary extensions to the 
+                        new release. Thus, you will be forced to spend precious resources in order to 
+                        keep up with log4net changes. This is commonly referred to as the &quot;stupid-tax&quot;. 
+                        By donating the code and making it part of the standard distribution, you save 
+                        yourself the unnecessary maintenance work.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If your extensions are useful then someone will eventually write an extension 
+                        providing the same or very similar functionality. Your development effort will 
+                        be wasted.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Unless the proprietary log4net extension is business critical, there is little 
+                        reason for not donating your extensions back to the project.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What should I keep in mind when contributing code?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What should I keep in mind when contributing code?</h2>
+                    <ol type="1">
+                        <li>
+                            Stick to the existing indentation style even if you hate it.
+                            
+                                Alternating between indentation styles makes it hard to understand the source 
+                                code. Make it hard on yourself but easier on others.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            <b>Thoroughly test your code.</b>
+                            
+                                There is nothing more irritating than finding the bugs in debugging (i.e. logging) code.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            Keep it simple, small and fast.
+                            
+                                It's all about the application not about logging.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            Did I mention sticking with the indentation style?</li>
+                    </ol>
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+                
+
+                <a name="How fast do bugs in log4net get fixed?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How fast do bugs in log4net get fixed?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        As fast as they get reported ;-)
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What is the history of log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What is the history of log4net?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        log4net is a port of the popular <a href="http://logging.apache.org/log4j/">log4j</a> logging library.
+                        The initial port was done in June 2001, since then we have tried to remain in the
+                        spirit of the original log4j. See the log4net <a href="../history.html">history</a> page for more details.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                        
+
+                <a name="Where can I find the latest distribution of log4net?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Where can I find the latest distribution of log4net?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        The log4net <a href="http://logging.apache.org/log4net/">home page</a> is a good place to start.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Configuration"></a><div class="section"><h2>Configuration</h2>
+
+                <a name="How can I change log behavior at runtime?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How can I change log behavior at runtime?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Logging behavior can be set using configuration files which are parsed at runtime. 
+                        Using configuration files the programmer can define loggers and set their 
+                        levels.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Configuration files are specified in XML. See <span class="code">log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator</span>
+                        for more details.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        See the various <span class="code">log4net.Layout</span> and <span class="code">log4net.Appender</span>
+                        components for specific configuration options.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="How do I completely disable all logging at runtime?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I completely disable all logging at runtime?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Setting the <span class="code">Threshold</span> on the Hierarchy to Level OFF will disable all
+                        logging from that Hierarchy. This can be done in the log4net configuration file
+                        by setting the &quot;threshold&quot; attribute on the log4net configuration element to &quot;OFF&quot;.
+                        For example:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+&lt;log4net threshold=&quot;OFF&quot; /&gt;</pre></div>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                <a name="What are the configurable options for an appender?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What are the configurable options for an appender?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        log4net uses public properties to configure components such as
+                        Appenders, Layouts, Loggers etc.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Thus, any writable public property in on the appender corresponds to a 
+                        configurable option. For example, in <span class="code">RollingFileAppender</span> the 
+                        <span class="code">public int MaxSizeRollBackups { set; }</span> property corresponds to 
+                        the <span class="code">MaxSizeRollBackups</span> option.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Layouts options are also defined by their writable properties. Same goes for most 
+                        other log4net components. 
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+
+                <a name="Is it possible to direct log output to different appenders by level?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Is it possible to direct log output to different appenders by level?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes it is. Setting the <span class="code">Threshold</span> option of any appender extending 
+                        <span class="code">AppenderSkeleton</span>, (most log4net appenders extend 
+                        <span class="code">AppenderSkeleton</span>) will filter out all log events 
+                        with a <em>lower</em> level than the value of the threshold option.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        For example, setting the threshold of an appender to DEBUG will also allow INFO, 
+                        WARN, ERROR and FATAL messages to log along with DEBUG messages. (DEBUG is the 
+                        lowest level). This is usually acceptable as there is little use for DEBUG 
+                        messages without the surrounding INFO, WARN, ERROR and FATAL messages. 
