[FEATURE] Ability to disable the INIT message

[nweger]

Problem / Use Case

I have a Script that executes a subscript, and the subscript logs into the same log file as the main script, and at every invocation of the subscript it adds the INIT message to the log file.

Proposed Solution

The ability to either remove the INIT message from the log file.

Alternatives Considered

Not really any

Additional Context

None

Implementation Ideas (Optional)

If you have thoughts on how this could be implemented, share them here.

[GingerGraham]

Plan: Optional INIT Message (Issue #98)

TL;DR

Add a LOG_INIT_MESSAGE flag (default true) that can be set via --no-init-message CLI flag or init_message = false in INI config, to suppress the "Logger initialized by <name>" entry written to the log file during init_logger. This preserves existing default behaviour while satisfying the use case of subshells appending to a shared log file without cluttering it with repeated INIT entries.

Context: How the INIT message works today

• init_logger() (logging.sh ~L1280) writes a formatted INIT entry directly to the log file (not via _log_message):

  init_message=$(_format_log_message "INIT" "Logger initialized by $SCRIPT_NAME")
  echo "$init_message" >> "$LOG_FILE"
  

  This is only emitted when LOG_FILE is set — there is no console INIT message from init_logger.
• log_init() (L1783) is a separate public API for user-controlled INIT-level messages and is not called by init_logger.
• The stderr-only echo "Logger: Successfully initialized with log file enabled" is a different debug message and is out of scope.

Steps

Phase 1 – Core change in logging.sh

1. Add LOG_INIT_MESSAGE="true" to the "Default settings" block (~L84, after USE_UTC)

   • Follows the existing CONSOLE_LOG, LOG_FILE, etc. naming pattern
   • No guard needed — this block resets on re-source (intentional)

2. Add --no-init-message case to the second-pass argument parser in init_logger() (~L1113+):

   --no-init-message)
       LOG_INIT_MESSAGE="false"
       shift
   

   • No short form (infrequent use; no natural single letter available)
   • Pattern mirrors --no-color

3. Wrap the INIT message write in init_logger() with a conditional (~L1280):

   if [[ "$LOG_INIT_MESSAGE" == "true" ]]; then
       local init_message
       init_message=...
       echo "$init_message" >> "$LOG_FILE" || ...
   fi
   

   Keep the echo "Logger: Successfully initialized..." stderr message outside this guard — it's a different concern.

4. Add init_message|log_init_message case to _parse_config_file() (~L650+), following the boolean pattern used by journal and quiet:

   init_message|log_init_message)
       case "${value,,}" in
           true|yes|1|on)  LOG_INIT_MESSAGE="true"  ;;
           false|no|0|off) LOG_INIT_MESSAGE="false" ;;
           *) echo "Warning: Invalid init_message value '$value'..." >&2 ;;
       esac
   

Phase 2 – Tests (test_initialization.sh)

5. Add test_init_message_default — verifies the INIT entry IS written to log file by default:

   • init_logger --log "$log_file"
   • assert_file_contains "$log_file" "Logger initialized" || return
   • assert_file_contains "$log_file" "INIT" || return

6. Add test_no_init_message_flag — verifies --no-init-message suppresses the INIT entry:

   • init_logger --log "$log_file" --no-init-message
   • assert_file_not_contains "$log_file" "Logger initialized" || return
   • Verify LOG_INIT_MESSAGE variable is false

7. Add test_no_init_message_config — verifies init_message = false in config suppresses the INIT entry:

   • Write config with init_message = false
   • init_logger --config "$config_file" --log "$log_file"
   • assert_file_not_contains "$log_file" "Logger initialized" || return

8. Call all three new functions at the bottom of the file (after test_script_name_cli_overrides_config)

Phase 3 – Documentation

9. configuration/logging.conf.example — add after the quiet = false line:

   # Suppress the INIT message written to the log file on initialization (default: true)
   # Set to false to prevent "Logger initialized by <name>" from being appended to the log
   # file on every init_logger call (useful when multiple scripts share the same log file)
   init_message = true
   

10. docs/initialization.md — add row to the options table after --no-color:

    | `--no-init-message` | Suppress the initialization INIT entry written to the log file |
    

11. docs/configuration.md — add init_message config key entry (boolean, default true)

Relevant files

• logging.sh — default var (~L84), _parse_config_file (~L650+), init_logger arg parser (~L1113+) and init write (~L1280)
• tests/test_initialization.sh — add 3 new tests + 3 call sites at bottom (~L388+)
• configuration/logging.conf.example — add init_message entry
• docs/initialization.md — add table row
• docs/configuration.md — add config key entry

Verification

1. Run tests/run_tests.sh — all existing tests pass, 3 new tests pass
2. Manual check: init_logger --log /tmp/t.log writes INIT entry; init_logger --log /tmp/t.log --no-init-message does not
3. Manual check: config file with init_message = false suppresses INIT entry
4. ShellCheck clean: shellcheck --severity=warning --external-sources logging.sh

Decisions

• log_init() public API is not affected by this flag — if a user explicitly calls it, the message appears regardless
• Only the formatted INIT log entry to the file is suppressed; the stderr status message is out of scope
• Default stays true to preserve existing behaviour
• No short CLI flag (matches --no-color pattern for infrequently-used negation flags)

[GingerGraham]

Released with #99