[FEATURE] Pretty-print logging

[james-milligan]

Requirements

Flagd currently prints structured logs in json format, when running flagd in the console this can cause the logs to be difficult to read.

the zap logger zap.Config struct contains the field Encoding which when set to console instead of json updates the logging structure as follows:

json

{"level":"info","ts":1671548378.306176,"caller":"runtime/runtime.go:84","msg":"configuration change (write) for flagKey headerColor (config/samples/example_flags.json)","component":"runtime"}
{"level":"info","ts":1671548378.3061912,"caller":"runtime/runtime.go:84","msg":"configuration change (write) for flagKey myBoolFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)","component":"runtime"}
{"level":"info","ts":1671548378.306196,"caller":"runtime/runtime.go:84","msg":"configuration change (write) for flagKey myStringFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)","component":"runtime"}
{"level":"info","ts":1671548378.306199,"caller":"runtime/runtime.go:84","msg":"configuration change (write) for flagKey myFloatFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)","component":"runtime"}
{"level":"info","ts":1671548378.3062022,"caller":"runtime/runtime.go:84","msg":"configuration change (write) for flagKey myIntFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)","component":"runtime"}

console

1.671549411055416e+09   info    runtime/runtime.go:84   configuration change (write) for flagKey myFloatFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)        {"component": "runtime"}
1.6715494110554419e+09  info    runtime/runtime.go:84   configuration change (write) for flagKey myIntFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)  {"component": "runtime"}
1.671549411055447e+09   info    runtime/runtime.go:84   configuration change (write) for flagKey myObjectFlag (config/samples/example_flags.json)       {"component": "runtime"}
1.671549411055451e+09   info    runtime/runtime.go:84   configuration change (write) for flagKey isColorYellow (config/samples/example_flags.json)      {"component": "runtime"}

This behaviour should be controlled via a viper flag, e.g. --log-encoding=console with a json default e.g. --log-encoding=json with a console default

[mihirm21]

Hi, can I be assigned this issue in case no one else is working on it, or should I directly submit my PR?

[mihirm21]

Is the issue resolved now ?

[james-milligan]

Ive requested changes in the PR
#302 (review)

[mihirm21]

are you asking for changes in source files of zap encoder? other than that, I am not getting where to add this feature, plz help

[james-milligan]

You can introduce a new cli flag in cmd/start.go, mirroring one of the other existing flags and setting the default to "console"
This flag value can be retrieved with viper.GetString(YOUR_FLAG_NAME) and passed into the constructor of the zap the logger setting the zap.Config Encoding property to the value passed on startup.

This way we set the default to console while still allowing for developers to use structured json logging if they require it

[mihirm21]

how do I pass this value(viper.GetString(flag name)) to the zap.config encoding parameter

[james-milligan]

One option is to update the NewZapLogger signature to the following:

func NewZapLogger(level zapcore.Level, logFormat string) (*zap.Logger, error)

or

update the NewZapLogger signature to the following:

func NewZapLogger(config zap.Config) (*zap.Logger, error)

and apply the remaining default values within the NewZapLogger method, e.g.
start.go:

l, err := logger.NewZapLogger(zap.Config{
	Encoding:         viper.GetString(flag name),
	Level:                zap.NewAtomicLevelAt(level),
})

logger.go:

func NewZapLogger(cfg zap.Config) (*zap.Logger, error) {
        if cfg.Encoding == "" {
                cfg.Encoding = "console"
        }
        ...
        ...
        return cfg.Build()	
}

I am sure there are other options as well if you decide to take a different route

[mihirm21]

Is the issue resolved now?

[beeme1mr]

Hi @mihirm21, the issue will automatically be resolved once your PR is accepted and merged. Thanks for your contributions to the project!