A transaction detail entry and a transaction archive file can contain an application log and a number of intermediate files. An application running in an Arbortext PE sub-process can write to the application log when it processes the request and produces its response. The application log, the intermediate files, and a data file describing the intermediate files are stored by the Arbortext PE Request Manager as internal data associated with a transaction. Each time the Arbortext PE Request Manager directs an Arbortext PE sub-process to handle a request, it will indicate whether application logging is enabled. When the Arbortext PE sub-process returns the HTTP response to the Arbortext PE Request Manager, it will also pass the application log and intermediate files.

Each intermediate file produced during processing is saved to disk, with an optional accompanying MIME type (such as application/zip-archive or text/html) and a description string. The content of the log and the number and content of the intermediate files are specific to the transaction. This information is not returned to the client as part of an HTTP response (as the HTTP protocol doesn't allow it).

The application logging parameters that set what is logged and the log levels are described in The Global Application Logging Parameters.

A custom application can make entries in the application log and keep intermediate files by calling methods in the following packages:

Refer to the Programmer's Guide to Arbortext Publishing Engine for information on using these packages.