This topic provides examples of specifying log filenames. The format for specifying a log filename is the same in the following cases:

The following specifies that the name of the main log is "correlator_status.log":

Suppose that the correlator processes events for a while, sends information to correlator_status.log, and then you find that you need to restart the correlator. If you restart the correlator and specify the exact same log filename, the correlator overwrites the first correlator_status.log file. To avoid overwriting a log, specify ${START_TIME} in the log file name specification when you start the correlator. For example:

The above command opens a log with a name something like the following:

This ensures that the correlator does not overwrite a log file. Now suppose that you want to be able to rotate the log, so you specify the ${START_TIME} and ${ID} tags:

The initial name of the log file is something like the one on the first line below. If you then rotate the log file then the correlator closes that file and opens a new file with a name like the one on the second line:

To specify an EPL log filename for messages generated in com.example.mypackge, you can specify the log filename as follows:

With that specification, messages generated in com.example.mypackage will go to a file with a name such as the one on the first line below. The time in the initial EPL log filename is the time that the initial log file is created. If you rotate the logs every 24 hours at midnight then the names of subsequent EPL log files will be something like the names in the second and third lines below.

If you want to run multiple correlators with the same arguments but with separate log files, you can use the process ID to differentiate them:

The above command will produce a log file with a name such as the following, where each correlator will have a unique log file:

In most UNIX shells, when you start a correlator you most likely need to escape the tag symbols, like this: