An integrated tracing and logging system for an enterprise network is
described. One embodiment of the integrated logging and tracing system
has an object-oriented architecture which includes a controller class
with two sub-classes: a tracing sub-class and a logging sub-class.
Instances of the tracing sub-class (tracing modules) are associated with
specified program code regions of network applications. The tracing
modules receive method calls from the network applications and process
the method calls based on defined severity levels. Instances of the
logging sub-class (logging modules) are associated with specified
"categories" related to the enterprise network (e.g., system, database,
etc). The logging modules receive and process method calls from network
components associated with the categories. The integrated logging and
tracing system provides a unique architecture for configuring the logging
and tracing modules using minimum/maximum severity settings and
inheritance.