MEMZone.WriteLog

Structured PowerShell logging with dual console/file output, rich text formatting, animated progress indicators, and debug-level function tracing.

Features

• Dual output - simultaneous console (colored) and file logging with buffered writes
• Rich formatting - tables, centered blocks, inline headers, timelines, lists, and separators
• Animated progress - background runspace execution with spinner/dots/braille/bounce/box indicators
• Size-based rotation - automatic log file archival with timestamp when size limit is exceeded
• Debug tracing - function entry/exit logging with full parameter capture
• Cross-platform - PowerShell 5.1 (Desktop) and PowerShell 7+ (Core)

Installation

PowerShell Gallery (recommended)

Install-Module -Name MEMZone.WriteLog -Scope CurrentUser

Manual

Clone the repository and import the module directly:

git clone https://github.com/MEM-Zone/MEM.Zone-WriteLog.git
Import-Module ./MEM.Zone-WriteLog/src/MEMZone.WriteLog/MEMZone.WriteLog.psd1

Quick Start

Import-Module MEMZone.WriteLog

# Initialize logging
Initialize-WriteLog -LogName 'MyScript' -LogPath 'C:\Logs\MyScript'

# Write messages with different formatting
Write-Log -Message 'Operation completed successfully'
Write-Log -Message 'DEPLOYMENT' -FormatOptions @{ Mode = 'InlineHeader'; ForegroundColor = 'Cyan' }
Write-Log -Severity 'Warning' -Message 'Disk space is running low'

# Display a formatted table
$Data = @(
    [PSCustomObject]@{ Server = 'SRV01'; Status = 'Online';  CPU = '23%' }
    [PSCustomObject]@{ Server = 'SRV02'; Status = 'Offline'; CPU = 'N/A' }
)
Write-Log -Message $Data -FormatOptions @{
    Mode        = 'Table'
    Title       = 'Server Status'
    CellPadding = 1
    AddEmptyRow = 'BeforeAndAfter'
}

# Execute with animated progress
Invoke-WithAnimation -Message 'Copying files' -ScriptBlock {
    Copy-Item -Path $Source -Destination $Dest -Recurse
}

# Execute in current session with status indicator
Invoke-WithStatus -Message 'Loading module' -ScriptBlock {
    Import-Module SomeModule
}

# Flush remaining log buffer
Write-LogBuffer

Functions

Function	Description
Initialize-WriteLog	Configure logging (path, console output, debug, rotation size)
Write-Log	Write a structured log entry with severity and formatting
Write-LogBuffer	Flush the in-memory buffer to the log file
Test-LogFile	Ensure log directory/file exist; rotate if oversized
Format-Message	Format text as Block, Table, Timeline, List, Header, etc.
Write-FunctionHeaderOrFooter	Debug-trace function entry/exit with parameters
Invoke-WithAnimation	Run a scriptblock with animated console progress
Invoke-WithStatus	Run a scriptblock with synchronous status indicator

Format Modes

Format-Message and Write-Log -FormatOptions support these modes:

Mode	Output
Block	Full-width separator box with arrow prefix
CenteredBlock	Full-width separator box with centered text
Line	Single separator line
InlineHeader	===[ TITLE ]===
InlineSubHeader	---[ title ]---
Timeline	- message (indented bullet)
TimelineHeader	message (indented, no bullet)
List	Key-value pairs from hashtable/PSCustomObject
Table	Formatted table with headers, row numbers, optional footer

Build & Test

# Run static analysis and tests
./build/build.ps1

# Run specific tasks
./build/build.ps1 -Task Analyze
./build/build.ps1 -Task Test
./build/build.ps1 -Task Build

# Full pipeline: analyze, test, build, publish
./build/build.ps1 -Task Analyze, Test, Build, Publish -NuGetApiKey $env:NUGET_API_KEY

Requirements

• Pester 5.0+
• PSScriptAnalyzer

CI/CD

The repository includes GitHub Actions workflows:

• CI (ci.yml) - runs on every push/PR to main: PSScriptAnalyzer + Pester on Windows and Ubuntu.
• Publish (publish.yml) - runs on version tags (v*): full pipeline + publish to PSGallery.

To publish, create a tag:

git tag v1.0.0
git push origin v1.0.0

The NUGET_API_KEY secret must be configured in the repository settings.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/my-feature)
3. Add tests for any new functionality
4. Ensure ./build/build.ps1 passes
5. Submit a pull request

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.