An access log is a text file that contains a thorough report on all of the files accessed by your Internet site visitors. All the files which were requested in one way or another shall be included, so if you have a PHP script app and a visitor opens just the home page, for example, you may find numerous files inside the log. The reason is that there are elements on the home page that are embedded - parts of other web pages, images, etc. All these files will be listed within the access log, so you can get a complete picture of the way your website functions. The information is in plain text format, so the logs are frequently termed "raw data" too. An access log shows the name of every requested file, the path to it, the date it was accessed, as well as the user’s IP address, web browser and OS. Additional information, including the referrer website, is oftentimes provided too. A log file could be processed by various desktop applications for statistical purposes as an addition to the web stats created by your web server.