Plain Kotlin Android Style Logging

Overview

Android Studio Android Logging for any Kotlin project.

Introduction

In Android Studio Android projects, most people take advantage of the Android Logging Framework. However, if you write code externally or without that framework available, you would likely write all your output as println and then have to add the proper logging later.

Moving the code back and forth would require changes and rewrites.

To avoid this, I've put together a small logging class.

The Code

The code is pretty simple so here is everything:

package com.xxxxxxxxxxxxx

// https://source.android.com/docs/core/tests/debug/understanding-logging
/*
    RFC 5424 Level  RFC 5424 Severity  RFC 5424 Description   android.util.Log   java.util.logging.Level
    0   Emergency  System is unusable Log.e / Log.wtf    SEVERE
    1   Alert  Action must be taken immediately   Log.e / Log.wtf    SEVERE
    2   Critical   Critical conditions    Log.e / Log.wtf    SEVERE
    3   Error  Error conditions   Log.e  SEVERE
    4   Warning    Warning conditions Log.w  WARNING
    5   Notice Normal but significant Log.w  WARNING
    6   Info   Information messaging  Log.i  INFO
    7   Debug  Debug-level messages   Log.d  CONFIG, FINE
    -   -  Verbose messaging  Log.v  FINER / FINEST
 */
object Log {
    // 256-Color (8-bit) ANSI Codes: \u001B[38;5;<color_index>m
    private const val ANSI_RESET = "\u001B[0m"
    private const val ANSI_COLOR_ERROR = "\u001B[38;5;203m" // Error - F75464 -> Bright Coral (203)
    private const val ANSI_COLOR_INFO = "\u001B[38;5;179m" // Info - E0BB65 -> Mustard Yellow (179)
    private const val ANSI_COLOR_DEBUG = "\u001B[38;5;30m" // Debug - 299999 -> Dark Cyan-Green (30)

    fun wtf(tag: String, text: String) { println("$ANSI_COLOR_ERROR[E] $tag: $text$ANSI_RESET") } // ⚠️
    fun e(tag: String, text: String) { println("$ANSI_COLOR_ERROR[E] $tag: $text$ANSI_RESET") } // ❌
    fun w(tag: String, text: String) { println("$ANSI_COLOR_INFO[W] $tag: $text$ANSI_RESET") } // ⚠️
    fun i(tag: String, text: String) { println("$ANSI_COLOR_INFO[I] $tag: $text$ANSI_RESET") } // ℹ️
    fun d(tag: String, text: String) { println("$ANSI_COLOR_DEBUG[D] $tag: $text$ANSI_RESET") } // 🔍
    fun v(tag: String, text: String) { println("[V] $tag: $text") } // 💬 // No color needed

    object Tests {
        fun testLogs() {
            Log.wtf("TAG", "Text for WTF (severity 0-2 - Emergency, Alert, or Critical)")
            Log.e("TAG", "Text for Error (severity 1-3 - Emergency, Alert, Critical, or Error)")
            Log.w("TAG", "Text for Warning (severity 4-5 - Warning or Notice")
            Log.i("TAG", "Text for Info (severity 6 - Info")
            Log.d("TAG", "Text for Debug (severity 7 - Debug)")
            Log.v("TAG", "Text for Verbose (-)")
        }
    }
}

Example Output

Android Logging:

My Kotlin Logging:

Note: The colors are slightly more red on these screenshots than they will appear normally as I'm running Flux to reduce blue light expose.

Summary

Above is some colored logging for standard Kotlin projects that you can just copy into Android projects without worrying about anything.

If you haven't really looked into Logging yet, check the link from the start (repeated below).

Links

Android Logging Framework.

Flux