[logback-user] custom fields

[Mel T.]

Hi,

We have an in-house logger that we want to get rid of. This logger has
application specific functionality.

- We store logs in a database table

- We have specific columns that put some very-frequently used context
information

- For that purpose, our logger has methods like this:
   log(String message, String someContextID1, String someContextID2, ...);

- This is added to the DB with specific columns for someContextID1,
someContextID2, etc...

- We have a log viewer that allows to select logs based on that
context information.

So we need an appender that will continue to fill up that same table.

If we move to a logger like logback, I am unsure how to best handle
our application need.

This first comes to mind:

- Create our own facade that adds the specific log methods (like above)
- This facade assembles these arguments into a parsable message given
to sfl4j/logback
- An in-house DBAppender can parse the message to extract the
arguments and store them in the right column.

Or is there a more natural way to do that?

I looked at markers, MDC, but is is not clear to me if any of them
would be good for that. Maybe MDC could be used that way:

- Create our own facade that adds the specific log methods (like above)
- This facade assembles these arguments and places them in MDC
- An in-house DBAppender can read the MDC and store values in the right column.

Also, is'nt adding another facade on top of SLF4J/logback a little too
much? Since we may add out own facade, should'nt we directly use
logback?

--
Mel T.