How to duplicate sys.stdout to a log file?

Question

Edit: Since it appears that there\'s either no solution, or I\'m doing something so non-standard that nobody knows - I\'ll revise my question to also ask: What is the best w

Answer 1

I wrote a full replacement for sys.stderr and just duplicated the code renaming stderr to stdout to make it also available to replace sys.stdout.

To do this I create the same object type as the current stderr and stdout, and forward all methods to the original system stderr and stdout:

import os
import sys
import logging

class StdErrReplament(object):
    """
        How to redirect stdout and stderr to logger in Python
        https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19425736/how-to-redirect-stdout-and-stderr-to-logger-in-python

        Set a Read-Only Attribute in Python?
        https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24497316/set-a-read-only-attribute-in-python
    """
    is_active = False

    @classmethod
    def lock(cls, logger):
        """
            Attach this singleton logger to the `sys.stderr` permanently.
        """
        global _stderr_singleton
        global _stderr_default
        global _stderr_default_class_type

        # On Sublime Text, `sys.__stderr__` is set to None, because they already replaced `sys.stderr`
        # by some `_LogWriter()` class, then just save the current one over there.
        if not sys.__stderr__:
            sys.__stderr__ = sys.stderr

        try:
            _stderr_default
            _stderr_default_class_type

        except NameError:
            _stderr_default = sys.stderr
            _stderr_default_class_type = type( _stderr_default )

        # Recreate the sys.stderr logger when it was reset by `unlock()`
        if not cls.is_active:
            cls.is_active = True
            _stderr_write = _stderr_default.write

            logger_call = logger.debug
            clean_formatter = logger.clean_formatter

            global _sys_stderr_write
            global _sys_stderr_write_hidden

            if sys.version_info <= (3,2):
                logger.file_handler.terminator = '\n'

            # Always recreate/override the internal write function used by `_sys_stderr_write`
            def _sys_stderr_write_hidden(*args, **kwargs):
                """
                    Suppress newline in Python logging module
                    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7168790/suppress-newline-in-python-logging-module
                """

                try:
                    _stderr_write( *args, **kwargs )
                    file_handler = logger.file_handler

                    formatter = file_handler.formatter
                    terminator = file_handler.terminator

                    file_handler.formatter = clean_formatter
                    file_handler.terminator = ""

                    kwargs['extra'] = {'_duplicated_from_file': True}
                    logger_call( *args, **kwargs )

                    file_handler.formatter = formatter
                    file_handler.terminator = terminator

                except Exception:
                    logger.exception( "Could not write to the file_handler: %s(%s)", file_handler, logger )
                    cls.unlock()

            # Only create one `_sys_stderr_write` function pointer ever
            try:
                _sys_stderr_write

            except NameError:

                def _sys_stderr_write(*args, **kwargs):
                    """
                        Hides the actual function pointer. This allow the external function pointer to
                        be cached while the internal written can be exchanged between the standard
                        `sys.stderr.write` and our custom wrapper around it.
                    """
                    _sys_stderr_write_hidden( *args, **kwargs )

        try:
            # Only create one singleton instance ever
            _stderr_singleton

        except NameError:

            class StdErrReplamentHidden(_stderr_default_class_type):
                """
                    Which special methods bypasses __getattribute__ in Python?
                    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12872695/which-special-methods-bypasses-getattribute-in-python
                """

