Logging

How do I log events?

This library uses an abstract base logging class that you must inherit from to describe how your application is going to log events. Usually, it's just a simple call to functions like Debug(), Info(), and so on.

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Base loggers

That class that you'll need to inherit from in your custom logger class is called BaseLogger. However, this can be sometimes difficult, depending on how you want your application to log its events.

For this reason, for the sake of simplicity, we've created pre-built inherited classes in three different libraries.

Pre-built inherited classes

Package	Class	Description
Aptivestigate.Log4Net	Log4NetLogger	Uses the Log4Net library to log application events
Aptivestigate.Serilog	SerilogLogger	Uses the Serilog library to log application events (you can use all available Serilog sinks)
Aptivestigate.NLog	NLogLogger	Uses the NLog library to log application events
Aptivestigate.ZLogger	ZeeLogger	Uses the ZLogger library to log application events
Aptivestigate.Microsoft	MsLogger	Uses the Microsoft.Extensions.Logging library to log application events

You can create a new instance of any of the logger class mentioned in the above table (leave all arguments empty to print to the console, or specify a configurator)

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Usage of the LogTools class

You can use the LogTools class that provides you with functions that allow you to easily log an event to different log levels using the base logger as the first parameter.

Functions for logging

Function	Description
Debug()	Debug messages
Info()	Informational messages
Warning()	Warning messages
Error()	Error messages
Fatal()	Fatal error messages

For exceptions, you must place an exception instance before the message but after the logger instance. This is so that you can format the string with ease.

You can also use the class functions to log application events to the logger.

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Example of logging to the console

Here's a simple example of how to log to the console using the Serilog console sink (for all levels):

var logger = new SerilogLogger();
var exc = new Exception("We really can't do this.");
LogTools.Debug(logger, "Test message without formatting");
LogTools.Debug(logger, "Test message with formatting: {0}, {1}", "Hello", "John Smith");
LogTools.Info(logger, "This is an informational message!");
LogTools.Info(logger, "Saying: {0}, {1}", "Hello", "John Smith");
LogTools.Warning(logger, "Warning: this may not work properly.");
LogTools.Warning(logger, "Warning: a component, {0}, may not work properly.", "fusion reactor");
LogTools.Error(logger, "Error: Ship is out of fuel!");
LogTools.Error(logger, "Error: Fuel level is empty! {0}/{1}", 0, 320);
LogTools.Error(logger, exc, "Error.");
LogTools.Fatal(logger, "FATAL ERROR!");
LogTools.Fatal(logger, "FATAL ERROR: We can't do this! {0}", "Invalid operation.");
LogTools.Fatal(logger, exc, "FATAL ERROR!");