Logging

Phalcon\Logger is a component whose purpose is to provide logging services for applications. It offers logging to different backends using different adapters. It also offers transaction logging, configuration options, different formats and filters. You can use the Phalcon\Logger for every logging need your application has, from debugging processes to tracing application flow.

Adapters

This component makes use of adapters to store the logged messages. The use of adapters allows for a common interface for logging while switching backends if necessary. The adapters supported are:

Adapter	Description	API
File	Logs to a plain text file	Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\File
Stream	Logs to a PHP Streams	Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Stream
Syslog	Logs to the system logger	Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Syslog

Creating a Log

The example below shows how to create a log and add messages to it:

<?php

$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\File("app/logs/test.log");
$logger->log("This is a message");
$logger->log("This is an error", \Phalcon\Logger::ERROR);
$logger->error("This is another error");

The log generated is below:

[Tue, 17 Apr 12 22:09:02 -0500][DEBUG] This is a message
[Tue, 17 Apr 12 22:09:02 -0500][ERROR] This is an error
[Tue, 17 Apr 12 22:09:02 -0500][ERROR] This is another error

Transactions

Logging data to an adapter i.e. File (file system) is always an expensive operation in terms of performance. To combat that, you can take advantage of logging transactions. Transactions store log data temporarily in memory and later on write the data to the relevant adapter (File in this case) in a single atomic operation.

<?php

// Create the logger
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\File("app/logs/test.log");

// Start a transaction
$logger->begin();

// Add messages
$logger->alert("This is an alert");
$logger->error("This is another error");

// Commit messages to file
$logger->commit();

Logging to Multiple Handlers

Phalcon\Logger allows to send messages to multiple handlers with a just single call:

<?php

$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Multiple();

$logger->push(new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\File('test.log'));
$logger->push(new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Stream('php://stdout'));

$logger->log("This is a message");
$logger->log("This is an error", \Phalcon\Logger::ERROR);
$logger->error("This is another error");

The messages are sent to the handlers in the order they where registered.

Message Formatting

This component makes use of ‘formatters’ to format messages before sent them to the backend. The formatters available are:

Adapter	Description	API
Line	Formats the messages using a one-line string	Phalcon\Logger\Formatter\Line
Json	Prepares a message to be encoded with JSON	Phalcon\Logger\Formatter\Json
Syslog	Prepares a message to be sent to syslog	Phalcon\Logger\Formatter\Syslog

Line Formatter

Formats the messages using a one-line string. The default logging format is:

[%date%][%type%] %message%

You can change the default format using setFormat(), this allows you to change the format of the logged messages by defining your own. The log format variables allowed are:

Variable	Description
%message%	The message itself expected to be logged
%date%	Date the message was added
%type%	Uppercase string with message type

The example below shows how to change the log format:

<?php

//Changing the logger format
$formatter = new Phalcon\Logger\Formatter\Line("%date% - %message%");
$logger->setFormatter($formatter);

Implementing your own formatters

The Phalcon\Logger\FormatterInterface interface must be implemented in order to create your own logger formatter or extend the existing ones.

Adapters

The following examples show the basic use of each adapter:

Stream Logger

The stream logger writes messages to a valid registered stream in PHP. A list of streams is available here:

<?php

// Opens a stream using zlib compression
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Stream("compress.zlib://week.log.gz");

// Writes the logs to stderr
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Stream("php://stderr");

File Logger

This logger uses plain files to log any kind of data. By default all logger files are open using append mode which open the files for writing only; placing the file pointer at the end of the file. If the file does not exist, attempt to create it. You can change this mode passing additional options to the constructor:

<?php

// Create the file logger in 'w' mode
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\File("app/logs/test.log", array(
    'mode' => 'w'
));

Syslog Logger

This logger sends messages to the system logger. The syslog behavior may vary from one operating system to another.

<?php

// Basic Usage
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Syslog(null);

// Setting ident/mode/facility
$logger = new \Phalcon\Logger\Adapter\Syslog("ident-name", array(
    'option' => LOG_NDELAY,
    'facility' => LOG_MAIL
));

Implementing your own adapters

The Phalcon\Logger\AdapterInterface interface must be implemented in order to create your own logger adapters or extend the existing ones.