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__abstractmethods__" ):
                    __abstractmethods__ = _stderr_default.__abstractmethods__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__base__" ):
                    __base__ = _stderr_default.__base__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__bases__" ):
                    __bases__ = _stderr_default.__bases__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__basicsize__" ):
                    __basicsize__ = _stderr_default.__basicsize__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__call__" ):
                    __call__ = _stderr_default.__call__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__class__" ):
                    __class__ = _stderr_default.__class__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__delattr__" ):
                    __delattr__ = _stderr_default.__delattr__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__dict__" ):
                    __dict__ = _stderr_default.__dict__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__dictoffset__" ):
                    __dictoffset__ = _stderr_default.__dictoffset__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__dir__" ):
                    __dir__ = _stderr_default.__dir__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__doc__" ):
                    __doc__ = _stderr_default.__doc__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__eq__" ):
                    __eq__ = _stderr_default.__eq__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__flags__" ):
                    __flags__ = _stderr_default.__flags__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__format__" ):
                    __format__ = _stderr_default.__format__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__ge__" ):
                    __ge__ = _stderr_default.__ge__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__getattribute__" ):
                    __getattribute__ = _stderr_default.__getattribute__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__gt__" ):
                    __gt__ = _stderr_default.__gt__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__hash__" ):
                    __hash__ = _stderr_default.__hash__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__init__" ):
                    __init__ = _stderr_default.__init__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__init_subclass__" ):
                    __init_subclass__ = _stderr_default.__init_subclass__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__instancecheck__" ):
                    __instancecheck__ = _stderr_default.__instancecheck__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__itemsize__" ):
                    __itemsize__ = _stderr_default.__itemsize__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__le__" ):
                    __le__ = _stderr_default.__le__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__lt__" ):
                    __lt__ = _stderr_default.__lt__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__module__" ):
                    __module__ = _stderr_default.__module__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__mro__" ):
                    __mro__ = _stderr_default.__mro__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__name__" ):
                    __name__ = _stderr_default.__name__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__ne__" ):
                    __ne__ = _stderr_default.__ne__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__new__" ):
                    __new__ = _stderr_default.__new__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__prepare__" ):
                    __prepare__ = _stderr_default.__prepare__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__qualname__" ):
                    __qualname__ = _stderr_default.__qualname__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__reduce__" ):
                    __reduce__ = _stderr_default.__reduce__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__reduce_ex__" ):
                    __reduce_ex__ = _stderr_default.__reduce_ex__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__repr__" ):
                    __repr__ = _stderr_default.__repr__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__setattr__" ):
                    __setattr__ = _stderr_default.__setattr__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__sizeof__" ):
                    __sizeof__ = _stderr_default.__sizeof__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__str__" ):
                    __str__ = _stderr_default.__str__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__subclasscheck__" ):
                    __subclasscheck__ = _stderr_default.__subclasscheck__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__subclasses__" ):
                    __subclasses__ = _stderr_default.__subclasses__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__subclasshook__" ):
                    __subclasshook__ = _stderr_default.__subclasshook__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__text_signature__" ):
                    __text_signature__ = _stderr_default.__text_signature__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "__weakrefoffset__" ):
                    __weakrefoffset__ = _stderr_default.__weakrefoffset__

                if hasattr( _stderr_default, "mro" ):
                    mro = _stderr_default.mro

                def __init__(self):
                    """
                        Override any super class `type( _stderr_default )` constructor, so we can 
                        instantiate any kind of `sys.stderr` replacement object, in case it was already 
                        replaced by something else like on Sublime Text with `_LogWriter()`.

                        Assures all attributes were statically replaced just above. This should happen in case
                        some new attribute is added to the python language.

                        This also ignores the only two methods which are not equal, `__init__()` and `__getattribute__()`.
                    """
                    different_methods = ("__init__", "__getattribute__")
                    attributes_to_check = set( dir( object ) + dir( type ) )

                    for attribute in attributes_to_check:

                        if attribute not in different_methods \
                                and hasattr( _stderr_default, attribute ):

                            base_class_attribute = super( _stderr_default_class_type, self ).__getattribute__( attribute )
                            target_class_attribute = _stderr_default.__getattribute__( attribute )

                            if base_class_attribute != target_class_attribute:
                                sys.stderr.write( "    The base class attribute `%s` is different from the target class:\n%s\n%s\n\n" % (
                                        attribute, base_class_attribute, target_class_attribute ) )

                def __getattribute__(self, item):

                    if item == 'write':
                        return _sys_stderr_write

                    try:
                        return _stderr_default.__getattribute__( item )

                    except AttributeError:
                        return super( _stderr_default_class_type, _stderr_default ).__getattribute__( item )

            _stderr_singleton = StdErrReplamentHidden()
            sys.stderr = _stderr_singleton

        return cls

    @classmethod
    def unlock(cls):
        """
            Detach this `stderr` writer from `sys.stderr` and allow the next call to `lock()` create
            a new writer for the stderr.
        """

        if cls.is_active:
            global _sys_stderr_write_hidden

            cls.is_active = False
            _sys_stderr_write_hidden = _stderr_default.write



class StdOutReplament(object):
    """
        How to redirect stdout and stderr to logger in Python
        https://stackoverflow.com/questions/19425736/how-to-redirect-stdout-and-stderr-to-logger-in-python

