[TYPO3-core] RFC: error logging for the Core

[Michael Stucki]

Hi Martin,

thanks for writing this patch - I really like the feature, and now we can
start to use it wherever it could be useful (e.g. if a visitor sees a
"could not connect to database" message).

> Solution: Add a system logging to t3lib_div. The first implementation uses
> a file configured via TYPO3_CONF_VARS. The second uses PHP's error_log.

I have a third option! Use the syslog() function and let syslogd decide.

Well, all of those solutions would be nice, and it's hard for me to say
which one is the best solution. Nice that you already added a hook for this
instead! Bad that you perform the default log operation before checking for
the hook (IMHO it should simply replace the built-in functionality).

I prefer these solutions in the following order:

1. Write the file manually:
   Works everywhere just out-of-the box.

2. Call syslog()
   I can setup syslog to log TYPO3 messages into a separate logfile - no
   TYPO3 involved, only the facility that needs to be configured through
   TYPO3_CONF_VARS.

3. Use error_log()
   In my opinion, error_log() is probably useful for short time debugging,
   but it is not helpful to be used as a permanent system log because of
   endless-repeating syntax error reports.

I don't see a need for having the error_log() solution implemented in the
core, but I think that 1) and 2) can both be implemented at the same time:

$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['SYS']['syslog'] = '/var/log/typo3.log';

=> Log into <filename> using fwrite()

$TYPO3_CONF_VARS['SYS']['syslog'] = 'syslog:local5';

=> Log via syslog() by setting the facility level to LOG_LOCAL5 first.

> In config_default.php a default to typo3conf/system.log could be set. An
> idea for a hook extension is to use syslog() directly or do some fancy
> custom logging (eg mailing the message).

Having a default is a very bad solution! Reason: Everyone can check how good
the site of agency xy or competitor yz is working. Same like access
statistics that should not be publically viewable.

I think the patch is a good start but it definitely needs some
changes/discussions before it enters the core. However, having this ready
in 4.0 would be really great!

Regards, michael
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