Logging

The Spanner client libraries contain a relatively rudimentary logging mechanism for diagnostic purposes. It is not intended for general application use, and most applications will never need to take any of the steps shown on this page. This page is primarily intended to make it easier for Google Cloud Platform support engineers to help you configure your application to add logging if you encounter an issue.

The exact log entries generated are subject to change, and applications should not rely on particular messages.

Both the Logger and LogLevel types decribed below are in the Google.Cloud.Spanner.V1.Internal.Logging namespace.

Log levels

The Logger.LogLevel property determines which log events are actually recorded. By default, this is LogLevel.None, so there is no output.

If you're happy using the default logger implementation described below, and just need to change the log level, you can write code like this:

// Adjust for the desired log level
Logger.DefaultLogger.LogLevel = LogLevel.Info;

This can be performed at any time, and the default logger will start using the given log level.

The default logger implementation

The default logger implementation writes to one of two places based on the DLL being targeted:

  • In the .NET Standard 1.5 DLL, it writes to Console.Error
  • In the .NET Standard 2.0 and .NET Framework 4.5 DLLs, it calls Trace.TraceInformation, regardless of the log level of the event.

The exact DLL being used will depend on multiple factors in your application's build. As a general rule, if you're using .NET Core 2.0 or above, or any version of the .NET Framework, you'll probably be using a DLL that uses Trace.TraceInformation.

Writing a custom logger

If you need the log output in some different form, you can create your own class deriving from Logger. You need to implement two methods:

  • LogPerformanceEntries to log performance information. If you aren't performing performance tests, you can use an empty implementation.
  • LogImpl to log a single message with an optional exception. This is only called by Logger if the log level equals or exceeds the LogLevel of the logger, so the implementation can simply write the message/exception where it needs to.

Once you have implemented a logger, you'll need to configure the Spanner library to use it. If you're using the default SessionPoolManager, this is simply a matter of calling:

// Replace with whatever your implementation is called, or
// however it is instantiated.
Logger logger = new MyCustomLogger();
Logger.SetDefaultLogger(logger);

This must be performed before any other Spanner operations, as otherwise the default SessionPoolManager will be created with the original default logger implementation.

If you are creating a new SessionPoolManager instance, simply pass the logger to the SessionPoolManager.Create method:

SessionPoolOptions options = new SessionPoolOptions
{
    // Custom options here
};
// Replace with whatever your implementation is called, or
// however it is instantiated.
Logger logger = new MyCustomLogger();

SessionPoolManager poolManager = SessionPoolManager.Create(options, logger);