Performance Tricks for C# Logging - c#

I am looking into C# logging and I do not want my log messages to spend any time processing if the message is below the logging threshold. The best I can see log4net does is a threshold check AFTER evaluating the log parameters.
Example:
_logger.Debug( "My complicated log message " + thisFunctionTakesALongTime() + " will take a long time" )
Even if the threshold is above Debug, thisFunctionTakesALongTime will still be evaluated.
In log4net you are supposed to use _logger.isDebugEnabled so you end up with
if( _logger.isDebugEnabled )
_logger.Debug( "Much faster" )
I want to know if there is a better solution for .net logging that does not involve a check each time I want to log.
In C++ I am allowed to do
LOG_DEBUG( "My complicated log message " + thisFunctionTakesALongTime() + " will take no time" )
since my LOG_DEBUG macro does the log level check itself. This frees me to have a 1 line log message throughout my app which I greatly prefer. Anyone know of a way to replicate this behavior in C#?

If you can target .NET 3.5 (C# 3.0) you can use extension methods to wrap the if statements.
so you can do the equivalent "macro":
logger.Log_Debug("Much faster");
logger.Log_Debug(() => { "My complicated log message " + thisFunctionTakesALongTime() + " will take no time" });
by wrapping the check in this method:
public class Log4NetExtensionMethods {
// simple string wrapper
public void Log_Debug(this log4net.ILog logger, string logMessage) {
if(logger.isDebugEnabled) {
logger.Debug(logMessage);
}
}
// this takes a delegate so you can delay execution
// of a function call until you've determined it's necessary
public void Log_Debug(this log4net.ILog logger, Func<string> logMessageDelegate) {
if(logger.isDebugEnabled) {
logger.Debug(logMessageDelegate());
}
}
}

17.4.2 The Conditional attribute
The attribute Conditional enables the definition of conditional methods. The Conditional attribute indicates a condition by testing a conditional compilation symbol. Calls to a conditional method are either included or omitted depending on whether this symbol is defined at the point of the call. If the symbol is defined, the call is included; otherwise, the call (including evaluation of the parameters of the call) is omitted.
[ Conditional("DEBUG") ]
public static void LogLine(string msg,string detail)
{
Console.WriteLine("Log: {0} = {1}",msg,detail);
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
int Total = 0;
for(int Lp = 1; Lp < 10; Lp++)
{
LogLine("Total",Total.ToString());
Total = Total + Lp;
}
}

The problem here is that all method parameters must be evaluated before the method is invoked. There is no way around this, given the syntax you are using. Since C# does not have a real preprocessor or macros, you can't do anything like "LOG_DEBUG". The best you could do is use if (logger.isDebugEnable) as suggested.
The only thing I can think of is maybe using something like a lambda expression to delay evaluation. But I would warn you that this will almost certainly have more of a performance hit in the end.
internal class Sample
{
private static void Main(string[] args)
{
DelayedEvaluationLogger.Debug(logger, () => "This is " + Expensive() + " to log.");
}
private static string Expensive()
{
// ...
}
}
internal static class DelayedEvaluationLogger
{
public static void Debug(ILog logger, Func<string> logString)
{
if (logger.isDebugEnabled)
{
logger.Debug(logString());
}
}
}

Without a preprocessor you're SOL. Of course there's nothing preventing you from using one before feeding your code to the C# compiler.

Related

Get the calling method name in ILogger [duplicate]

