A Formatter object is used by a Handler to convert a LogRecord to a String prior to logging it. Most applications can simply use one one of the pre-defined concrete subclasses: SimpleFormatter or XMLFormatter . Applications requiring custom formatting of log messages will need to subclass this class and define the format( ) method to perform the desired conversion. Such subclasses may find the formatMessage( ) method useful: it performs localization using java.util.ResourceBundle and formatting using the facilities of the java.text package. getHead( ) and getTail( ) return a prefix and suffix (such as opening and closing XML tags) for a log file. public abstract class Formatter { // Protected Constructors protected Formatter ( ); // Public Instance Methods public abstract String format (LogRecord record ); public String formatMessage (LogRecord record ); synchronized public String getHead (Handler h ); public String getTail (Handler h ); } SubclassesSimpleFormatter , XMLFormatter Passed ToHandler.setFormatter( ) , StreamHandler.StreamHandler( ) Returned ByHandler.getFormatter( ) |