| Reporting and auditing of log data from an application are important features for providing a reliable, consistent interpretation of program operation. It can be considered a necessary component of good policy creation. Unfortunately, logging systems are often last to be developed by application programmers and are frequently ignored. Effective use of the data that is produced is rarely seen.;The Generic Reporting and Analysis Framework (GRAF) project was undertaken to provide a set of tools to programmers for managing an applications log data in a way that made using the data simple. A specification for storing and retrieving log data in a simple distributed system is presented. The specification also describes an object-oriented framework for handling log data in ways a developer might commonly implement.;A prototype of a GRAF system was designed and implemented in C++ using the specification in this document. The design process and basic coding requirements are also shown, with an analysis of the prototype given as a result of the practical implementation of the project.;The resulting toolset developed by this project successfully implements a system for easy maintenance of log data. Problems found in the distributed model were found, particularly with maintaining consistency in the data with respect to time when more than one server is in use.;Although the proof of concept has been met, there are other features that could be added to the specification to make the system more complete. |
