logger: add support for --prio-prefix when logging stdin

This patch adds a new option to logger that will make it look for a
priority prefix <n> at the beginning of every line. The priority is
a single decimal number formed as explained in syslog(3).

If a prefix is found logger will log the message using the found
facility and level in that prefix, if the prefix doesn't contain a
facility the default facility specified by the -p option will be used.
If no prefix is found, logger will use the priority specified by -p.

[kzak@redhat.com: - add --prio-prefix to usage() output]

Signed-off-by: Dennis H Jensen <dennis.h.jensen@siemens.com>
Signed-off-by: Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>

1 files changed, 13 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/misc-utils/logger.1 b/misc-utils/logger.1
index 09ecdc4f8..f4cadc697 100644
--- a/misc-utils/logger.1
+++ b/misc-utils/logger.1
@@ -109,6 +109,19 @@ Write to the specified
 .I socket
 instead of to the builtin syslog routines.
 .TP
+\fB\-\-prio\-prefix\fR
+Look for a syslog prefix on every line read from standard input, a
+number contained within angle brackets that contain both the facility
+and level. The decimal prefix is constructed by multiplying the
+facility by 8 and then adding the level, thus \fIlocal0.info\fR,
+facility=16 and level=6, becomes \fI<134>\fR.
+
+If the prefix contains no facility, the facility defaults to what is
+specified by \fB\-p\fR option, similarly if no prefix is provided the
+line is logged using the \fB\-p\fR \fIpriority\fR.
+
+This option doesn't affect a command-line message.
+.TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 Display version information and exit.
 .TP