Open System Services Library Calls Reference Manual (G06.27+, H06.04+)

syslog(3) OSS Library Calls Reference Manual

parameter contains data to be converted according to the message string.

DESCRIPTION

The syslog() function generates Event Management Service (EMS) events, which are signiﬁcant

occurrences in the subsystem environment. The syslog() function also sends messages about

events to the EMS subsystem, which collects and distributes event messages. Collector

processes accept event messages and write them to log ﬁles. Distributor processes retrieve event

messages from the log ﬁles, ﬁlter them based on user-deﬁned criteria, and send them to the

appropriate destination, such as processes, printers, and terminals. See the EMS Manual for infor-

mation on conﬁguring ﬁlters and distributors.

The default collector process is the local primary collector, $0. Alternate collectors, such as a

remote $0 or other local collectors, can be speciﬁed by the EMS_COLLECTOR environment

variable.

Each event message is composed of elements called tokens, which consist of data values and

tags that identify the data values. The event messages produced by syslog() contain the follow-

ing application-speci

ﬁc tokens:

ZEMS-TKN-TEXT

Contains message text. In the absence of any formatting templates, the Guardian

EMSTEXT product extracts the contents of this token as printable text.

ZOSS-TKN-FACILITY

Contains a number indicating the facility that generated the event, which by

default is LOG_USER. The priority parameter to syslog() and the facility

parameter to the openlog() function can override the default value.

ZOSS-TKN-IDENT

Contains the subject of the event. The default value is "syslog," but it can be

overridden by the ident parameter to the openlog() function. This token allows

identiﬁcation of events generated by the same application and permits events to

be distinguished from those generated by other applications.

ZOSS-TKN-LEVEL

Contains a number that indicates the severity level of the event message as

speciﬁed by the priority parameter. Critical events are indicated by assigning the

value TRUE to the token ZEMS-TKN-EMPHASIS. The priority parameter sets

this token to TRUE if the message level is LOG_EMERG, LOG_ALERT,or

LOG_CRIT. The following table shows the OSS event levels, their correspond-

ing EMS event numbers in ZOSS-TKN-LEVEL, and the EMS event names.

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