Is there existing code to log-with-bells-on for runtime algorithm diagnostics?

[Ian Kelly]

On Tue, Apr 21, 2015 at 1:02 PM, Rob Clewley <rob.clewley at gmail.com> wrote:
> I don't think the built-in logger is sophisticated enough for this,
> being a flat record of freeform text AFAIU, but the API looks
> appealing.

It doesn't have to be a flat record. You can write a custom a Handler
that does anything you want with the LogRecord, e.g. writing
structured data to a relational database. With logging filters, you
could set that up either in addition to or in place of the standard
flatfile logging.

> I want to be able to insert commands inside of the loops that log
> certain variable states, completed stages of the algorithm (assume
> it's hierarchical), text warnings, and possibly even 'pointers' to
> graphical output objects of some of the intermediate data (e.g.
> matplotlib object handles for lines, points). Then I can trace the
> work done afterwards or step through the process in an IDE debugger
> and make interactive calls to access recent steps, plot certain
> relationships in the current state, etc. The basic logger's "levels"
> of output don't really apply here. I at least want categories, if not
> hierarchical sub-categories.

You might want to also take a look at LoggerAdapters, which let you
add additional contextual data to the LogRecord. You could potentially
use that to define whatever sort of categorization you want.