Summary

Our log file has messages from a lot of different applications.   This makes navigating the log difficult.  Is there a way we could have a log file per application? 

Is it a good practice for each application to write to a separate log file?  If so, what steps do I need to take to accomplish this?

Suggested Approach

Yes, you can split the logfile per application. There is something in log4j called an appender, which is basically the mechanism by which log4j writes to the individual logfiles. You can use it to split the logfiles being written to by class, e.g. com.pega.pegarules.engine.database etc.

If you want to get fancier than that, you could do things within your own appender, for example such that a piece of data within the message could cause the switch in logfile.   You have, therefore, all the facilities of log4j at your disposal for accomplishing the kind of logfile split you're talking about.   Process Commander has adapted the standard log4j facilities, but most of log4j capability is available to you.