Agent::Channel(3pm)					User Contributed Perl Documentation				       Agent::Channel(3pm)

NAME

       Log::Agent::Channel - ancestor class for all Log::Agent channels

SYNOPSIS

	@Log::Agent::Channel::XXX::ISA = qw(Log::Agent::Channel);

DESCRIPTION

       The "Log::Agent::Channel" class is the root class from which all "Log::Agent" channels inherit. It is a deferred class, meaning that it
       cannot be instantiated directly. All the deferred routines need to be implemented by its heirs to form a valid driver.

       Internally, the various "Log::Agent::Driver" objects create "Log::Agent::Channel" instances for each logging channel defined at driver
       creation time.  The channels are therefore architecturally hidden within "Log::Agent", since this module only provides redefined mappings
       for the various logxxx() routines (logerr(), logwarn(), logdie(), etc...).

       However, this does not mean that channel classes cannot be used externally: the "Log::Agent::Logger" extension makes "Log::Agent::Channel"
       objects architecturally visible, thereby offering an application-level logging API that can be redirected to various places transparently
       for the application.

CHANNEL LIST

       The following channels are currently made available by "Log::Agent".  More channels can be defined by the "Log::Agent::Logger" extension:

       Log::Agent::Channel::File
	   This channel writes logs to files, defined by their path or via a magical opening sequence such as "|cmd".  See
	   Log::Agent::Channel::File.

       Log::Agent::Channel::Handle
	   This channel writes logs to an already opened descriptor, as specified by its file handle: an IO::Handle object, or a GLOB reference
	   such as *FILE.  See Log::Agent::Channel::Handle.

       Log::Agent::Channel::Syslog
	   This channel redirects logs to the syslogd(8) daemon, which will then handle the dispatching to various logfiles, based on its own
	   configuration.  See Log::Agent::Channel::Syslog.

INTERFACE

       You need not read this section if you're only using "Log::Agent".  However, if you wish to implement another channel, then this section
       might be of interest.

       The following routines are deferred and therefore need to be defined by the heir:

       write($priority, $logstring)
	   Emit the log entry held in $logstring, at priority $priority.  A trailing "
" is added to the $logstring, if needed (i.e. if the
	   physical entity does not do it already, like syslog does).

	   The $priority argument must be a valid syslog priority, i.e. one of the following strings: "emerg", "alert", "crit", "err", "warning",
	   "notice", "info", "debug".

	   The $logstring may not really be a plain string. It can actually be a Log::Agent::Message object with an overloaded stringification
	   routine, so the illusion should be complete.

       close
	   Close the channel.

       make
	   This is the creation routine. Its signature varies for each channel, naturally.

AUTHOR

       Raphael Manfredi <Raphael_Manfredi@pobox.com>

SEE ALSO

       Log::Agent::Channel::File(3), Log::Agent::Channel::Handle(3), Log::Agent::Channel::Syslog(3), Log::Agent::Logger(3).

perl v5.10.0							    2002-03-09						       Agent::Channel(3pm)