When logging in C#, how can I learn the name of the method that called the current method? I know all about System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(), but I want to go one step beneath this in the stack trace. I've considered parsing the stack trace, but I am hoping to find a cleaner more explicit way, something like Assembly.GetCallingAssembly() but for methods.
Try this:
using System.Diagnostics;
// Get call stack
StackTrace stackTrace = new StackTrace();
// Get calling method name
Console.WriteLine(stackTrace.GetFrame(1).GetMethod().Name);
one-liner:
(new System.Diagnostics.StackTrace()).GetFrame(1).GetMethod().Name
It is from Get Calling Method using Reflection [C#].
In C# 5, you can get that information using caller info:
//using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
public void SendError(string Message, [CallerMemberName] string callerName = "")
{
Console.WriteLine(callerName + "called me.");
}
You can also get the [CallerFilePath] and [CallerLineNumber].
You can use Caller Information and optional parameters:
public static string WhoseThere([CallerMemberName] string memberName = "")
{
return memberName;
}
This test illustrates this:
[Test]
public void Should_get_name_of_calling_method()
{
var methodName = CachingHelpers.WhoseThere();
Assert.That(methodName, Is.EqualTo("Should_get_name_of_calling_method"));
}
While the StackTrace works quite fast above and would not be a performance issue in most cases the Caller Information is much faster still. In a sample of 1000 iterations, I clocked it as 40 times faster.
A quick recap of the 2 approaches with speed comparison being the important part.
http://geekswithblogs.net/BlackRabbitCoder/archive/2013/07/25/c.net-little-wonders-getting-caller-information.aspx
Determining the caller at compile-time
static void Log(object message,
[CallerMemberName] string memberName = "",
[CallerFilePath] string fileName = "",
[CallerLineNumber] int lineNumber = 0)
{
// we'll just use a simple Console write for now
Console.WriteLine("{0}({1}):{2} - {3}", fileName, lineNumber, memberName, message);
}
Determining the caller using the stack
static void Log(object message)
{
// frame 1, true for source info
StackFrame frame = new StackFrame(1, true);
var method = frame.GetMethod();
var fileName = frame.GetFileName();
var lineNumber = frame.GetFileLineNumber();
// we'll just use a simple Console write for now
Console.WriteLine("{0}({1}):{2} - {3}", fileName, lineNumber, method.Name, message);
}
Comparison of the 2 approaches
Time for 1,000,000 iterations with Attributes: 196 ms
Time for 1,000,000 iterations with StackTrace: 5096 ms
So you see, using the attributes is much, much faster! Nearly 25x
faster in fact.
We can improve on Mr Assad's code (the current accepted answer) just a little bit by instantiating only the frame we actually need rather than the entire stack:
new StackFrame(1).GetMethod().Name;
This might perform a little better, though in all likelihood it still has to use the full stack to create that single frame. Also, it still has the same caveats that Alex Lyman pointed out (optimizer/native code might corrupt the results). Finally, you might want to check to be sure that new StackFrame(1) or .GetFrame(1) don't return null, as unlikely as that possibility might seem.
See this related question:
Can you use reflection to find the name of the currently executing method?
In general, you can use the System.Diagnostics.StackTrace class to get a System.Diagnostics.StackFrame, and then use the GetMethod() method to get a System.Reflection.MethodBase object. However, there are some caveats to this approach:
It represents the runtime stack -- optimizations could inline a method, and you will not see that method in the stack trace.
It will not show any native frames, so if there's even a chance your method is being called by a native method, this will not work, and there is in-fact no currently available way to do it.
(NOTE: I am just expanding on the answer provided by Firas Assad.)
As of .NET 4.5 you can use Caller Information Attributes:
CallerFilePath - The source file that called the function;
CallerLineNumber - Line of code that called the function;
CallerMemberName - Member that called the function.
public void WriteLine(
[CallerFilePath] string callerFilePath = "",
[CallerLineNumber] long callerLineNumber = 0,
[CallerMemberName] string callerMember= "")
{
Debug.WriteLine(
"Caller File Path: {0}, Caller Line Number: {1}, Caller Member: {2}",
callerFilePath,
callerLineNumber,
callerMember);
}
This facility is also present in ".NET Core" and ".NET Standard".
References
