Skip to main content

How to add custom log message wrappers with Timber in Kotlin Android

How to add custom log message wrappers with Timber in Kotlin Android.

Here's a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to add custom log message wrappers with Timber in Kotlin Android.

Step 1: Set up Timber in your project​

To get started, you need to add the Timber library to your project's dependencies. Open your project's build.gradle file and add the following line to the dependencies block:

implementation 'com.jakewharton.timber:timber:4.7.1'

Sync the project to make sure the library is added successfully.

Step 2: Create a custom log message wrapper class​

Next, you'll create a custom log message wrapper class that extends the Timber.Tree class. This class will handle the custom log message formatting and output.

import timber.log.Timber

class CustomLogWrapper : Timber.Tree() {

    override fun log(priority: Int, tag: String?, message: String, t: Throwable?) {
        // Implement custom log message formatting and output here
    }
}

In the log method, you can customize the log message formatting and output based on your requirements. You can also include additional information like the log level, timestamp, or any other context-specific details.

Step 3: Initialize Timber with the custom log wrapper​

In your application's onCreate method, initialize Timber with your custom log wrapper by adding the following code:

class MyApplication : Application() {

    override fun onCreate() {
        super.onCreate()

        if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {
            Timber.plant(CustomLogWrapper())
        }
    }
}

This code checks if the app is running in debug mode (BuildConfig.DEBUG) and plants the custom log wrapper if true. This ensures that the custom log wrapper is only used during development and not in production builds.

Step 4: Use Timber for logging​

Now that you have set up the custom log wrapper, you can use Timber for logging throughout your codebase. Here are a few examples:

Timber.d("Debug log message")
Timber.i("Info log message")
Timber.e("Error log message")

You can use different log levels (d for debug, i for info, e for error, etc.) based on the severity of the log message. Timber will handle the log message routing to your custom log wrapper.

Step 5: Customize log message output (optional)​

If you want to further customize the log message output for specific log levels or tags, you can override the log method in your custom log wrapper class.

class CustomLogWrapper : Timber.Tree() {

    override fun log(priority: Int, tag: String?, message: String, t: Throwable?) {
        when (priority) {
            Log.DEBUG -> {
                // Custom formatting for debug log messages
            }
            Log.INFO -> {
                // Custom formatting for info log messages
            }
            Log.ERROR -> {
                // Custom formatting for error log messages
            }
            // Add more cases for other log levels if needed
        }
    }
}

In each case, you can apply specific formatting or perform additional actions based on the log level or tag.

That's it! You have successfully added custom log message wrappers with Timber in Kotlin Android. You can now customize the log message formatting and output based on your requirements. Happy logging!