+                        Similarly, setting the threshold of an appender to ERROR will filter out DEBUG, 
+                        INFO and WARN messages but not ERROR or FATAL messages.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        This policy usually best encapsulates what the user actually wants to do, as 
+                        opposed to her mind-projected solution.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If you must filter events by exact level match, then you can attach a 
+                        <span class="code">LevelMatchFilter</span> to any appender to filter out logging 
+                        events by exact level match.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+                
+                <a name="Is there a way to get log4net to automatically reload a configuration file if it changes?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Is there a way to get log4net to automatically reload a configuration file if it changes?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes. The <span class="code">XmlConfigurator</span> supports automatic 
+                        reloading through the <span class="code">ConfigureAndWatch</span> APIs. See the API 
+                        documentation for more details.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Can I load an appender from another assembly?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Can I load an appender from another assembly?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes. When specifying the type in the configuration file you can give the assembly
+                        qualified name of the type. For example:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+&lt;appender name=&quot;...&quot; type=&quot;MyNamespace.MyAppender, MyAssembly&quot;&gt;</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        The .NET runtime will try to locate the assembly called <i>MyAssembly</i>.
+                        How .NET locates assemblies is beyond the scope of this FAQ.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        When loading an assembly from the GAC the fully qualified assembly name,
+                        including the version, culture and public key must be specified. This is 
+                        in the standard syntax supported by <span class="code">System.Type.GetType</span>.
+                        See the next FAQ on how to get the version and public key for an assembly.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+                
+                <a name="How do I get the Public Key for an assembly?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I get the Public Key for an assembly?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        The fully qualified name for an assembly includes the version, culture and
+                        public key. The public key is derived from the strong name used to identify
+                        the publisher. When referencing an assembly from the GAC the fully qualified
+                        name must be used. To get the version, culture and public key you can use a
+                        tool like the excellent .NET Reflector from Lutz Roeder available from
+                        <a href="http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet">http://www.aisto.com/roeder/dotnet</a>.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                
+                <a name="How do I insert newlines into the layout header?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I insert newlines into the layout header?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Newlines in the config file need to be escaped using an XML numeric character reference.
+                        The sequence that represents a CR LF is &amp;#13; &amp;#10;. The following example adds
+                        a header and footer to the output each followed by a newline.
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+&lt;layout type=&quot;log4net.Layout.PatternLayout&quot;&gt;
+    &lt;header value=&quot;[Header]&amp;#13;&amp;#10;&quot; /&gt;
+    &lt;footer value=&quot;[Footer]&amp;#13;&amp;#10;&quot; /&gt;
+    &lt;conversionPattern value=&quot;%date [%thread] %-5level %logger - %message%newline&quot; /&gt;
+&lt;/layout&gt;</pre></div>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                
+                <a name="How do I use a pattern to set the value of a string property?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I use a pattern to set the value of a string property?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Log4net supports a pattern syntax for setting string properties similar to the 
+                        <span class="code">PatternLayout</span> used to format the output messages.
+                        This pattern syntax can be used by specifying <span class="code">type=&quot;log4net.Util.PatternString&quot;</span>
+                        on the string property in the config file. This tells the config parser to pass the
+                        value to the <span class="code">PatternString</span> type before converting the result
+                        to a string. For details on the patterns supported see the <a href="sdk/log4net.Util.PatternString.html">
+                        PatternString SDK Reference</a>.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        The following example sets the file name for a <span class="code">FileAppender</span> to include the 
+                        current process id by specifying the <span class="code">%processid</span> pattern in the
+                        <span class="code">File</span> property.
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+&lt;appender name=&quot;LogFileAppender&quot; type=&quot;log4net.Appender.FileAppender&quot;&gt;
+    &lt;file type=&quot;log4net.Util.PatternString&quot; value=&quot;log-file-[%processid].txt&quot; /&gt;
+    &lt;layout type=&quot;log4net.Layout.PatternLayout&quot; value=&quot;%date [%thread] %-5level %logger - %message%newline&quot; /&gt;
+&lt;/appender&gt;</pre></div>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+        
+        
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Implementing Logging"></a><div class="section"><h2>Implementing Logging</h2>
+            
+                <a name="Are there any suggested ways for naming loggers?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Are there any suggested ways for naming loggers?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes, there are.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        You can name logging loggers by <strong>locality</strong>. It turns out that 
+                        instantiating a logger in each class, with the logger name equal to the 
+                        fully-qualified name of the class, is a useful and straightforward approach of 
+                        defining loggers. This approach has many benefits:
+                    </p>
+                    <ul>
+                        <li>
+                            It is very simple to implement.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            It is very simple to explain to new developers.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            It automatically mirrors your application's own modular design.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            It can be further refined at will.</li>
+                        <li>
+                            Printing the logger automatically gives information on the locality of the 
+                            log statement.</li>
+                    </ul>
+                    
+                        However, this is not the only way for naming loggers. A common alternative 
+                        is to name loggers by <strong>functional areas</strong>. For example, the 
+                        &quot;database&quot; logger, &quot;remoting&quot; logger, &quot;security&quot; logger, or the &quot;XML&quot; 
+                        logger.
