set logfile

Synopsis

/set logfile [<filename>]
/set -logfile

Default: irc.log. With no filename, set displays the current value. /set -logfile unsets the destination and stops the global session log if it is open.

Description

Selects the file used by set log for global session output. While that log is closed, changing the filename stores a choice for the next attempt to enable logging; it does not open a file by itself.

While the global file is open, assigning a filename closes the old file and immediately attempts to open the new one. Assigning the same filename also closes and reopens it. Unsetting the value reports Unsetting LOGFILE turns off logging and turns log off.

Per-window window logfile destinations and selective log objects are separate logs, not overrides that redirect the global file. They can operate alongside it and record overlapping output.

Paths and file handling

The filename is normalized when opening, including tilde expansion and relative-path resolution from the client's working directory. Parent directories are not created automatically. The string can contain spaces; the open routine also removes a matching pair of surrounding double quotes when the string contains a nonempty filename between them.

Files are opened in append mode, preserving existing contents. EPIC attempts to set permissions to owner read/write, including on an existing file. Successful opens and closes write dated start/end markers and report the file transition locally. Failure to normalize a path produces a warning and an attempt to use the supplied name; failure to open reports the filename and system error.

If a path change fails while logging was open, the previous file has already been closed and is not automatically restored. In that callback, the stored log boolean is not reset on open failure, so it can still say on even though no global logfile is open. After fixing the path, explicitly use /set log on to attempt opening it again. In contrast, a failed open initiated by set log on resets that boolean to off.

Changing the setting affects subsequent file output, does not move existing log contents, and sends no IRC request.

Example

Choose a destination and start global logging:

/set logfile ~/irc-session.log
/set log on

Change logfile while logging is open to switch files. To stop and remove the configured destination:

/set -logfile

Source references

• source/log.c: set_logfile closes/reopens an active destination; logger handles explicit logging activation; open_log and close_log implement append mode, path normalization, permissions, and markers.
• source/output.c: put_echo writes the global log before routing to windows.
• source/vars.c and include/config.h: string registration, callback, unset handling, and default irc.log.