# 6.28 `logging` -- Logging facility for Python

New in version 2.3. This module defines functions and classes which implement a flexible error logging system for applications.

Logging is performed by calling methods on instances of the `Logger` class (hereafter called loggers). Each instance has a name, and they are conceptually arranged in a name space hierarchy using dots (periods) as separators. For example, a logger named "scan" is the parent of loggers "scan.text", "scan.html" and "scan.pdf". Logger names can be anything you want, and indicate the area of an application in which a logged message originates.

Logged messages also have levels of importance associated with them. The default levels provided are `DEBUG`, `INFO`, `WARNING`, `ERROR` and `CRITICAL`. As a convenience, you indicate the importance of a logged message by calling an appropriate method of `Logger`. The methods are `debug()`, `info()`, `warning()`, `error()` and `critical()`, which mirror the default levels. You are not constrained to use these levels: you can specify your own and use a more general `Logger` method, `log()`, which takes an explicit level argument.

Levels can also be associated with loggers, being set either by the developer or through loading a saved logging configuration. When a logging method is called on a logger, the logger compares its own level with the level associated with the method call. If the logger's level is higher than the method call's, no logging message is actually generated. This is the basic mechanism controlling the verbosity of logging output.

Logging messages are encoded as instances of the `LogRecord` class. When a logger decides to actually log an event, an `LogRecord` instance is created from the logging message.

Logging messages are subjected to a dispatch mechanism through the use of handlers, which are instances of subclasses of the `Handler` class. Handlers are responsible for ensuring that a logged message (in the form of a `LogRecord`) ends up in a particular location (or set of locations) which is useful for the target audience for that message (such as end users, support desk staff, system administrators, developers). Handlers are passed `LogRecord` instances intended for particular destinations. Each logger can have zero, one or more handlers associated with it (via the `addHandler` method of `Logger`). In addition to any handlers directly associated with a logger, all handlers associated with all ancestors of the logger are called to dispatch the message.

Just as for loggers, handlers can have levels associated with them. A handler's level acts as a filter in the same way as a logger's level does. If a handler decides to actually dispatch an event, the `emit()` method is used to send the message to its destination. Most user-defined subclasses of `Handler` will need to override this `emit()`.

In addition to the base `Handler` class, many useful subclasses are provided:

1. `StreamHandler` instances send error messages to streams (file-like objects).

2. `FileHandler` instances send error messages to disk files.

3. `RotatingFileHandler` instances send error messages to disk files, with support for maximum log file sizes and log file rotation.

4. `SocketHandler` instances send error messages to TCP/IP sockets.

5. `DatagramHandler` instances send error messages to UDP sockets.

6. `SMTPHandler` instances send error messages to a designated email address.

7. `SysLogHandler` instances send error messages to a Unix syslog daemon, possibly on a remote machine.

8. `NTEventLogHandler` instances send error messages to a Windows NT/2000/XP event log.

9. `MemoryHandler` instances send error messages to a buffer in memory, which is flushed whenever specific criteria are met.

10. `HTTPHandler` instances send error messages to an HTTP server using either "`GET`" or "`POST`" semantics.

The `StreamHandler` and `FileHandler` classes are defined in the core logging package. The other handlers are defined in a sub- module, `logging.handlers`. (There is also another sub-module, `logging.config`, for configuration functionality.)

Logged messages are formatted for presentation through instances of the `Formatter` class. They are initialized with a format string suitable for use with the % operator and a dictionary.

For formatting multiple messages in a batch, instances of `BufferingFormatter` can be used. In addition to the format string (which is applied to each message in the batch), there is provision for header and trailer format strings.

When filtering based on logger level and/or handler level is not enough, instances of `Filter` can be added to both `Logger` and `Handler` instances (through their `addFilter()` method). Before deciding to process a message further, both loggers and handlers consult all their filters for permission. If any filter returns a false value, the message is not processed further.

The basic `Filter` functionality allows filtering by specific logger name. If this feature is used, messages sent to the named logger and its children are allowed through the filter, and all others dropped.

In addition to the classes described above, there are a number of module- level functions.

`getLogger`( | [name])

  Return a logger with the specified name or, if no name is specified, return a logger which is the root logger of the hierarchy.

