log(n) Logging facility log(n)
NAME
log - Procedures to log messages of libraries and applications.
SYNOPSIS
package require Tcl 8
package require log ?1.0.1?
::log::levels
::log::lv2longform level
::log::lv2color level
::log::lv2priority level
::log::lv2cmd level
::log::lv2channel level
::log::lvCompare level1 level2
::log::lvSuppress level {suppress 1}
::log::lvSuppressLE level {suppress 1}
::log::lvIsSuppressed level
::log::lvCmd level cmd
::log::lvCmdForall cmd
::log::lvChannel level chan
::log::lvChannelForall chan
::log::lvColor level color
::log::lvColorForall color
::log::log level text
::log::logMsg text
::log::logError text
::log::Puts level text
DESCRIPTION
The log package provides commands that allow libraries and applications to selectively log information about their internal operation and
state.
To use the package just execute
package require log
log::log notice "Some message"
As can be seen above, each message given to the log facility is associated with a level determining the importance of the message. The user
can then select which levels to log, what commands to use for the logging of each level and the channel to write the message to. In the
following example the logging of all message with level debug is deactivated.
package require log
log::lvSupress debug
log::log debug "Unseen message" ; # No output
By default all messages associated with an error-level (emergency, alert, critical, and error) are written to stderr. Messages with any
other level are written to stdout. In the following example the log module is reconfigured to write debug messages to stderr too.
package require log
log::lvChannel debug stderr
log::log debug "Written to stderr"
Each message level is also associated with a command to use when logging a message with that level. The behaviour above for example relies
on the fact that all message levels use by default the standard command ::log::Puts to log any message. In the following example all mes-
sages of level notice are given to the non-standard command toText for logging. This disables the channel setting for such messages, assum-
ing that toText does not use it by itself.
package require log
log::lvCmd notice toText
log::log notice "Handled by
Another database maintained by this facility is a map from message levels to colors. The information in this database has no influence on
the behaviour of the module. It is merely provided as a convenience and in anticipation of the usage of this facility in tk-based applica-
tion which may want to colorize message logs.
API
The following commands are available:
::log::levels
Returns the names of all known levels, in alphabetical order.
::log::lv2longform level
Converts any unique abbreviation of a level name to the full level name.
::log::lv2color level
Converts any level name including unique abbreviations to the corresponding color.
::log::lv2priority level
Converts any level name including unique abbreviations to the corresponding priority.
::log::lv2cmd level
Converts any level name including unique abbreviations to the command prefix used to write messages with that level.
::log::lv2channel level
Converts any level name including unique abbreviations to the channel used by ::log::Puts to write messages with that level.
::log::lvCompare level1 level2
Compares two levels (including unique abbreviations) with respect to their priority. This command can be used by the -command option
of lsort. The result is one of -1, 0 or 1 or an error. A result of -1 signals that level1 is of less priority than level2. 0 signals
that both levels have the same priority. 1 signals that level1 has higher priority than level2.
::log::lvSuppress level {suppress 1}]
(Un)suppresses the output of messages having the specified level. Unique abbreviations for the level are allowed here too.
::log::lvSuppressLE level {suppress 1}]
(Un)suppresses the output of messages having the specified level or one of lesser priority. Unique abbreviations for the level are
allowed here too.
::log::lvIsSuppressed level
Asks the package whether the specified level is currently suppressed. Unique abbreviations of level names are allowed.
::log::lvCmd level cmd
Defines for the specified level with which command to write the messages having this level. Unique abbreviations of level names are
allowed. The command is actually a command prefix and this facility will append 2 arguments before calling it, the level of the mes-
sage and the message itself, in this order.
::log::lvCmdForall cmd
Defines for all known levels with which command to write the messages having this level. The command is actually a command prefix
and this facility will append 2 arguments before calling it, the level of the message and the message itself, in this order.
::log::lvChannel level chan
Defines for the specified level into which channel ::log::Puts (the standard command) shall write the messages having this level.
Unique abbreviations of level names are allowed. The command is actually a command prefix and this facility will append 2 arguments
before calling it, the level of the message and the message itself, in this order.
::log::lvChannelForall chan
Defines for all known levels with which which channel ::log::Puts (the standard command) shall write the messages having this level.
The command is actually a command prefix and this facility will append 2 arguments before calling it, the level of the message and
the message itself, in this order.
::log::lvColor level color
Defines for the specified level the color to return for it in a call to ::log::lv2color. Unique abbreviations of level names are
allowed.
::log::lvColorForall color
Defines for all known levels the color to return for it in a call to ::log::lv2color. Unique abbreviations of level names are
allowed.
::log::log level text
Log a message according to the specifications for commands, channels and suppression. In other words: The command will do nothing if
the specified level is suppressed. If it is not suppressed the actual logging is delegated to the specified command. If there is no
command specified for the level the message won't be logged. The standard command ::log::Puts will write the message to the channel
specified for the given level. If no channel is specified for the level the message won't be logged. Unique abbreviations of level
names are allowed. Errors in the actual logging command are not caught, but propagated to the caller, as they may indicate miscon-
figurations of the log facility or errors in the callers code itself.
::log::logMsg text
Convenience wrapper around ::log::log. Equivalent to ::log::log info text.
::log::logError text
Convenience wrapper around ::log::log. Equivalent to ::log::log error text.
::log::Puts level text
The standard log command, it writes messages and their levels to user-specified channels. Assumes that the suppression checks were
done by the caller. Expects full level names, abbreviations are not allowed.
LEVELS
The package currently defines the following log levels, the level of highest importance listed first.
o emergency
o alert
o critical
o error
o warning
o notice
o info
o debug
KEYWORDS
log, log level, message level, message
log 1.0.1 log(n)