Instead of using a flat log file and trying to deal with the locking/overwriting problems that entails, have you considered logging these into a Free, solid database engine that supports row-level locking such as PostgreSQL?

This approach might also have the side benefit of letting you find a way around the possibility of running out of space in your process table. And, you could write simple modules that could then index the log files and sort them by date or machine or what-have-you afterwards.

Probably not exactly what you're looking for, but it's a thought. =}

---

---

• Are you posting in the right place? Check out Where do I post X? to know for sure.
• Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags. Currently these include the following:

  <code> <a> <b> <big> <blockquote> <br /> <dd> <dl> <dt> <em> <font> <h1> <h2> <h3> <h4> <h5> <h6> <hr /> <i> <li> <nbsp> <ol> <p> <small> <strike> <strong> <sub> <sup> <table> <td> <th> <tr> <tt> <u> <ul>

• Snippets of code should be wrapped in <code> tags not <pre> tags. In fact, <pre> tags should generally be avoided. If they must be used, extreme care should be taken to ensure that their contents do not have long lines (<70 chars), in order to prevent horizontal scrolling (and possible janitor intervention).
• Want more info? How to link or How to display code and escape characters are good places to start.