On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 22:22:19 +0100 Ceki Gülcü <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> I understand. OK, to summarize: > > 1) The changes are compile-time backward compatible -- existing appenders > will compile just fine without change against 1.2 as well as 1.3. > > 2) The changes only affect programmatic calls to appenders maintained > outside the log4j project. If those appenders are invoked from log4j > configuration files, then they will work just fine and without > change with > 1.2 as well as 1.3. On a previous thread on this list it was stated: "Our guarantee to users consists of maintaining compile-time and run-time compatibility between their code and various log4j versions. This means that if users decide to upgrade to 1.3 from 1.2.x, their code should run without problems. On the other hand, we *try* to maintain (but do not guarantee) Java serialization compatibility between log4j versions." Log4j users may have assumed that this applied to their code whether it is initialised programmatically or via configuration file. Many OS libraries only have a programmatic API and are expected to provide compatibility through it. Configuration of log4j by configuration files is a great help for probably 95% of users, but if someone has felt the need to programmatically initialise log4j components and has gone to the trouble of getting it to work using 1.2 then it should also work in 1.3. > > 3) Applications such as hivemind which configure their custom appenders > programmatically need to add one line to their code in order to > invoke the > activateOptions() method. If they do that, they will be compatible with > both 1.2 and 1.3. One line can be all it takes for it to become a problem in some places :-) > I'd just like to move forward with code that we can maintain on > the long term. > Keeping the code simple is a noble aim and providing compatibility with old code usually involves adding complexity and maintenance costs. Retaining complete drop-in compatibility (excluding serialization) between 1.2 and 1.3 will tempt more to upgrade, reports of problems may put many off. Please continue the discussion :-) Kind Regards Andy > > -- > Ceki Gülcü > > The complete log4j manual: http://www.qos.ch/log4j/ > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
