Example of a simple static logger class using log4net

I recently had to knock together a very simple logging class for a simple application I was creating to monitor some website activity. My favourite logging application by far is log4net!!

Apache Log4Net

This is a simple static class which can be called anywhere else in the solution. In effect it is just a wrapper. The way that log4net is designed you can attach a logger to any class in your framework. But for simple projects this is a bit overkill.

   1: /// <summary> 

   2: /// Static class logger using Log4Net

   3: /// </summary> 

   4: public static class ExampleLogger 

   5: { 

   6:     #region Members 

   7:  

   8:     /// <summary> 

   9:     /// Create a logger for this static class

  10:     /// </summary> 

  11:     private static readonly ILog logger = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(ExampleLogger)); 

  12:  

  13:     #endregion Members 

  14:  

  15:     #region Constructors 

  16:  

  17:     /// <summary> 

  18:     /// On construct - build logger object 

  19:     /// </summary> 

  20:     static ExampleLogger() 

  21:     { 

  22:         XmlConfigurator.Configure(); 

  23:     } 

  24:  

  25:     #endregion Constructors 

  26:  

  27:     #region Class Methods 

  28:  

  29:     /// <summary> 

  30:     /// Write information to log 

  31:     /// </summary> 

  32:     /// <param name="logLevel">Level of information to write</param> 

  33:     /// <param name="message">Information to write to log</param> 

  34:     public static void WriteLog(LogLevel logLevel, String message) 

  35:     { 

  36:         if (logLevel.Equals(LogLevel.Debug)) 

  37:         { 

  38:             logger.Debug(message); 

  39:         } 

  40:         else if (logLevel.Equals(LogLevel.Error)) 

  41:         { 

  42:             logger.Error(message); 

  43:         } 

  44:         else if (logLevel.Equals(LogLevel.Fatal)) 

  45:         { 

  46:             logger.Fatal(message); 

  47:         } 

  48:         else if (logLevel.Equals(LogLevel.Info)) 

  49:         { 

  50:             logger.Info(message); 

  51:         } 

  52:         else if (logLevel.Equals(LogLevel.Warn)) 

  53:         { 

  54:             logger.Warn(message); 

  55:         } 

  56:     } 

  57:  

  58:     #endregion Class Methods 

  59: } 

  60:  

  61: /// <summary> 

  62: /// Priority level of the information to be logged 

  63: /// </summary> 

  64: public enum LogLevel 

  65: { 

  66:     Debug = 1, 

  67:     Error, 

  68:     Fatal, 

  69:     Info, 

  70:     Warn 

  71: }

You also need to set where the log information is configured in your web config file at the entry point of your application. I.e. either main or Global.asax etc.

   1: //Configuration for Log4Net

   2: XmlConfigurator.Configure(new FileInfo(AppDomain.CurrentDomain.SetupInformation.ConfigurationFile));

Finally you need to add the log4net configuration section in the web.config

   1: <!-- Log 4 Net logging -->

   2:  <log4net>

   3:  

   4:    <appender name="RollingFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender">

   5:      <file value="C:\Log\ExampleLog" />

   6:      <appendToFile value="true" />

   7:      <staticLogFileName value="false" />

   8:      <rollingStyle value="Composite" />

   9:      <datePattern value="yyyyMMdd.lo\g" />

  10:      <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />

  11:      <maximumFileSize value="1MB" />

  12:      <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">

  13:        <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %-5level %logger [%property{NDC}] - %message%newline" />

  14:      </layout>

  15:    </appender>

  16:  

  17:    <root>

  18:      <level value="DEBUG" />

  19:      <appender-ref ref="RollingFileAppender" />

  20:    </root>

  21:    

  22:  </log4net>

This configuration sections will log information to a file named ExampleLog and a data pattern inserted. Each day a new file will be created. As if the log file exceeds 1MB.

For more examples for configurations for log4Net – see the website:

Log4Net Configuration Examples