An access log is a text file that contains a thorough list of all of the files accessed by your Internet site visitors. All the files that were requested in one way or another shall be included, so if you have a PHP script application and a visitor opens only the home page, for example, you may find numerous files inside the log. The reason is that there are things on the home page which are embedded - parts of other web pages, images, etc. These files will be listed in the access log, so you're able to get a detailed picture of the way your site functions. The info is in plain text format, so the logs are sometimes termed "raw data" as well. An access log contains the name of each requested file, the path to it, the date it was accessed, as well as the user’s IP address, browser and OS. More info, such as the referrer site, is oftentimes supplied too. A log file could be processed by various desktop apps for statistical purposes as an addition to the web statistics provided by your web server.
