ASP.NET MVC Controller extension method to make Log available to all controllers

Question

Is it possible to extend the Controller type in Asp.net MVC to make a method available to all controller classes for application logging?
I've tried this:

public static class ControllerExtensions
    {
        public static ILog Log(this Controller controller)
        {
            log4net.Config.XmlConfigurator.Configure();
            return log4net.LogManager.GetLogger(controller.GetType());
        }
    }

But, if I try to access the method as in:

Controller.Log.Info("hello");

It won't compile with the error message: 'System.Web.Mvc.Controller' does not contain a definition for 'Log'

I do have a using statement bringing the static class into scope.

Any help would be great.
Jacques

Andrei · Accepted Answer · 2020-01-18 12:50:02Z

13

I would suggest to implement abstract base controller class for this purpose:

public abstract class BaseController : Controller
{
    public ILog Log
    {
        get { return LogManager.GetLogger(GetType()); }
    }
}

You can also achieve similar result using protected static log instance, here is an example with Serilog:

protected static readonly ILogger log = Log.ForContext(typeof(MyController));

edited Jan 18, 2020 at 12:50

answered Sep 2, 2013 at 8:52

Andrei

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2 Comments

Jacques Over a year ago

I used this approach in the end. Thanks Andrei

Simon Over a year ago

I like this approach.

dcastro · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-02 08:29:55Z

5

Try

//inside a controller's method
this.Log().Info("hello");

You're not adding a property Log, you're adding an extension method Log().

There's no such thing as "extension properties".

answered Sep 2, 2013 at 8:29

dcastro

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Comments

chamara · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-02 09:28:52Z

2

How about creating a custom action filter?

create a class LogInfo inherited by ActionFilterattribute

public class LogInfo : ActionFilterAttribute
    {

        public override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)
        {
           //Logging operation code here
        }
    }

Controller:

[LogInfo]
public ActionResult Index()
{
   return View();
}

answered Sep 2, 2013 at 9:28

chamara

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1 Comment

Jacques Over a year ago

I used @Andrei's approach, but I'm interested in your answer. For this filter, how would I go about setting specific log conditions if it weren't just a standard info log. For example if an exception occurred inside the Index method, could I use the filter to log an exception?

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