Logging with System.Diagnostics.TraceSource

This article shows how to use PostSharp Logging and System.Diagnostics.TraceSource together.

Writing PostSharp Logging events to System.Diagnostics.TraceSource

To send PostSharp Logging events to TraceSource listeners:

1. Add PostSharp logging to your codebase as described in Getting Started with PostSharp Logging.

2. Add the PostSharp.Patterns.Diagnostics.Tracing package to your startup project.

3. In the application startup method, include the following code:

   LoggingServices.DefaultBackend = new TraceSourceLoggingBackend();
   

Note that by default, PostSharp Logging will use a different <xref:System.Diagnostics.TraceSource> for each logged type in source code, and the source will be named after the namespace-qualified type name. You can override this behavior using the following code:

LoggingServices.DefaultBackend = new TraceSourceLoggingBackend()
{
    Options =
        {
            GetTraceSourceName = ( source ) => "PostSharpLogging"; // Change with your source name.
        }
};

Collecting TraceSource events into PostSharp Logging

You can also configure System.Diagnostics.TraceSource to send manual logging events to targets via a PostSharp collector. This way, all logging events, including those created directly with TraceSource methods, are processed by the same PostSharp backend. See Collecting Logs from Other Frameworks for more information.

To collect TraceSource manual logging events into PostSharp:

1. Add the PostSharp.Patterns.Diagnostics.Tracing package to your startup project.

2. Configure two trace sources in your app.config file, one that you will use in code, and one that controls the final output:

   <configuration>  
     <system.diagnostics>  
       <sources>  
         <source name="ManualLogging"
           switchName="sourceSwitch"
           switchType="System.Diagnostics.SourceSwitch">  
           <listeners>  
             <add name="toPostSharp" type="PostSharp.Patterns.Diagnostics.Backends.TraceSource.TraceSourceCollectingTraceListener" />
             <remove name="Default"/>  
           </listeners>  
         </source>  
         <source name="PostSharpLogging"
           switchName="sourceSwitch"
           switchType="System.Diagnostics.SourceSwitch">  
           <listeners>  
             <add name="console" type="System.Diagnostics.ConsoleTraceListener" />
             <remove name="Default"/>  
           </listeners>  
         </source>  
       </sources>  
       <switches>  
         <add name="sourceSwitch" value="Verbose"/>  
       </switches>  
     </system.diagnostics>  
   </configuration>
   

3. In the application startup method, include the following code:

   LoggingServices.DefaultBackend = new TraceSourceLoggingBackend()
   {
       Options =
           {
               GetTraceSourceName = ( source ) => "PostSharpLogging";
           }
   };
   

4. You can now do standard TraceSource logging and the logging output will be collected and sent to PostSharp Logging. Use the TraceSource configured with TraceSourceCollectingTraceListener to emit logging events:

   var ts = new TraceSource("ManualLogging");
   ts.TraceInformation( "Hello, world." );
   

Now, you can use LogAttribute to add automatic logging and TraceSource methods to add manual log messages.

See Also

Reference

TraceSourceLoggingBackend
TraceSourceCollectingTraceListener
Other Resources

Collecting Logs from Other Frameworks