+                    
+                    
+                        You may choose to name loggers by functionality and subcategorize by 
+                        locality, as in &quot;DATABASE.MyApp.MyClass&quot; or 
+                        &quot;DATABASE.MyApp.MyModule.MyOtherClass&quot;.
+                    
+                    
+                        <em>You are totally free in choosing the names of your loggers.</em> The 
+                        log4net package merely allows you to manage your names in a hierarchy. However, 
+                        it is your responsibility to define this hierarchy.
+                    
+                    
+                        <b>Note:</b> by naming loggers by locality one tends to name things by 
+                        functionality, since in most cases the locality relates closely to 
+                        functionality.
+                    
+                </div>
+                <a href="#top">Back to Top</a>
+                
+
+                <a name="How do I get the fully-qualified name of a class in a static block?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I get the fully-qualified name of a class in a static block?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        You can easily retrieve the fully-qualified name of a class in a static block 
+                        for class <span class="code">X</span>, with the statement <span class="code">typeof(X).Name</span>. 
+                        Note that <span class="code">X</span> is the class name and span an instance.
+                        However because the <span class="code">LogManager.GetLogger</span> method is overloaded
+                        to take an instance of <span class="code">Type</span> as well as <span class="code">string</span>
+                        usually only the type of the class is required.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        Here is the suggested usage template:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+public class Foo
+{
+    private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Foo));
+    ... other code
+}</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        An equivalent and more portable solution, though slightly longer, is to use the declaring type 
+                        of the static constructor.
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+public class Foo
+{
+    private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType);
+    ... other code
+}</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        <b>Note:</b> the .NET Compact Framework 1.0 does not support <span class="code">System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod()</span>.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What is the fastest way of (not) logging?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What is the fastest way of (not) logging?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        For some logger <span class="code">log</span>, writing,
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+log.Debug(&quot;Entry number: &quot; + i + &quot; is &quot; + entry[i]);</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        incurs the cost of constructing the message parameter, that is converting both 
+                        integer <span class="code">i</span> and <span class="code">entry[i]</span> to 
+                        a string, and concatenating intermediate strings. This, regardless of whether 
+                        the message will be logged or not.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If you are worried about speed, then write
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+if(log.IsDebugEnabled) 
+{
+    log.Debug(&quot;Entry number: &quot; + i + &quot; is &quot; + entry[i]);
+}</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        This way you will not incur the cost of parameter construction if debugging is 
+                        disabled for logger <span class="code">log</span>. On the other hand, if the logger is 
+                        debug enabled, you will incur the cost of evaluating whether the logger is 
+                        enabled or not, twice: once in <span class="code">IsDebugEnabled</span> and once in <span class="code">Debug</span>. 
+                        This is an insignificant overhead since evaluating a logger takes less than 
+                        1% of the time it takes to actually log a statement.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="What is REALLY the FASTEST way of (not) logging?"></a><div class="section"><h2>What is REALLY the FASTEST way of (not) logging?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        So you don't think that the previous FAQ is really the fastest way
+                        of not logging? Well there is a faster way but it does have some
+                        drawbacks. Starting from: 
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+if(log.IsDebugEnabled) 
+{
+    log.Debug(&quot;Entry number: &quot; + i + &quot; is &quot; + entry[i]);
+}</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        It is possible to further eliminate the calls to <span class="code">IsDebugEnabled</span>
+                        so that the call is only made once per logger. If you are using one logger 
+                        for each class then you can store the enabled state for the logger in a static
+                        variable in the class and then test against this variable:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+public class FastLogger
+{
+    private static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(FastLogger));
+    private static readonly bool isDebugEnabled = log.IsDebugEnabled;
+
+    public void MyMethod()
+    {
+        if(isDebugEnabled) 
+        {
+            log.Debug(&quot;Entry number: &quot; + i + &quot; is &quot; + entry[i]);
+        }
+    }
+}</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        So why exactly is this faster? Well to start with the <span class="code">IsDebugEnabled</span>
+                        is not called for each log statement, it is called once per logger. Furthermore as the
+                        <span class="code">isDebugEnabled</span> variable is <span class="code">private static readonly</span>
+                        the JIT compiler can at <em>run-time</em> optimize out the <span class="code">if</span> test altogether. 