Microsoft - Caller Information (C#)
Microsoft - CallerFilePathAttribute Class
Microsoft - CallerLineNumberAttribute Class
Microsoft - CallerMemberNameAttribute Class
Obviously this is a late answer, but I have a better option if you can use .NET 4.5 or newer:
internal static void WriteInformation<T>(string text, [CallerMemberName]string method = "")
{
Console.WriteLine(DateTime.Now.ToString() + " => " + typeof(T).FullName + "." + method + ": " + text);
}
This will print the current Date and Time, followed by "Namespace.ClassName.MethodName" and ending with ": text".
Sample output:
6/17/2016 12:41:49 PM => WpfApplication.MainWindow..ctor: MainWindow initialized
Sample use:
Logger.WriteInformation<MainWindow>("MainWindow initialized");
Note that doing so will be unreliable in release code, due to optimization. Additionally, running the application in sandbox mode (network share) won't allow you to grab the stack frame at all.
Consider aspect-oriented programming (AOP), like PostSharp, which instead of being called from your code, modifies your code, and thus knows where it is at all times.
/// <summary>
/// Returns the call that occurred just before the "GetCallingMethod".
/// </summary>
public static string GetCallingMethod()
{
return GetCallingMethod("GetCallingMethod");
}
/// <summary>
/// Returns the call that occurred just before the the method specified.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="MethodAfter">The named method to see what happened just before it was called. (case sensitive)</param>
/// <returns>The method name.</returns>
public static string GetCallingMethod(string MethodAfter)
{
string str = "";
try
{
StackTrace st = new StackTrace();
StackFrame[] frames = st.GetFrames();
for (int i = 0; i < st.FrameCount - 1; i++)
{
if (frames[i].GetMethod().Name.Equals(MethodAfter))
{
if (!frames[i + 1].GetMethod().Name.Equals(MethodAfter)) // ignores overloaded methods.
{
str = frames[i + 1].GetMethod().ReflectedType.FullName + "." + frames[i + 1].GetMethod().Name;
break;
}
}
}
}
catch (Exception) { ; }
return str;
}
Maybe you are looking for something like this:
StackFrame frame = new StackFrame(1);
frame.GetMethod().Name; //Gets the current method name
MethodBase method = frame.GetMethod();
method.DeclaringType.Name //Gets the current class name
private static MethodBase GetCallingMethod()
{
return new StackFrame(2, false).GetMethod();
}
private static Type GetCallingType()
{
return new StackFrame(2, false).GetMethod().DeclaringType;
}
A fantastic class is here: http://www.csharp411.com/c-get-calling-method/
Another approach I have used is to add a parameter to the method in question. For example, instead of void Foo(), use void Foo(string context). Then pass in some unique string that indicates the calling context.
If you only need the caller/context for development, you can remove the param before shipping.
For getting Method Name and Class Name try this:
public static void Call()
{
StackTrace stackTrace = new StackTrace();
var methodName = stackTrace.GetFrame(1).GetMethod();
var className = methodName.DeclaringType.Name.ToString();
Console.WriteLine(methodName.Name + "*****" + className );
}
Extra information to Firas Assaad answer.
I have used new StackFrame(1).GetMethod().Name; in .net core 2.1 with dependency injection and I am getting calling method as 'Start'.
I tried with [System.Runtime.CompilerServices.CallerMemberName] string callerName = ""
and it gives me correct calling method
We can also use lambda's in order to find the caller.
Suppose you have a method defined by you:
public void MethodA()
{
/*
* Method code here
*/
}
and you want to find it's caller.
1. Change the method signature so we have a parameter of type Action (Func will also work):
public void MethodA(Action helperAction)
{
/*
* Method code here
*/
}
2. Lambda names are not generated randomly. The rule seems to be: > <CallerMethodName>__X
where CallerMethodName is replaced by the previous function and X is an index.
private MethodInfo GetCallingMethodInfo(string funcName)
{
return GetType().GetMethod(
funcName.Substring(1,
funcName.IndexOf(">", 1, StringComparison.Ordinal) - 1)
);
}
3. When we call MethodA the Action/Func parameter has to be generated by the caller method.
Example:
MethodA(() => {});
4. Inside MethodA we can now call the helper function defined above and find the MethodInfo of the caller method.
Example:
MethodInfo callingMethodInfo = GetCallingMethodInfo(serverCall.Method.Name);
StackFrame caller = (new System.Diagnostics.StackTrace()).GetFrame(1);
string methodName = caller.GetMethod().Name;
will be enough, I think.

