pythonloggingconfigurationpython-logging

How to change filehandle with Python logging on the fly with different classes and imports


I cannot perform an on-the-fly logging fileHandle change.

For example, I have 3 classes

one.py

import logging
class One():
    def __init__(self,txt="?"):
        logging.debug("Hey, I'm the class One and I say: %s" % txt)

two.py

import logging
class Two():
    def __init__(self,txt="?"):
        logging.debug("Hey, I'm the class Two and I say: %s" % txt)

config.py

import logging
class Config():
    def __init__(self,logfile=None):
        logging.debug("Reading config")
        self.logfile(logfile)

myapp

from one import One
from two import Two
from config import Config
import logging

#Set default logging
logging.basicConfig( 
    level=logging.getLevelName(DEBUG), 
    format='%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s',
    filename=None
)

logging.info("Starting with stdout")

o=One(txt="STDOUT")
c=Config(logfile="/tmp/logfile")

# Here must be the code that change the logging configuration and set the filehandler

t=One(txt="This must be on the file, not STDOUT")

If I try loggin.basicConfig() again, it doesn't work.


Solution

  • Indeed, logging.basicConfig does nothing if a handler has been set up already:

    This function does nothing if the root logger already has handlers configured, unless the keyword argument force is set to True.

    You'll need to either add force=True (requires Python 3.8 or newer), or, alternatively, replace the current handler on the root logger:

    import logging
    
    fileh = logging.FileHandler('/tmp/logfile', 'a')
    formatter = logging.Formatter('%(asctime)s - %(name)s - %(levelname)s - %(message)s')
    fileh.setFormatter(formatter)
    
    log = logging.getLogger()  # root logger
    for hdlr in log.handlers[:]:  # remove all old handlers
        log.removeHandler(hdlr)
    log.addHandler(fileh)      # set the new handler
    

    See the Configuring Logging chapter in the Python Logging HOWTO.