+                        This means that at runtime the JIT compiler won't even compile the logging statements into native code, i.e.
+                        all the logging just disappears.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        So what is the downside to using this? Well one of the clever features of log4net is that
+                        you can change the logging configuration while your program is running. If you need to 
+                        investigate an issue in your application, you don't have to stop the application, setup the
+                        logging and restart the application, you can change the logging configuration and the
+                        log4net will reload it (see <span class="code">XmlConfigurator.ConfigureAndWatch</span> APIs for more 
+                        information). However if the JIT has compiled out all of the logging statements
+                        then they are gone and you can't get them back by reloading the configuration file. Effectively
+                        this means that the logging configuration can only be set when the application loads and
+                        it cannot be changed at runtime. It is up to you to decide if you need ultimate speed or need
+                        to be able to reload the logging configuration while the application is running.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Can the outputs of multiple client request go to different log files?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Can the outputs of multiple client request go to different log files?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Many developers are confronted with the problem of distinguishing the log 
+                        output originating from the same class but different client requests. They come 
+                        up with ingenious mechanisms to fan out the log output to different files. In 
+                        most cases, this is not the right approach.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        It is simpler to use a context property or stack (<span class="code">ThreadContext</span>). 
+                        Typically, one would <span class="code">ThreadContext.Properties[&quot;ID&quot;] = &quot;XXX&quot;</span>
+                        client specific information, such as the client's hostname, ID or any other 
+                        distinguishing information when starting to handle the client's request. 
+                        Thereafter, log output will automatically include the context data
+                        so that you can distinguish logs from different client requests even if they 
+                        are output to the same file.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        See the <span class="code">ThreadContext</span> and the <span class="code">PatternLayout</span> classes for more 
+                        information.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Logger instances seem to be create only. Why isn't there a method to remove logger instances?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Logger instances seem to be create only. Why isn't there a method to remove logger instances?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        It is quite nontrivial to define the semantics of a &quot;removed&quot; logger which is 
+                        still referenced by the user.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="How do I get multiple process to log to the same file?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I get multiple process to log to the same file?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        By default the <span class="code">FileAppender</span> holds an exclusive write 
+                        lock on the log file while it is logging. This prevents other processes from 
+                        writing to the file. The <span class="code">FileAppender</span> can be configured
+                        to use a different locking model, <span class="code">MinimalLock</span>, that
+                        only acquires the write lock while a log is being written. This allows multiple
+                        processes to interleave writes to the same file, albeit with a loss in performance.
+                        See the <a href="config-examples.html#fileappender">FileAppender config examples</a>
+                        for an example <span class="code">MinimalLock</span> configuration.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        While the <span class="code">MinimalLock</span> model may be used to interleave
+                        writes to a single file it may not be the optimal solution, especially when
+                        logging from multiple machines. Alternatively you may have one or more processes
+                        log to <span class="code">RemotingAppenders</span>. 
