Logging

We use Microsoft.Extensions.Logging for logging abstractions and Serilog as the implementation.

For more documentation on logging, read the references listed at the bottom.

Log levels

We use the following convention for log levels:

Trace : Used for parts of a method to capture a flow.
Debug : Used for diagnostics information.
Information : Used for general successful information. Generally the default minimum.
Warning : Used for anything that can potentially cause application oddities. Automatically recoverable.
Error : Used for anything that is fatal to the current operation but not to the whole process. Potentially recoverable.
Critical : Used for anything that is forcing a shutdown to prevent data loss or corruption. Not recoverable.

We use Serilog to implement log providers (called sinks).

We use Serilog.Sinks.Xamarin for native console logging.
We use Serilog.Sinks.File for file logging.
We use Serilog.Sinks.XUnit for xUnit test logging.
We use Serilog.Settings.Configuration to load the log filters from appsettings.json; filters are different between environments.
We use Serilog.Extensions.Hosting to configure the loggers with GenericHost.

The loggers are configured inside the LoggingConfiguration.cs file.

To log, you simply need to get a ILogger and use the appropriate methods.

var myLogger = myServiceProvider.GetService<ILogger<MyType>>();

myLogger.LogInformation("This is an information log.");

Multiple logging features can be tested from the diagnostics screen. This is configured in LoggersDiagnosticsViewModel and SummaryDiagnosticsViewModel.