Current logging system in Tendermint is very static and not flexible enough.
What we want from the new system:
- per package dynamic log levels
- dynamic logger setting (logger tied to the processing struct)
- conventions
- be more visually appealing
"dynamic" here means the ability to set smth in runtime.
First, we will need an interface for all of our libraries (tmlibs, Tendermint, etc.). My personal preference is go-kit Logger interface (see Appendix A.), but that is too much a bigger change. Plus we will still need levels.
# log.go
type Logger interface {
Debug(msg string, keyvals ...interface{}) error
Info(msg string, keyvals ...interface{}) error
Error(msg string, keyvals ...interface{}) error
With(keyvals ...interface{}) Logger
}On a side note: difference between Info and Notice is subtle. We probably
could do without Notice. Don't think we need Panic or Fatal as a part of
the interface. These funcs could be implemented as helpers. In fact, we already
have some in tmlibs/common.
Debug- extended output for devsInfo- all that is useful for a userError- errors
Notice should become Info, Warn either Error or Debug depending on the message, Crit -> Error.
This interface should go into tmlibs/log. All libraries which are part of the core (tendermint/tendermint) should obey it.
On top of this interface, we will need to implement a stdout logger, which will be used when Tendermint is configured to output logs to STDOUT.
Many people say that they like the current output, so let's stick with it.
NOTE[2017-04-25|14:45:08] ABCI Replay Blocks module=consensus appHeight=0 storeHeight=0 stateHeight=0
Couple of minor changes:
I[2017-04-25|14:45:08.322] ABCI Replay Blocks module=consensus appHeight=0 storeHeight=0 stateHeight=0
Notice the level is encoded using only one char plus milliseconds.
Note: there are many other formats out there like logfmt.
This logger could be implemented using any logger - logrus, go-kit/log, zap, log15 so far as it
a) supports coloring output
b) is moderately fast (buffering)
c) conforms to the new interface or adapter could be written for it
d) is somewhat configurable
go-kit is my favorite so far. Check out how easy it is to color errors in red https://github.com/go-kit/kit/blob/master/log/term/example_test.go#L12. Although, coloring could only be applied to the whole string :(
go-kit +: flexible, modular
go-kit “-”: logfmt format https://brandur.org/logfmt
logrus +: popular, feature rich (hooks), API and output is more like what we want
logrus -: not so flexible
# tm_logger.go
// NewTmLogger returns a logger that encodes keyvals to the Writer in
// tm format.
func NewTmLogger(w io.Writer) Logger {
return &tmLogger{kitlog.NewLogfmtLogger(w)}
}
func (l tmLogger) SetLevel(level string() {
switch (level) {
case "debug":
l.sourceLogger = level.NewFilter(l.sourceLogger, level.AllowDebug())
}
}
func (l tmLogger) Info(msg string, keyvals ...interface{}) error {
l.sourceLogger.Log("msg", msg, keyvals...)
}
# log.go
func With(logger Logger, keyvals ...interface{}) Logger {
kitlog.With(logger.sourceLogger, keyvals...)
}Usage:
logger := log.NewTmLogger(os.Stdout)
logger.SetLevel(config.GetString("log_level"))
node.SetLogger(log.With(logger, "node", Name))Other log formatters
In the future, we may want other formatters like JSONFormatter.
{ "level": "notice", "time": "2017-04-25 14:45:08.562471297 -0400 EDT", "module": "consensus", "msg": "ABCI Replay Blocks", "appHeight": 0, "storeHeight": 0, "stateHeight": 0 }
https://dave.cheney.net/2017/01/23/the-package-level-logger-anti-pattern
This is the hardest part and where the most work will be done. logger should be tied to the processing struct, or the context if it adds some fields to the logger.
type BaseService struct {
log log15.Logger
name string
started uint32 // atomic
stopped uint32 // atomic
...
}BaseService already contains log field, so most of the structs embedding it should be fine. We should rename it to logger.
The only thing missing is the ability to set logger:
func (bs *BaseService) SetLogger(l log.Logger) {
bs.logger = l
}
Important keyvals should go first. Example:
correct
I[2017-04-25|14:45:08.322] ABCI Replay Blocks module=consensus instance=1 appHeight=0 storeHeight=0 stateHeight=0
not
wrong
I[2017-04-25|14:45:08.322] ABCI Replay Blocks module=consensus appHeight=0 storeHeight=0 stateHeight=0 instance=1
for that in most cases you'll need to add instance field to a logger upon creating, not when u log a particular message:
colorFn := func(keyvals ...interface{}) term.FgBgColor {
for i := 1; i < len(keyvals); i += 2 {
if keyvals[i] == "instance" && keyvals[i+1] == "1" {
return term.FgBgColor{Fg: term.Blue}
} else if keyvals[i] == "instance" && keyvals[i+1] == "1" {
return term.FgBgColor{Fg: term.Red}
}
}
return term.FgBgColor{}
}
logger := term.NewLogger(os.Stdout, log.NewTmLogger, colorFn)
c1 := NewConsensusReactor(...)
c1.SetLogger(log.With(logger, "instance", 1))
c2 := NewConsensusReactor(...)
c2.SetLogger(log.With(logger, "instance", 2))proposed
Dynamic logger, which could be turned off for some modules at runtime. Public interface for other projects using Tendermint libraries.
We may loose the ability to color keys in keyvalue pairs. go-kit allow you to easily change foreground / background colors of the whole string, but not its parts.
I really like a minimalistic approach go-kit took with his logger https://github.com/go-kit/kit/tree/master/log:
type Logger interface {
Log(keyvals ...interface{}) error
}
See The Hunt for a Logger Interface. The advantage is greater composability (check out how go-kit defines colored logging or log-leveled logging on top of this interface https://github.com/go-kit/kit/tree/master/log).