+                        Using the <span class="code">RemoteLoggingServerPlugin</span> (or 
+                        <span class="code">IRemoteLoggingSink</span>) a process can receive all the events and 
+                        log them to a single log file.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+
+                <a name="If I have many processes across multiple hosts (possibly across multiple time zones) logging to the same file using the RemotingAppender, what happens to timestamps?"></a><div class="section"><h2>If I have many processes across multiple hosts (possibly across multiple time zones) logging to the same file using the RemotingAppender, what happens to timestamps?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        The timestamp is created when the logging event is created. That is so say, 
+                        when the <span class="code">Debug</span>, <span class="code">Info</span>, 
+                        <span class="code">Warn</span>, <span class="code">Error</span>
+                        or <span class="code">Fatal</span> method is invoked. This is unaffected by the time at 
+                        which they may arrive at a remote server. Since the timestamps are 
+                        transmitted in UTC format by the <span class="code">RemotingAppender</span>, 
+                        they all appear in the same time zone as 
+                        the host creating the logfile. Since the clocks of various machines may not be 
+                        synchronized, this may account for time interval inconsistencies between events 
+                        generated on different hosts.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                
+                <a name="When should I log my first message?"></a><div class="section"><h2>When should I log my first message?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        The simple answer is as soon as possible. The long answer is more complex.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If you are configuring log4net programmatically, i.e. by calling the 
+                        <span class="code">XmlConfigurator.Configure</span> method then you should do so
+                        before you begin logging and it is reasonable to do this very soon after application
+                        start.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If you are configuring log4net by specifying assembly level attributes on 
+                        your assembly then the configuration will be loaded once the first call to
+                        the <span class="code">LogManager.GetLogger</span> is made. It is necessary
+                        that the first call to <span class="code">LogManager.GetLogger</span> made
+                        during the process (or AppDomain) is made from the assembly that has the
+                        configuration attributes. Log4net will look only once and only on the first 
+                        calling assembly for the configuration attributes.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                
+            </div>
+            
+            <a name="Customization"></a><div class="section"><h2>Customization</h2>
+
+                <a name="Can the log output format be customized?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Can the log output format be customized?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes. You can implement the <span class="code">log4net.Layout.ILayout</span> 
+                        interface to create you own customized log format, or you can extend the 
+                        <span class="code">LayoutSkeleton</span> class which provides a default
+                        implementation of the <span class="code">ILayout</span> interface.
+                        Appenders can be parameterized to use the layout of your choice.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+                
+                
+                <a name="Can I write a custom appender?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Can I write a custom appender?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        Yes. You can implement the <span class="code">log4net.Appender.IAppender</span> 
+                        interface to create you own customized appender. We recommend that you extend the
+                        <span class="code">log4net.Appender.AppenderSkeleton</span> class rather than
+                        starting from scratch. You should implement your custom code in a assembly
+                        separate from the log4net assembly. To get started it is worth looking at the
+                        source of the <span class="code">log4net.Appender.TraceAppender</span> as an
+                        example of the minimum amount of code required to get an appender working.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        To configure log4net to use your custom appender you need to specify the
+                        assembly qualified name of the appender type in the config file. For
+                        example:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="source"><pre>
+&lt;appender name=&quot;...&quot; type=&quot;MyNamespace.MyAppender, MyAssembly&quot;&gt;</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        The .NET runtime will try to locate the assembly called <i>MyAssembly</i>.
+                        How .NET locates assemblies is beyond the scope of this FAQ.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Troubleshooting"></a><div class="section"><h2>Troubleshooting</h2>
+
+                <a name="How do I enable log4net internal debugging?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I enable log4net internal debugging?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        There are 2 different ways to enable internal debugging in log4net.
+                        These are listed below. The preferred method is to specify
+                        the <span class="code">log4net.Internal.Debug</span> option in the application's
+                        config file.
+                    </p>
+                    <ul>
+                        <li>
+                            
+                                Internal debugging can also be enabled by setting a value in the application's
+                                configuration file (not the log4net configuration file, unless the log4net config
+                                data is embedded in the application's config file). The <span class="code">log4net.Internal.Debug</span>
+                                application setting must be set to the value <span class="code">true</span>.
+                                For example:
+                            
+                            <div class="syntax"><pre class="code">
+&lt;?xml version=&quot;1.0&quot; encoding=&quot;utf-8&quot; ?&gt;
+&lt;configuration&gt;
+    &lt;appSettings&gt;
+        &lt;add key=&quot;log4net.Internal.Debug&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;/&gt;
+    &lt;/appSettings&gt;
+&lt;/configuration&gt;</pre></div>
+                            <p>
+                                This setting is read immediately on startup an will cause all internal
+                                debugging messages to be emitted.