  All calls to this function with a given name return the same logger instance. This means that logger instances never need to be passed between different parts of an application.

`debug`( | msg[, *args[, **kwargs]])

  Logs a message with level `DEBUG` on the root logger. The msg is the message format string, and the args are the arguments which are merged into msg. The only keyword argument in kwargs which is inspected is exc_info which, if it does not evaluate as false, causes exception information (via a call to `sys.exc_info()`) to be added to the logging message.

`info`( | msg[, *args[, **kwargs]])

  Logs a message with level `INFO` on the root logger. The arguments are interpreted as for `debug()`.

`warning`( | msg[, *args[, **kwargs]])

  Logs a message with level `WARNING` on the root logger. The arguments are interpreted as for `debug()`.

`error`( | msg[, *args[, **kwargs]])

  Logs a message with level `ERROR` on the root logger. The arguments are interpreted as for `debug()`.

`critical`( | msg[, *args[, **kwargs]])

  Logs a message with level `CRITICAL` on the root logger. The arguments are interpreted as for `debug()`.

`exception`( | msg[, *args])

  Logs a message with level `ERROR` on the root logger. The arguments are interpreted as for `debug()`. Exception info is added to the logging message. This function should only be called from an exception handler.

`disable`( | lvl)

  Provides an overriding level lvl for all loggers which takes precedence over the logger's own level. When the need arises to temporarily throttle logging output down across the whole application, this function can be useful.

`addLevelName`( | lvl, levelName)

  Associates level lvl with text levelName in an internal dictionary, which is used to map numeric levels to a textual representation, for example when a `Formatter` formats a message. This function can also be used to define your own levels. The only constraints are that all levels used must be registered using this function, levels should be positive integers and they should increase in increasing order of severity.

`getLevelName`( | lvl)

  Returns the textual representation of logging level lvl. If the level is one of the predefined levels `CRITICAL`, `ERROR`, `WARNING`, `INFO` or `DEBUG` then you get the corresponding string. If you have associated levels with names using `addLevelName()` then the name you have associated with lvl is returned. Otherwise, the string "Level %s" % lvl is returned.

`makeLogRecord`( | attrdict)

  Creates and returns a new `LogRecord` instance whose attributes are defined by attrdict. This function is useful for taking a pickled `LogRecord` attribute dictionary, sent over a socket, and reconstituting it as a `LogRecord` instance at the receiving end.

`basicConfig`( | )

  Does basic configuration for the logging system by creating a `StreamHandler` with a default `Formatter` and adding it to the root logger. The functions `debug()`, `info()`, `warning()`, `error()` and `critical()` will call `basicConfig()` automatically if no handlers are defined for the root logger.

`shutdown`( | )

  Informs the logging system to perform an orderly shutdown by flushing and closing all handlers.

`setLoggerClass`( | klass)

  Tells the logging system to use the class klass when instantiating a logger. The class should define `__init__()` such that only a name argument is required, and the `__init__()` should call `Logger.__init__()`. This function is typically called before any loggers are instantiated by applications which need to use custom logger behavior.

See Also:

PEP 282, A Logging System
  The proposal which described this feature for inclusion in the Python standard library.

Subsections

- 6.28.1 Logger Objects
- 6.28.2 Handler Objects
  - 6.28.2.1 StreamHandler
  - 6.28.2.2 FileHandler
  - 6.28.2.3 RotatingFileHandler
  - 6.28.2.4 SocketHandler
  - 6.28.2.5 DatagramHandler
  - 6.28.2.6 SysLogHandler
  - 6.28.2.7 NTEventLogHandler
  - 6.28.2.8 SMTPHandler
  - 6.28.2.9 MemoryHandler
  - 6.28.2.10 HTTPHandler
- 6.28.3 Formatter Objects
- 6.28.4 Filter Objects
- 6.28.5 LogRecord Objects
- 6.28.6 Thread Safety
- 6.28.7 Configuration
  - 6.28.7.1 Configuration functions
  - 6.28.7.2 Configuration file format
- 6.28.8 Using the logging package
  - 6.28.8.1 Basic example - log to a file