This requires a long answer.
Ceki realized in Logback that OutputStreams really needed a byte array. So he
changed Appenders to require an Encoder instead of an Appender. Layouts still
return a String so he created a wrapper Encoder to convert the String to a byte
array.
The idea of using a byte array is correct - most of the time, as most of the
Appenders use an OutputStream. However, the JMS appenders don't. They require
a Serializable object.
When developing Log4j I did not like having both Encoders and Layouts, so I
chose to have Layouts return a byte array. But then it made no sense to have
something based on the AbstractStringLayout convert the String to a byte array
only to have to convert it back to a String again for the JMS Appenders, which
is why I added formatAs(). Now the JMS Appender can send both a Serialized
LogEvent and a String.
So in looking at how formatAs() is used I would think that we could just change
Layout to
public interface Layout {
Serializable formatAs();
...
}
On Oct 9, 2012, at 6:23 AM, Gary Gregory wrote:
> Hi All:
>
> We currently have a generics warning for:
>
> org.apache.logging.log4j.core.Appender.getLayout()
>
> because the method is defined as:
>
> Layout getLayout();
>
> and Layout<T extends Serializable>
>
> Which hints at defining getLayout() as:
>
> Layout<T> getLayout();
>
> Which means either:
>
> <T extends Serializable> Layout<T> getLayout();
>
> or:
>
> public interface Appender<T extends Serializable> extends Lifecycle {
> ...
> Layout<T> getLayout();
>
> Now I also see:
>
> @issue LOG4J2-36 Refactor into Channel
>
> But the issue has been closed with no changes planned.
>
> So... thoughts?
>
> Gary
>
>
>
>
> --
> E-Mail: [email protected] | [email protected]
> JUnit in Action, 2nd Ed: http://bit.ly/ECvg0
> Spring Batch in Action: http://bit.ly/bqpbCK
> Blog: http://garygregory.wordpress.com
> Home: http://garygregory.com/
> Tweet! http://twitter.com/GaryGregory