+                            </p>
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            
+                                To enable log4net's internal debug programmatically you need
+                                to set the <span class="code">log4net.Util.LogLog.InternalDebugging</span>
+                                property to <span class="code">true</span>. Obviously the sooner this
+                                is set the more debug will be produced.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                    </ul>
+                    <p>
+                        Internal debugging messages are written to the console and to the 
+                        <span class="code">System.Diagnostics.Trace</span>
+                        system. If the application does not have a console the messages logged
+                        there will be lost. Note that an application can redirect the console
+                        stream by setting the <span class="code">System.Console.Out</span>. The
+                        Trace system will by default send the message to an attached debugger
+                        (where the messages will appear in the output window). If the process
+                        does not have a debugger attached then the messages are sent to the 
+                        system debugger. A utility like DebugView from 
+                        <a href="http://www.sysinternals.com">http://www.sysinternals.com</a>
+                        may be used to capture these messages.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        As log4net internal debug messages are written to the <span class="code">System.Diagnostics.Trace</span>
+                        system it is possible to redirect those messages to a local file. You can define
+                        a trace listener by adding the following to your application's .config file:
+                    </p>
+                    <div class="syntax"><pre class="code">
+&lt;configuration&gt;
+    ...
+    
+    &lt;system.diagnostics&gt;
+        &lt;trace autoflush=&quot;true&quot;&gt;
+            &lt;listeners&gt;
+                &lt;add 
+                    name=&quot;textWriterTraceListener&quot; 
+                    type=&quot;System.Diagnostics.TextWriterTraceListener&quot; 
+                    initializeData=&quot;C:\tmp\log4net.txt&quot; /&gt;
+            &lt;/listeners&gt;
+        &lt;/trace&gt;
+    &lt;/system.diagnostics&gt;
+
+    ...
+&lt;/configuration&gt;</pre></div>
+                    <p>
+                        Make sure that the process running your application has permission 
+                        to write to this file.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Why doesn't the EventLogAppender work?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Why doesn't the EventLogAppender work?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        If you are not getting events delivered to the event log this usually indicates 
+                        a permissions problem. Basically if the event log does not exist the EventLogAppender 
+                        tries to create it, but you need local administrator permissions to create event logs 
+                        (just to write into the right bit of the registry). You don't need administrator 
+                        permissions to log to an existing event log, but it must exist. If you are using the 
+                        event log from a web application or service using the event log can be a little tricky. 
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        A web application will run as the user account ASPNET. This account deliberately has 
+                        few permissions to reduce the chances of someone hacking into the web server. While the 
+                        account has permission to write to the event log it does not have permission to create 
+                        event sources (registry create and write access), which are needed to write to the event log.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        There are a couple of solutions:
+                    </p>
+                    <ol type="1">
+                        <li>
+                            
+                                Make the ASPNET user a member of the Administrators group. This will work because the 
+                                user will then have the required permissions. This is <strong>not recommended</strong>
+                                for production use.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                        <li>
+                            
+                                As the event source only needs to be created once for the machine, create an installer
+                                and configure it to create the event source. 
+                                The installer will need to be run as Administrator (don't they all). See 
+                                <span class="code">System.Diagnostics.EventLogInstaller</span> in the Microsoft .NET 
+                                Framework SDK for an example of how to create a simple event log installer.
+                            
+                        </li>
+                    </ol>
+                    <p>
+                        There is a Microsoft Knowledge Base article that covers this issue and how to resolve
+                        it. <a href="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;329291">
+                            PRB: &quot;Requested Registry Access Is Not Allowed&quot; Error Message When ASP.NET 
+                            Application Tries to Write New EventSource in the EventLog</a>.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Why can't I log to a FileAppender from a web application?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Why can't I log to a FileAppender from a web application?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        The web application runs as a special user account on the web server
+                        called ASPNET. This account has restricted permissions to protect the 
+                        web server from attacks. By default this account may not have permission
+                        to write to the file system. Make sure that the ASPNET account has 
+                        permission to create and write to files in the directory chosen for
+                        logging.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="Why doesn't the logging in my service work?"></a><div class="section"><h2>Why doesn't the logging in my service work?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        A windows service runs as a user account specified in the services
+                        control panel. This account may have restricted permissions, make 
+                        sure that the account has permission to create and write to files 
+                        in the directory chosen for logging.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        A windows service is launched by windows. The current directory in
+                        a service is set to the windows system directory (e.g. 
+                        <span class="code">C:\Windows\System32</span>). If you are loading
+                        the configuration file from the current directory then be aware
+                        that this path will not be the location of your assemblies.
