Powerful Logging in Java ME

The last couple of weeks has involved very much work. First of all I have been preparing the Microlog V2 release. Second I have been writing an introductory article to Microlog. It is now published over at Sun Developer Network. Please read the article and rate it.

http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/javame/javame-logging/

As always, feedback is very welcome. What do you think about the latest Microlog (V2) release? What do you think about the article?

Using Microlog from Maven

Microlog V2 is available from the Maven central repository, which was not the case for Microlog V1. Thus you need to add the Microlog Maven repository to your Maven project file when using Microlog V1. This is not the case with Microlog V2, since the Maven central repository is automatically searched if no repository is specified. Just add this simple snippet into your pom.xml file:

<dependency>
 <groupId>net.sf.microlog</groupId>
 <artifactId>microlog-logger-core</artifactId>
 <version>2.0.5</version>
 <scope>compile</scope>
</dependency>

This will let you use the core part of Microlog. If you wish to have access to the MIDP part of Microlog, add this snippet:

<dependency>
 <groupId>net.sf.microlog</groupId>
 <artifactId>microlog-logger-midp</artifactId>
 <version>2.0.5</version>
 <scope>compile</scope>
</dependency>

Notice that the version is 2.0.5 which is the latest stable release as of today. For those who want to be on the cutting edge, there is also a snapshot version available. Just replace 2.0.5 with 2.1.0-SNAPSHOT in the examples above.

And that is it! You could now compile your Java ME code that uses Microlog within a a couple of minutes. A lot of projects are using Maven and I hope that you will find this tip useful.

Microlog Development $$$

I have often wondered how many hours I have spent on Microlog. It is countless hours of fun and sometimes frustration. But it is definitely worth it. I guess my wife beg to differ :) Anyway; there is a site called ohloh. This site collects data from the Internet about open source projects. It analyzes the code for a lot of things. For example it checks how well documented the code is. Another interesting metrics is the calculated development cost. Here is a list of the projects that I am involved in:

• Microlog - $ 435,348
• Microproperties - $ 2,955
• Microinstall - $ 12,018
• Voxtr - $ 29,963

Interesting reading. Please notice these figures are not only due to my work, but due to other peoples hard work as well. But is these values realistic or not? What do you think?

Microlog Maven Repository

Right now I am deploying a signed version of Microlog V1.1.1. The reason for this is that the Microlog Maven artifacts are going to be moved to the Sonatype Maven repository. The next step is to upload the latest Microlog V2 to the same repository. By the way; I am going to use Sonatype OSS Repository Hosting. The reasons for putting the Maven artifacts there are many. First of all, using the SourceForge web hosting as a Maven repository is real bad. The primary problem is that I get all sorts of timeouts or other problems when deploying artifacts. For example, I have tried 5 times now to deploy but has not succeeded yet :( The other reason being that I want Maven to be a natural part of the Maven universe. The Sonatype repository is synched with the Maven central repository. When this is done, it is you as a user (developer) that benefits from that. You only need to specify the Maven dependency, without adding any new repositories. When the artifacts have been moved, I will write an article to explain exactly how this is done.

Now I will go back and try to deploy the artifacts once more. It seems that it failed for me.

Microlog V2.0.0 Finallly Available for Download

Today I have finally made the V2.0.0 release of Microlog. Please download and try it out. Feedback is very welcome!

Download it from here: https://sourceforge.net/projects/microlog/files/

The official release news:

"We have finally released the long awaited Microlog V2.0.0. The core has been reworked and very much improved. It is meaner and leaner than ever.

Noteworthy new features:

• New improved configuration
• Hierarchical logging
• HttpAppender with a sample servlet that you could do your logging to.
• More Maven friendly with small modules. This let you use only the part that you are interested in.

Microlog is a small, yet powerful logging library for mobile devices based on the Log4j API. Supports Java ME (J2ME) and Android. Logs to device, to PC or to servers online. Used in all phases from development on emulator/device to outdoor field-testing.

Microlog is licensed under The Apache Software License, Version 2.0 so it is possible to link and distribute commercial software with this library."

Mobile and Embedded Community Star Award

During the years I have been involved in several developer forums. Lately I have spent many hours in the Mobile and Embedded Forums at SDN. I have tried to help people with their Java ME questions as much as I can. Someone recognized this fact...

The official news can be found here.

Read more about the "Community Star Award".