Cost involved in changing the code using log4j.properties to log4j.xml

Question

i have finished my application, and it was done in such a way that logging is done using log4j but it was using log4j.properties file.
now i need to change it to log4j.xml. i need to do this at the earliest. so i need to know the cost involved in it?. do i need to change a lot on my app to read the log4j.xml?. In my app there is a function named getProperties, which actually reads the log4j.properties file.
this is the code of that function
public static Properties getProperties(String filename,String path) throws myException
//InputStream is = null;
FileInputStream is=null;
        Properties props = new Properties();       
        //ClassLoader classLoader = ResourceUtil.class.getClassLoader();
        //is = classLoader.getResourceAsStream(filename);
        File catalinaHome = new  File(System.getProperty("catalina.home"));     
        try {       
is=new
FileInputStream(catalinaHome.getCanonicalFile()+path + filename);
} catch (IOException e) {
        if(is == null)
            String message = "Cannot locate property file " + filename + " in the classpath";
            log.error(message);
        throw new myException(message);
        try
            props.load(is);
        catch (IOException e)
            String message = "Error reading property file " + filename;
            log.error(message);
        throw new myException(message, e);
        finally
            try
                is.close();
            catch(Throwable t)
                t.printStackTrace();
        if(props.isEmpty())
            String message = "No properties are defined in " + filename;
            log.error(message);
        throw new myException(message);
        return props;       
}and my initialize function is
public static void initialize()
Properties properties=null;
try {
String path="/properties/";
properties=ResourceUtil.getProperties("log4j.properties",path);
} catch (myException e2) {
e2.printStackTrace();
PropertyConfigurator.configure(properties);
}Message was edited by:
xema
Message was edited by:
xema
Message was edited by:
xema

Answer 1

>
1. Restructure log4j.properties into log4j.xml.
thats done
2. Move log4j.xml into a directory that's in the
classpath.
actually i donot understand what does it mean to move in a directory thats in classpath means. i have to use logging in my webapplication running in tomcat. and my log4j.xml has to reside in catalina.home/properties/. My log4j.properties have been residing here and it had worked well woth the previous function. Now what i did is placed the log4j.xml under properties folder. Now tell me what modifications should i make in the above code.
3. Remove any code that explicitly configures log4j
(i.e. the initialize() method) because log4j will
configure itself from any properties file it finds in
the classpath, automatically, the first time it is
called.I prefer not remvoing this function as this function is being called in many of my classes... and we don't have time to edit all...
please help... and excuse me if i asked some blunders.!!!