+                        The best way to get the path to your assemblies is to use
+                        <span class="code">AppDomain.BaseDirectory</span>.
+                        Note that the log4net internals never use the current directory.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+                
+                <a name="I am having trouble using the AdoNetAppender to connect to my database?"></a><div class="section"><h2>I am having trouble using the AdoNetAppender to connect to my database?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        For details on the different ways in which ADO.NET can connect to a database see:
+                        <a href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconadonetconnections.asp">Connecting to a Data Source Using ADO.NET</a>.
+                    </p>
+                    <p>
+                        If you need to use ODBC to connect to your database then please note that the
+                        ADO.NET ODBC drivers are not included in the standard .NET framework redistributable.
+                        You can download the drivers from microsoft download at: 
+                        <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=6ccd8427-1017-4f33-a062-d165078e32b1">ODBC .NET Data Provider</a>.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+                <a name="How do I report bugs?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I report bugs?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        See the <a href="../support.html">support</a> page for details.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
+                <p><a href="#top">Back to Top</a></p>
+
+
+            </div>
+            
+            <a name="Miscellaneous"></a><div class="section"><h2>Miscellaneous</h2>
+            
+                <a name="How do I make log4net appear in the Visual Studio Add References dialog?"></a><div class="section"><h2>How do I make log4net appear in the Visual Studio Add References dialog?</h2>
+                    <p>
+                        There is a good discussion of this topic on Robert McLaws blog:
+                        <a href="http://weblogs.asp.net/rmclaws/archive/2003/11/15/37743.aspx">Building a Better Server Control Experience, Part 2</a>.
+                    </p>
+                </div>
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+    
+        <a name="log4net Features"></a><div class="section"><h2>log4net Features</h2>
+        
+            <sectionMenu name="Contents"></sectionMenu>
+
+            <a name="Overview"></a><div class="section"><h2>Overview</h2>
+                <p>
+                    log4net is a tool to help the programmer output log statements to a 
+                    variety of output targets. In case of problems with an application, 
+                    it is helpful to enable logging so that the problem can be located. 
+                    With log4net it is possible to enable logging at runtime without 
+                    modifying the application binary. The log4net package is designed so 
+                    that log statements can remain in shipped code without incurring a 
+                    high performance cost. It follows that the speed of logging (or 
+                    rather not logging) is crucial.
+                </p>
+                <p>
+                    At the same time, log output can be so voluminous that it quickly becomes 
+                    overwhelming. One of the distinctive features of log4net is the notion of 
+                    hierarchical loggers. Using these loggers it is possible to selectively 
+                    control which log statements are output at arbitrary granularity. 
+                </p>
+                <p>
+                    log4net is designed with two distinct goals in mind: speed and flexibility
+                </p>
+            </div>
+            
+            <a name="Features"></a><div class="section"><h2>Features</h2>
+                <ul>
+                    <li><h3>Support for multiple frameworks</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Output to multiple logging targets</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Hierarchical logging architecture</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>XML Configuration</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Dynamic Configuration</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Logging Context</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Proven architecture</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>Modular and extensible design</h3></li>
+                    <li><h3>High performance with flexibility</h3></li>
+                </ul>
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Support for multiple frameworks"></a><div class="section"><h2>Support for multiple frameworks</h2>
+                
+                    log4net runs on all ECMA CLI 1.0 compatible runtimes.
+                    log4net has specific builds for the following frameworks:
+                
+                <ul>
+                    <li>Microsoft .NET Framework 1.0 (1.0.3705)</li>
+                    <li>Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1 (1.1.4322)</li>
+                    <li>Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (2.0.50727)</li>
+                    <li>Microsoft .NET Compact Framework 1.0</li>
+                    
+                    <li>Mono 1.0</li>
+                    <li>Mono 2.0</li>
+                    <li>Microsoft Shared Source CLI 1.0</li>
+                    <li>CLI 1.0 Compatible</li>
+                </ul>
+                
+                    Note: Due to the .NET frameworks support for backward compatibility 
+                    log4net will run on future versions of the runtimes listed above.