Can a method within a class inherit a subroutine that executes at the start and end of the method?

I have a logger that I am adding to my project. Right now for every method I'm going to have to write Logger.DebugLog("Starting Method") at the start of each method and Logger.DebugLog("Completed Method")
this logger - when Debug enabled - allows me to track exactly what methods were called on this run so that if there is an issue I can see how far it got before breaking making it easy to debug. Assume that the method name and line are being captured - my goal here is I do not want to add those two lines on every one of the +100 public or private methods
namespace myProject
{
public class myClass
{
public bool MyPublicMethod(string Message = "someRandomMessage")
{
try
{
myPrivateMethod(1);
writeToLog(Message);
return true;
}
catch(){
return false;
}
}
private bool myPrivateMethod(int passedNumber)
{
try
{
writeToLog(passedNumber);
return true;
}
catch(){
return false;
}
}
}
}
my log file should look like this:
04:00:00 - Starting Method:MyPublicMethod
04:00:00 - Starting Method:myPrivateMethod
04:00:01 - 1
04:00:01 - Completed Method:myPrivateMethod
04:00:02 - someRandomMessage
04:00:02 - Completed Method:MyPublicMethod
What I am forced to do now which looks cluttered is:
namespace myProject
{
public class myClass
{
public bool MyPublicMethod(string Message = "someRandomMessage")
{
try
{
writeToLog("Starting Method");
myPrivateMethod(1);
writeToLog(Message);
writeToLog("Completed Method");
return true;
}
catch(){
return false;
}
}
private bool myPrivateMethod(int passedNumber)
{
try
{
writeToLog("Starting Method");
writeToLog(passedNumber);
writeToLog("Completed Method");
return true;
}
catch(){
return false;
}
}
}
}
is this even possible in .NET or do I have to explicitly list that logging method if I want to use it?
4/6/18 Edit: It is possible - see AOP. Heres a pretty decent article on it http://www.dotnetcurry.com/patterns-practices/1305/aspect-oriented-programming-aop-csharp-using-solid
Here is a good summary of exactly what I was looking for:
Consider the following code:
public class DocumentSource : IDocumentSource
{
//..
public Document[] GetDocuments(string format)
{
try
{
using (var context = CreateEFContext())
{
var documents =
context
.Documents
.Where(c => c.Name.EndsWith("." + format))
.ToArray();
logger.LogSuccess(
"Obtained " + documents.Length + " documents of type " + format +
Environment.NewLine +
"Connection String: " + connectionString);
return documents;
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
logger.LogError(
"Error obtaining documents of type " + format +
Environment.NewLine +
"Connection String: " + connectionString, ex);
throw;
}
}
//..
}
Here is how the method would look like without logging:
public Document[] GetDocuments(string format)
{
using (var context = CreateEFContext())
{
return
context
.Documents
.Where(c => c.Name.EndsWith("." + format))
.ToArray();
}
}
Clearly, the logging code has made the original method less readable. It has tangled the real method code with logging code.
This is also a violation of the Single Responsibility Principle.
Also, we expect to find the same logging pattern in many methods all over the code base. Basically, we expect to find the following pattern:
try
{
//Do something here
logger.LogSuccess(…
//..
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
logger.LogError(…
throw;
}
There are some Fody Add-ins that will allow you to add this kind of code into your compiled output at compile-time rather than having to write it yourself.
For example, MethodDecorator allows you to define a specific attribute, and any method you decorate with that attribute will call specific methods prior to entering and leaving the method.
I should note that for a project of any reasonable size, logging the entry and exit for every single method is going to produce more log messages than anyone can reasonably expect to read. I'd suggest you be judicious in which methods add log messages, and what information you include in those log messages.
The vast majority of the time a more useful strategy is to use guard statements to test your assumptions along the way, throwing an exception the moment anything is out of place, and then wrapping exceptions with more useful information (via InnerException) as they go up the call chain, then finally logging the results of those exceptions at the top level of your application. That way, you only produce log messages when something appears to go in a way you don't expect, and the log message in that case has all the information you're likely to need.
I'm not sure this is exactly what you're looking for, but it might point you in the right direction. For demonstration purposes I'm logging to the Console, but you could log to a file instead.
You could create a method that takes in another method to execute, which executes the function and returns the value, and which wraps the beginning and ending of the method call with writes to your log file:
// For methods that return a value
private static TResult LogMethod<TResult>(string displayName, Func<TResult> method)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now} - Starting method: {displayName}");
TResult result = method();
Console.WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now} - Completed method: {displayName}");
return result;
}
// For void methods
private static void LogMethod(string displayName, Action method)
{
Console.WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now} - Starting method: {displayName}");
method();
Console.WriteLine($"{DateTime.Now} - Completed method: {displayName}");
}
As an example of how to use this, let's say we have the following methods:
private static int GetNumberFromUser(string prompt)
{
int result;
do
{
Console.Write(prompt);
} while (!int.TryParse(Console.ReadLine(), out result));
return result;
}
private static int AddNumbers(int first, int second)
{
return first + second;
}
private static void Tell(string message)
{
Console.WriteLine(message);
}
Now, instead of calling these methods directly, we can call them through our LogMethod function:
private static void Main()
{
var firstNumber = LogMethod("GetNumber",
() => GetNumberFromUser("Enter first number: "));
var secondNumber = LogMethod("GetNumber",
() => GetNumberFromUser("Enter second number: "));
var result = LogMethod("AddNumber",
() => AddNumbers(firstNumber, secondNumber));
LogMethod("Tell", () => Tell($"{firstNumber} + {secondNumber} = {result}"));
GetKeyFromUser("\nDone!! Press any key to exit...");
}
Output

