[TYPO3-dev] devlog severities

[Steffen Müller]

Hi.

I am adding some csh to devlog extension atm and asked myself if there
is a definition of the severity levels.
Since I could not find anything sufficient, I'd like to discuss this
issue with you. I'd wish we have some detailed description for each
severity level as a standard base in TYPO3.

What we have in t3lib_div::devlog() is 5 levels:
0 is info
1 is notice
2 is warning
3 is fatal error
-1 is "OK" message

IMHO the labels are not very precise which leads to arbitrary use and
interpretation.

I searched the web for meaningful definitions, but did not a sufficient
solution.

syslog(3)
Debug (maybe Ok in TYPO3): Messages that contain information normally of
use only when debugging a program.
Info: Informational messages.
Notice: Conditions that are not error conditions, but should possibly be
handled specially.
Warning: Warning messages.
Error: Errors

Even RFC3164 does not describe the syslog priority levels:
LOG_ERR  	error conditions
LOG_WARNING 	warning conditions
LOG_NOTICE 	normal, but significant, condition
LOG_INFO 	informational message
LOG_DEBUG 	debug-level message

I tried to describe the levels in more or less own words, please comment
the draft:
Ok: Events with severity Ok have a debugging purpose. Debug message
provide plenty of informations and are used only while development.
Info: Informational messages, but less detailed than severity Ok/Debug.
Info signals that things are alright, so usually no action is necessary.
Notice: Normal, but significant condition. Notice is meant to give
information in the first place, but it signals to pay attention, because
things might not be running perfect.
Warning: Warning signals a condition that did not prevent completion of
a job, but may require some action to avoid malfunctions in future.
Error: Error refers to a condition where some fatal malfunction occurred
and action is definitely needed.

I also plead for renaming Ok to Debug, which meaning is much clearer for
developers than Ok is.

What do you think?

-- 
cheers,
Steffen

http://www.t3node.com/