Android ALog v1.1

apk v1.1 available in dist director to demonstrate and test ALog

See GitHub: https://github.com/landenlabs/all_Log

ALog is an Android Log wrapper which has the following features:

1. Small - Four small classes, only one required.
2. Light weight - No explict memory allocations.
3. Performant - No processing beyond if-test when logging disabled or log level below min level. Message presentation (formatting or concatenation) only occur if logging is required.
4. Chainable - Calls are chainable making it easier to extend parameter processing.
5. ThreadSafe - Logs can be generated in concurrent threads.

• Overview
• ALog
• AppLog
• Install
• Builld
• Use
• License
• WebSite

The core class ALog is an enumeration. Using an enueration restricts memory allocation of the class to startup and subsequent use is light-weight singleton.

Core class or enum files:

• ALog - enumerated log level priorities and format controls.
• ALogOut - Output target abstraction to support alternate targets such as private file.
• ALogFileWriter - Implementation of private output file target.

Optional Extended abstraction enum file:

• AppLog - Enumeration to manage named logging instances which can have different targets.

Change your code from old style:

// Determine debug state once in main activity.
// Use flag in code to determine if logging is active. 
boolean showOldLog = ((getApplicationInfo().flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE) != 0);


// Places in code where logging is required.
final String TAG = getClass().getSimpleName();
if (showOldLog) {
    Log.d(TAG, "old style log message #1");
}
// ... do more stuff ...
if (showOldLog) {
    Log.d(TAG, "old style log message #2");
}

// Determine debug state once in main activity.
// Use flag in code to determine if logging is active. 
boolean showNewLog = ((getApplicationInfo().flags & ApplicationInfo.FLAG_DEBUGGABLE) != 0);
AppLog.setMinLevel(showNewLog ? VERBOSE : NOLOGGING);


// Places in code where logging is required.
AppLog.LOG.d().msg("new style log message #1");
// ... do more stuff
AppLog.LOG.d().msg("new style log message #2");

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ALog is the main log wrapper class which supports the standard priority levels:

• (2) Verbose
• (3) Debug
• (4) Info
• (5) Warning
• (6) Error
• (7) Assert

public enum ALog {

    // Log levels to system log file.
    v(ALog.VERBOSE),
    d(ALog.DEBUG),
    i(ALog.INFO),
    w(ALog.WARN),
    e(ALog.ERROR),
    a(ALog.ASSERT),
    none(ALog.ASSERT+1),

    . . . 

ALog enumeration includes chainable methods to configure output.

Example Syntax of ALog

To control logging, set the static global minLevel in ALog.

File: ALog.java:

    /**
     * Minimum level to log.
     */
    public static int minLevel = ALog.VERBOSE;

The logging is active if the calling log level exceeds or is equal to the priority of the minimum global log level.

    ALog.minLevel = ALog.WARN;
    ALog.d.msg("this log is ignored, below min level");
    ALog.w.msg("this log is sent");
    ALog.e.msg("this log is also sent");

The ALog enumeration supports chaining of methods to customize the logging output. The tag and self method set the Tag field which persists between calls within a thread.

The key advantage of ALog is the cat and fmt methods do no processing unless the log is active. This avoids wasting time and memory formating strings only to be discarded.

The following methods cause an immediate printing of the log message if logging is active.

Example when Tag set once in a thread and multiple logs generate without setting tag:

Using following syntax to log an exception:

Exception ex = new Exception("test exception");
ALog.e.tr(ex);

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This implementation futher extends the logging by wrapping ALog in another enumeration called AppLog. The AppLog enumeration is used to create and manage named loggers which can be used by common code or actions such as Network access, Parsing XML, Fragments, etc. The AppLog enumeration futher extends the logging flavors by supporting alternate logging destinations, such as a private log file or No Logging. By configuring these named loggers you can control which features in your code are actively logging and where they log.

public enum AppLog {

    /**
     * Logging to android log system.
     */
    LOG(LogSys),

    /**
     * Logging to private log file.
     */
    LOGFILE(LogFile),

    // =========== Application specific log flavors ===========

    /**
     * General Fragment logging
     */
    LOG_FRAG(LogSys),

    /**
     * General Network activity (currently disabled).
     */
    LOG_NETWORK(LogNone),

    /**
     * General Parinsg activity (currently disabled).
     */
    LOG_PARSING(LogNone),

Example of using higher level Application level wrapper which provides flavors of logging which gives an added level of abstraction to setup default behavior.

AppLog.LOG.i().tag("TestTag").msg("Log fixed test");
AppLog.LOG_FRAG.i().self().msg("Frag fixed test");
AppLog.LOGFILE.e().tag("LogFile").msg("LogFile fixed Test");

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Since ALog is just an enumeration plus two support files there is no repo or libraries. You just need to include these files in your project.

To use the full implemenation copy all four files from the alog subdirectory into your project and tune the AppLog enumeration to your needs.

The private log fie target ALogFileWriter requires initialization to create the file. Call init(Context) on this class in your startup code.

    @Override
protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
    setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

    // Initialize ALog private log file target.
    ALogFileWriter.init(this);

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No special building is required. Just include the files in your Android project.

Core class files:

• ALog - enumerated log level priorities and format controls.
• ALogOut - Output target abstraction to support alternate targets such as private file.
• ALogFileWriter - Implementation of private output file target.

Optional Extended abstraction class file:

• AppLog - Enumeration to manage named logging instances which can have different targets.

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See above API samples, JavaDoc, Code and Demo app for examples of usage.

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/*
 *  Copyright (c) 2019 Dennis Lang (LanDen Labs) landenlabs@gmail.com
 *
 *  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and
 *  associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including
 *  without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
 *  copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the
 *  following conditions:
 *
 *  The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial
 *  portions of the Software.
 *
 *  THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT
 *  LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN
 *  NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
 *  WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE
 *  SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
 *
 *  @author Dennis Lang  (Jan-2017)
 *  @see https://landenlabs.com
 *
 */

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Code is provided, documentation and examples provided at these locations:

• https://github.com/landenlabs/all_Log
• https://landenlabs.com/android