Performance differences between overloading or optional parameters?

I wonder if I should be using optional parameters in C#. Until now I was always overloading methods. But optional parameters are nice too, cleaner and less code. And I use them in other languages so I'm also used to them in some way. Is there anything that speaks against using them ? Performance is the first key point for me. Would it drop ?
Example code:
class Program
{
// overloading
private static void test1(string text1)
{
Console.WriteLine(text1 + " " + "world");
}
private static void test1(string text1, string text2)
{
Console.WriteLine(text1 + " " + text2);
}
// optional parameters
private static void test2(string text1, string text2 = "world")
{
Console.WriteLine(text1 + " " + text2);
}
static void Main(string[] args)
{
test1("hello");
test1("hello", "guest");
test2("hello"); // transforms to test2("hello", "world"); ?
test2("hello", "guest");
Console.ReadKey();
}
}
I measured the time needed for a few millions overload calls and optional parameter calls.
optional parameters with strings: 18 % slower (2 parameters, release)
optional parameters with ints: <1 % faster (2 parameters, release)
(And maybe compilers optimize or will optimize those optional parameter calls in future ?)
I just did a quick test and the compiler optimizes the code. This basic example Main method.
public static void OptionalParamMethod(bool input, string input2 = null)
{
}
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
OptionalParamMethod(true);
OptionalParamMethod(false, "hello");
}
Compiles to this so the optional params are filled in by the compiler.
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
OptionalParamMethod(true, null);
OptionalParamMethod(false, "hello");
}
As for performance you could argue optional parameters have a slight advantage as there is only a single method call rather than chained method calls like you would normally have for an overloaded method. The code below is compiled output to show what I am talking about. The difference is quite academic though and I doubt you would ever notice in practice.
public static void Main(string[] args)
{
OptionalParamMethod(true, null);
OptionalParamMethod(false, "hello");
OverloadParamMethod(true);
OverloadParamMethod(false, "hello");
}
public static void OptionalParamMethod(bool input, [Optional, DefaultParameterValue(null)] string input2)
{
Console.WriteLine("OptionalParamMethod");
}
public static void OverloadParamMethod(bool input)
{
OverloadParamMethod(input, null);
}
public static void OverloadParamMethod(bool input, string input2)
{
Console.WriteLine("OverloadParamMethod");
}
Neither overloading nor optional parameters will in themselves cause any changes in performance. As David Ewen noted, the C# compiler produces IL that does not know about optional parameters (this is the sources of some versioning bugs that come from optional parameters on types which can be literal).
As for overloading. C# is a (mostly) statically typed language. The compiled code directly references the address of the appropriate method. There is a small performance hit when overloading AT COMPILE time. In C++ in fact, overloading is done by a process called "name mangling" where each overload at compile time is given a unique name.
However there are cases where overloading CAN impact performance. But these are pretty obvious, like during reflection and in dynamic typed code.
It sounds like you are confused about the performance hit of virtual/abstract functions. In order for the .net runtime to resolve the correct function, there is an extra step which looks up the particular type's implementation of that method.

