Logging custom data

ELMAH stores a lot of contextual information when an error occurs. Things like cookies, stack trace, server variables, and much more are stored to ease debugging the error at a later point in time. Most error log implementations for ELMAH doesn't support custom variables. Luckily, this is not the case for the elmah.io client.

Let's look at some code. You have two options for decorating your errors with custom variables.

Use the Data dictionary on .NET's Exception type

All exceptions in .NET contain a property named Data and of type IDictionary. The Data dictionary is intended for user-defined information about the exception. The elmah.io client iterates through key/values in this dictionary and ships it off to elmah.io's API. To log custom data using Data, just add a new key/value pair to the Data dictionary:

try
{
    CallSomeBusinessLogic(inputValue);
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    e.Data.Add("InputValueWas", inputValue);
    ErrorSignal.FromCurrentContext().Raise(e);
}

In the example, a custom variable named InputValueWas with the value of the inputValue variable is added. This way you will be able to see which input value caused the exception.

Use the OnMessage hook in the elmah.io client

You may not use ELMAH's ErrorSignal feature but rely on ELMAH to log uncaught exceptions only. In this scenario, you probably don't have access to the thrown exception. The elmah.io client offers a hook for you to be able to execute code every time something is logged:

Elmah.ErrorLog.GetDefault(null); // Forces creation of logger client
var logger = Elmah.Io.ErrorLog.Client;
logger.OnMessage += (sender, args) =>
{
    if (args.Message.Data == null) args.Message.Data = new List<Item>();
    args.Message.Data.Add(new Item { Key = "SomeOtherVariable", Value = someVariable });
};

You may not have seen the Logger type of elmah.io before, but what's important to know right now is, that Logger is responsible for logging messages to the elmah.io API. Another new term here is Message. A message is the type encapsulating all of the information about the thrown exception.

In the code example, a new event handler is subscribed to the OnMessage event. This tells the elmah.io client to execute your event handler, before actually logging an exception to elmah.io. The event is used to add a custom variable to the Data dictionary of the message logged to elmah.io.

Looking at your custom data

Custom data are shown on the Data tab on the extended messages details page. To open inspect custom data go to the log search page, extend a log message, click the three bars (hamburger) icon in the upper right corner. The custom data is beneath the Data tab. As the content in the other tabs of the message details, you will be able to filter results by the variable key.

This article was brought to you by the elmah.io team. elmah.io is the best error management system for .NET web applications. We monitor your website, alert you when errors start happening, and help you fix errors fast.

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