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Output to multiple logging targets"></a><div class="section"><h2>Output to multiple logging targets</h2>
+                
+                    log4net ships with the following appenders (not on all frameworks):
+                
+                <div class="table">
+                    <table class="bodyTable">
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <th>
+                                Type</th>
+                            <th>
+                                Description</th>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.AdoNetAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to a database using either prepared statements or stored 
+                                procedures.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.AnsiColorTerminalAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes color highlighted logging events to a an ANSI terminal window.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.AspNetTraceAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the ASP trace context. These can then be rendered at 
+                                the end of the ASP page or on the ASP trace page.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.ColoredConsoleAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes color highlighted logging events to the application's Windows Console.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.ConsoleAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the application's Console. The events may go to either 
+                                the standard our stream or the standard error stream.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.EventLogAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the Windows Event Log.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.FileAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to a file in the file system.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.LocalSyslogAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the local syslog service (UNIX only).
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.MemoryAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Stores logging events in an in memory buffer.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.NetSendAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the Windows Messenger service. These messages are 
+                                displayed in a dialog on a users terminal.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.OutputDebugStringAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the debugger. If the application has no 
+                                debugger, the system debugger displays the string. If the application has no 
+                                debugger and the system debugger is not active, the message is ignored.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.RemoteSyslogAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to a remote syslog service using UDP networking.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.RemotingAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to a remoting sink using .NET remoting.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to a file in the file system. The RollingFileAppender can 
+                                be configured to log to multiple files based upon date or file size 
+                                constraints.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.SmtpAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Sends logging events to an email address.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.TelnetAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Clients connect via Telnet to receive logging events.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="b">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.TraceAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Writes logging events to the .NET trace system.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                        <tr class="a">
+                            <td>log4net.Appender.UdpAppender</td>
+                            <td>
+                                Sends logging events as connectionless UDP datagrams to a remote host or a 
+                                multicast group using a UdpClient.
+                            </td>
+                        </tr>
+                    </table>
+                </div>
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Hierarchical logging architecture"></a><div class="section"><h2>Hierarchical logging architecture</h2>
+                
+                    Hierarchical logging is an ideal fit with component based development. 
+                    Each component has its own of logger. When individually tested, the 
+                    properties of these loggers may be set as the developer requires. 
+                    When combined with other components, the loggers inherit the properties 
+                    determined by the integrator of the components. One can selectively elevate 
+                    logging priorities on one component without affecting the other components. 
+                    This is useful when you need a detailed trace from just a single component 
+                    without crowding the trace file with messages from other components. All 
+                    this can be done through configuration files; no code changes are required.             
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="XML Configuration"></a><div class="section"><h2>XML Configuration</h2>
+                
+                    log4net is configured using an XML configuration file. The configuration 
+                    information can be embedded within other XML configuration files
+                    (such as the application's .config file) or in a separate file. The
+                    configuration is easily readable and updateable while retaining the
+                    flexibility to express all configurations.
+                
+                
+                    Alternatively log4net can be configured programmatically.
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Dynamic Configuration"></a><div class="section"><h2>Dynamic Configuration</h2>
+                
+                    log4net can monitor its configuration file for changes and dynamically
+                    apply changes made by the configurator. The logging levels, appenders, 
+                    layouts, and just about everything else can be adjusted at runtime. 
+                    In many cases it is possible to diagnose application issues without 
+                    terminating the process in question. This can a very valuable tool in
+                    investigating issues with deployed applications.
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Logging Context"></a><div class="section"><h2>Logging Context</h2>
+                
+                    log4net can be used to collect logging context data in a way that is transparent 
+                    to the developer at the point of logging. The GlobalContext and the 
+                    ThreadContext allow the application to store contextual data that is
+                    attached to logging messages. For instance, in a web service, 
+                    once the caller is authenticated the username of the caller could be 
+                    stored in a ThreadContext property. This property would then be automatically 
+                    logged as part of each subsequent logging message made from the same thread.
+                
+            </div>
+
+            <a name="Proven architecture"></a><div class="section"><h2>Proven architecture</h2>
+                
+                    log4net is based on the highly successful log4j logging library,
+                    in development since 1996. This popular and proven architecture has 
+                    so far been ported to 12 languages.
+                
+            </div>
+            
+        </div>
+    
+
+      </div>
+    </div>
+    <div class="clear">
+      <hr/>
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+      <div class="xright">&#169;  
+          2007
+    
+          Apache Software Foundation
+          
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+    
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