Nice and clean way to retry something several times

I constantly have some situations in which I have to retry some operations if they fail, giving up after certain number of times, and taking a short breaks between attempts.
Is there a way to create a 'retry method' that will enable me not to copy the code around every time I do that?
Got tired of copy/paste the same code over and over again, so I created a method that accepts the delegate of the task that has to be done. Here it is:
// logger declaration (I use NLog)
private static readonly Logger Log = LogManager.GetCurrentClassLogger();
delegate void WhatTodo();
static void TrySeveralTimes(WhatTodo Task, int Retries, int RetryDelay)
{
int retries = 0;
while (true)
{
try
{
Task();
break;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
retries++;
Log.Info<string, int>("Problem doing it {0}, try {1}", ex.Message, retries);
if (retries > Retries)
{
Log.Info("Giving up...");
throw;
}
Thread.Sleep(RetryDelay);
}
}
}
To use it, I would simply write:
TrySeveralTimes(() =>
{
string destinationVpr = Path.Combine(outdir, "durations.vpr");
File.AppendAllText(destinationVpr, file + ", " + lengthInMiliseconds.ToString() + "\r\n");
}, 10, 100);
In this example I am appending a file that gets locked with some external process, only way to write it is to retry it several times until the process is done with it...
I would sure love to see better ways of handling this particular pattern (retrying).
EDIT: I looked at Gallio in another answer, and it is really great. Look at this example:
Retry.Repeat(10) // Retries maximum 10 times the evaluation of the condition.
.WithPolling(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1)) // Waits approximatively for 1 second between each evaluation of the condition.
.WithTimeout(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30)) // Sets a timeout of 30 seconds.
.DoBetween(() => { /* DoSomethingBetweenEachCall */ })
.Until(() => { return EvaluateSomeCondition(); });
It does everything. It will even watch your kids while you code :) But, I strive for simplicity, and still am using .NET 2.0. So I guess that my example will still be of some use to you.
I've created such helpers based on specific domain requirements, but as a generic starting point have a look at Gallio's implementation.
http://www.gallio.org/api/html/T_MbUnit_Framework_Retry.htm
https://code.google.com/p/mb-unit/source/browse/trunk/v3/src/MbUnit/MbUnit/Framework/Retry.cs
http://interfacingreality.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/retryuntil-in-mbunit-v3.html

