When creating multiple log files in Log4Net the output is always NULL

Question

I have been trying to work through a log4net problem for the past day. The requirement is that I have multiple loggers creating unique log files based on the particular server-side event being handled. The problem is that when I create multiple appenders the output to my log files is always NULL.

Below is the relevant log4net block in my app.config file.

<log4net>
    <root>
      <level value="DEBUG" />
    </root>
    <logger name="AffectivExcitementShortTermScore">
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="AffectivExcitementShortTermScore" />
    </logger>

    <logger name="AffectivExcitementLongTermScore">
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="AffectivExcitementLongTermScore" />
    </logger>


    <logger name="AffectivEngagementBoredomScore">
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="AffectivEngagementBoredomScore" />
    </logger>

    <logger name="AffectivFrustrationScore">
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="AffectivFrustrationScore" />
    </logger>
    <logger name="AffectivMeditationScore">
      <level value="DEBUG" />
      <appender-ref ref="AffectivMeditationScore" />
    </logger>

    <appender name="LogFileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.RollingFileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <param name="File" value="C:\temp\emotiv_log.txt" />
      <param name="AppendToFile" value="true" />
      <rollingStyle value="Size" />
      <maxSizeRollBackups value="10" />
      <maximumFileSize value="10MB" />
      <staticLogFileName value="true" />
      <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
        <param name="ConversionPattern" value="%-5p%d{yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss} – %m%n" />
      </layout>
    </appender>

    <appender name="AffectivExcitementShortTermScore" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <file type="log4net.Util.PatternString" value="C:\\logs\\AffectivExcitementShortTermScore.csv">
      </file>
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <layout type="DataMind.CsvPatternLayout, DataMind">
        <header value="DateTime,SystemUpTime,Value,EventTimer&#xD;&#xA;" />
        <conversionPattern value="%date{M/d/yyyy H:mm:ss.fff}%newfield%property{SystemUpTime}%newfield%property{Value}%newfield%property{EventTimer}%endrow" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.PropertyFilter">
        <Key value="Version" />
        <StringToMatch value="1" />
      </filter>
    </appender>

    <appender name="AffectivExcitementLongTermScore" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <file type="log4net.Util.PatternString" value="C:\\logs\\AffectivExcitementLongTermScore.csv">
      </file>
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <layout type="DataMind.CsvPatternLayout, DataMind">
        <header value="DateTime,SystemUpTime,Value,EventTimer&#xD;&#xA;" />
        <conversionPattern value="%date{M/d/yyyy H:mm:ss.fff}%newfield%property{SystemUpTime}%newfield%property{Value}%newfield%property{EventTimer}%endrow" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.PropertyFilter">
        <Key value="Version" />
        <StringToMatch value="1" />
      </filter>
    </appender>
    <appender name="AffectivEngagementBoredomScore" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <file type="log4net.Util.PatternString" value="C:\\logs\\AffectivEngagementBoredomScore.csv">
      </file>
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <layout type="DataMind.CsvPatternLayout, DataMind">
        <header value="DateTime,SystemUpTime,Value,EventTimer&#xD;&#xA;" />
        <conversionPattern value="%date{M/d/yyyy H:mm:ss.fff}%newfield%property{SystemUpTime}%newfield%property{Value}%newfield%property{EventTimer}%endrow" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.PropertyFilter">
        <Key value="Version" />
        <StringToMatch value="1" />
      </filter>
    </appender>

    <appender name="AffectivFrustrationScore" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <file type="log4net.Util.PatternString" value="C:\\logs\\AffectivFrustrationScore.csv">
      </file>
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <layout type="DataMind.CsvPatternLayout, DataMind">
        <header value="DateTime,SystemUpTime,Value,EventTimer&#xD;&#xA;" />
        <conversionPattern value="%date{M/d/yyyy H:mm:ss.fff}%newfield%property{SystemUpTime}%newfield%property{Value}%newfield%property{EventTimer}%endrow" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.PropertyFilter">
        <Key value="Version" />
        <StringToMatch value="1" />
      </filter>
    </appender>

    <appender name="AffectivMeditationScore" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender">
      <param name="LockingModel" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender+MinimalLock" />
      <file type="log4net.Util.PatternString" value="C:\\logs\\AffectivMeditationScore.csv">
      </file>
      <appendToFile value="true" />
      <layout type="DataMind.CsvPatternLayout, DataMind">
        <header value="DateTime,SystemUpTime,Value,EventTimer&#xD;&#xA;" />
        <conversionPattern value="%date{M/d/yyyy H:mm:ss.fff}%newfield%property{SystemUpTime}%newfield%property{Value}%newfield%property{EventTimer}%endrow" />
      </layout>
      <filter type="log4net.Filter.PropertyFilter">
        <Key value="Version" />
        <StringToMatch value="1" />
      </filter>
    </appender>
  </log4net>

And below is are the GetLogger methods pointing to the multiple appenders:

public class SomeClass
{

 protected static readonly ILog log = LogManager.GetLogger(typeof(Namespace.SomeClass));
        private static readonly ILog log0 = LogManager.GetLogger("AffectivExcitementShortTermScore");
        private static readonly ILog log1 = LogManager.GetLogger("AffectivExcitementLongTermScore");
        private static readonly ILog log2 = LogManager.GetLogger("AffectivEngagementBoredomScore");
        private static readonly ILog log3 = LogManager.GetLogger("AffectivFrustrationScore");
        private static readonly ILog log4 = LogManager.GetLogger("AffectivMeditationScore");

Finally, I log my events as follows:

 log0.Info(new Log
                    {
                        SystemUpTime = FormatUpTime(_states.TimeFromStart),
                        Value = _states.AffectivExcitementShortTermScore.ToString(),
                        EventTimer = _eventTimer
                    });

                    // log longterm exictement
                    log1.Info(new Log
                    {
                        SystemUpTime = FormatUpTime(_states.TimeFromStart),
                        Value = _states.AffectivExcitementLongTermScore.ToString(),
                        EventTimer = _eventTimer
                    });

My results (below) always show that the logs are not written to the file:

DateTime    SystemUpTime    Value   EventTimer
37:07.6 (null)          (null)  (null)
37:07.6 (null)          (null)  (null)
37:07.6 (null)          (null)  (null)
37:07.6 (null)          (null)  (null)
37:07.7 (null)          (null)  (null)
37:07.7 (null)          (null)  (null)

I think am doing something wrong in my app.config file when I created my appenders. It works when I create one root appender and ref it at the root level but when I create the loggers and reference the appenders that way, it seems to fail. I am out of ideas - suggestions? Thanks.

Answer 1

What about trying a Root level setting of ALL?

May be a red herring, but I note your code uses log.INFO and your config specifies DEBUG?