Creating a different log4net.ILog instance for each appender

Question

I'm using log4net to log a project.

I want to log into 3 different files : requests, responses, and errors.

<log4net debug="true">
    <!--To turn off an appender, simply set it's threshold value to "OFF"-->
    <appender type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender" name="RequestAppender">
        <file value="requests.txt" />
        <threshold value="INFO" />
        <appendToFile value="true" />
        <rollingStyle value="Size" />
        <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />
        <maximumFileSize value="10MB" />
        <staticLogFileName value="true" />
        <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
            <conversionPattern value="%-5p %d %5rms %-22.22c{1} %-18.18M - %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender" name="ResponseAppender">
        <file value="responses.txt" />
        <threshold value="INFO" />
        <appendToFile value="true" />
        <rollingStyle value="Size" />
        <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />
        <maximumFileSize value="10MB" />
        <staticLogFileName value="true" />
        <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
            <conversionPattern value="%-5p %d %5rms %-22.22c{1} %-18.18M - %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender" name="ErrorAppender">
        <file value="errors.txt" />
        <threshold value="ERROR" />
        <appendToFile value="true" />
        <rollingStyle value="Size" />
        <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />
        <maximumFileSize value="10MB" />
        <staticLogFileName value="true" />
        <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
            <conversionPattern value="%-5p %d %5rms %-22.22c{1} %-18.18M - %m%n" />
        </layout>
    </appender>

</log4net>

However, I do not know how to get an instance for each logger in the .NET side. With a standrard, 1 appender config, I used to following:

private static readonly log4net.ILog log = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger(System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType);

But this doesn't specify the appenderName, and I didn't find a way to specify it.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

EDIT: I think I'm missing something as I have no definition in my config file. I do not understand the separation between the loggers and appenders.

EDIT #2: I noticed something weird. Before the multiple 3 loggers config I had a 1 logger config. now, the writings I write into the 3 loggers write to that log file, though It's no longer in the config file. For some reason, it doesn't load the new config file. How can I force it to do so?

Answer 1

To use the names you want you can make 3 loggers:

 private static readonly log4net.ILog logError = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger("ErrorAppender");
 private static readonly log4net.ILog logResponse = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger("ResponseAppender");
 private static readonly log4net.ILog logRequest = log4net.LogManager.GetLogger("RequestAppender");

When logging a log message you have to use the correct logger. Your appenders are configured to handle each logger in a seperate file.

The problem with your current code is the:

System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod().DeclaringType

Because you use static logger the loggers names can probably not formed correctly. There is no System.Reflection.MethodBase.GetCurrentMethod() because when the static initalize is called there is not GetCurrentMethod . You can change that to typeof(..).Name . However you appenders need to be reconfigured to log your classnames.