Generic logging of function parameters in exception handling

A lot of my C# code follows this pattern:
void foo(string param1, string param2, string param3)
{
try
{
// do something...
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
LogError(String.Format("Error in foo(param1={0}, param2={1}, param3={2}), exception={3}", param1, param2, param3, ex.Message));
}
}
Is there a way in .NET to get a Key/Value list of the parameters to a function so that I can call another function to construct my error logging string?
OR
Do you have a more generic / better way of doing this?
You could use Reflection and the convention that you must pass the parameters to the LogError with the right order:
private static void MyMethod(string s, int x, int y)
{
try
{
throw new NotImplementedException();
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
LogError(MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod(), ex, s, x, y);
}
}
private static void LogError(MethodBase method, Exception ex, params object[] values)
{
ParameterInfo[] parms = method.GetParameters();
object[] namevalues = new object[2 * parms.Length];
string msg = "Error in " + method.Name + "(";
for (int i = 0, j = 0; i < parms.Length; i++, j += 2)
{
msg += "{" + j + "}={" + (j + 1) + "}, ";
namevalues[j] = parms[i].Name;
if (i < values.Length) namevalues[j + 1] = values[i];
}
msg += "exception=" + ex.Message + ")";
Console.WriteLine(string.Format(msg, namevalues));
}
You could use aspect oriented programming with PostSharp (have a look at http://www.postsharp.org, and the tutorial at http://www.codeproject.com/KB/cs/ps-custom-attributes-1.aspx). Basically you could do something like this:
public class LogExceptionAttribute : OnExceptionAspect
{
public override void OnException(MethodExecutionEventArgs eventArgs)
{
log.error("Exception occurred in method {0}", eventArgs);
}
}
[LoggingOnExceptionAspect]
public foo(int number, string word, Person customer)
{
// ... something here throws an exception
}
Perhaps not quite what you want, but I'm sure it can be adapted to suit your needs.
No there isn't a way to do this.
The normal practice is to not catch exceptions unless you can handle them.
I.e. you would normally only catch exceptions and log them in a top-level exception handler. You will then get a stack trace, but won't of course get details of all the parameters of all method calls in the stack.
Obviously when debugging you want as much detail as possible. Other ways to achieve this are:
Use Debug.Assert statements liberally to test assumptions you are making.
Instrument your application with logging that can be activate selectively. I use Log4Net, but there are also other alternatives, including using the System.Diagnostics.Trace class.
In any case, if you do catch exceptions only to log them (I'd do this at a tier boundary in an n-tier application, so that exceptions are logged on the server), then you should always rethrow them:
try
{
...
}
catch(Exception ex)
{
log(ex);
throw;
}
When I have done this I just created a generic dictionary for the logging.
I have this LogArgs class. And logging in a base class that I call when I have an exception.
public class LogArgs
{
public string MethodName { get; set; }
public string ClassName { get; set; }
public Dictionary<string, object> Paramters { get; set; }
public LogArgs()
{
this.Paramters = new Dictionary<string, object>();
}
}
Then at the start of every method I do
LogArgs args = new LogArgs { ClassName = "ClassName", MethodName = "MethodName" };
args.Paramters.Add("Param1", param1);
args.Paramters.Add("Param2", param2);
args.Paramters.Add("Param3", param3);
base.Logger.MethodStartLog(args);
When I have an error I log it this way.
base.Logger.LogError(args, ex);
You could use a similar style of constructing the message, but add the params keyword in your LogError method to handle the arguments. For example:
public void LogError(string message, params object[] parameters)
{
if (parameters.Length > 0)
LogError(string.Format(message, parameters));
else
LogError(message);
}
This is little dated post but just in case someone comes across this like I did - I solved this issue by using PostSharp.
It's not practically free though. The Express license (downloadable via NuGet in VS) allows you to decorate your method with [Log] attribute and then choose your already configured mechanism for logging, like log4net nLog etc. Now you will start seeing Debug level entries in your log giving parameter details.
With express license I could only decorate a maximum of 50 methods in my project. If it fits your needs you're good to go!
Late to the party but I did something along these lines a year or so ago:
Github Repo
The idea of this setup is much like what your after, but with the ability to hook it up globally, there is more code than I would like there but it works and once plugged in, works for what your after.
If you take a quick look at the ProxyLogger.cs, consider this a wrapper, it will encapsulate any method it is given and execute it while handling the logging of the error as set here. This can then be setup with dependency injection for anything and everything you wish to log, e.g.:
public void ConfigureServices(HostBuilderContext hostBuilder, IServiceCollection services)
{
services.AddOptions();
services.AddSingleton<IHostedService, HostedService>();
services.AddSingleton<IMyClass, MyClass>();
// Logging added for both the hosted service and the example class
services.Decorate<IMyClass, ProxyLogger<IMyClass>>();
services.Decorate<IHostedService, ProxyLogger<IHostedService>>();
}
You register your services as normal, but on top of that, you can decorate them with the proxy logger to handle the execution and log the details before, after, on failure etc, with FULL params.
I was obsessed with this for a while and this is as best as I could get it, but it works really well.
There are scenarios of a few parameters or Large number of parameters...
Few parameters, without much ado, better write them as part of the logging/exception message.
In large parameters, a multi-layer application would be using ENTITIES ( like customer, CustomerOrder...) to transfer data between layers. These entities should implement
override ToString() methods of class Object, there by,
Logmessage(" method started " + paramObj.ToString()) would give the list of data in the object..
Any opinions? :)
thanks

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