        Set a Read-Only Attribute in Python?
        https://stackoverflow.com/questions/24497316/set-a-read-only-attribute-in-python
    """
    is_active = False

    @classmethod
    def lock(cls, logger):
        """
            Attach this singleton logger to the `sys.stdout` permanently.
        """
        global _stdout_singleton
        global _stdout_default
        global _stdout_default_class_type

        # On Sublime Text, `sys.__stdout__` is set to None, because they already replaced `sys.stdout`
        # by some `_LogWriter()` class, then just save the current one over there.
        if not sys.__stdout__:
            sys.__stdout__ = sys.stdout

        try:
            _stdout_default
            _stdout_default_class_type

        except NameError:
            _stdout_default = sys.stdout
            _stdout_default_class_type = type( _stdout_default )

        # Recreate the sys.stdout logger when it was reset by `unlock()`
        if not cls.is_active:
            cls.is_active = True
            _stdout_write = _stdout_default.write

            logger_call = logger.debug
            clean_formatter = logger.clean_formatter

            global _sys_stdout_write
            global _sys_stdout_write_hidden

            if sys.version_info <= (3,2):
                logger.file_handler.terminator = '\n'

            # Always recreate/override the internal write function used by `_sys_stdout_write`
            def _sys_stdout_write_hidden(*args, **kwargs):
                """
                    Suppress newline in Python logging module
                    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7168790/suppress-newline-in-python-logging-module
                """

                try:
                    _stdout_write( *args, **kwargs )
                    file_handler = logger.file_handler

                    formatter = file_handler.formatter
                    terminator = file_handler.terminator

                    file_handler.formatter = clean_formatter
                    file_handler.terminator = ""

                    kwargs['extra'] = {'_duplicated_from_file': True}
                    logger_call( *args, **kwargs )

                    file_handler.formatter = formatter
                    file_handler.terminator = terminator

                except Exception:
                    logger.exception( "Could not write to the file_handler: %s(%s)", file_handler, logger )
                    cls.unlock()

            # Only create one `_sys_stdout_write` function pointer ever
            try:
                _sys_stdout_write

            except NameError:

                def _sys_stdout_write(*args, **kwargs):
                    """
                        Hides the actual function pointer. This allow the external function pointer to
                        be cached while the internal written can be exchanged between the standard
                        `sys.stdout.write` and our custom wrapper around it.
                    """
                    _sys_stdout_write_hidden( *args, **kwargs )

        try:
            # Only create one singleton instance ever
            _stdout_singleton

        except NameError:

            class StdOutReplamentHidden(_stdout_default_class_type):
                """
                    Which special methods bypasses __getattribute__ in Python?
                    https://stackoverflow.com/questions/12872695/which-special-methods-bypasses-getattribute-in-python
                """

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__abstractmethods__" ):
                    __abstractmethods__ = _stdout_default.__abstractmethods__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__base__" ):
                    __base__ = _stdout_default.__base__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__bases__" ):
                    __bases__ = _stdout_default.__bases__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__basicsize__" ):
                    __basicsize__ = _stdout_default.__basicsize__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__call__" ):
                    __call__ = _stdout_default.__call__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__class__" ):
                    __class__ = _stdout_default.__class__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__delattr__" ):
                    __delattr__ = _stdout_default.__delattr__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__dict__" ):
                    __dict__ = _stdout_default.__dict__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__dictoffset__" ):
                    __dictoffset__ = _stdout_default.__dictoffset__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__dir__" ):
                    __dir__ = _stdout_default.__dir__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__doc__" ):
                    __doc__ = _stdout_default.__doc__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__eq__" ):
                    __eq__ = _stdout_default.__eq__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__flags__" ):
                    __flags__ = _stdout_default.__flags__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__format__" ):
                    __format__ = _stdout_default.__format__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__ge__" ):
                    __ge__ = _stdout_default.__ge__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__getattribute__" ):
                    __getattribute__ = _stdout_default.__getattribute__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__gt__" ):
                    __gt__ = _stdout_default.__gt__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__hash__" ):
                    __hash__ = _stdout_default.__hash__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__init__" ):
                    __init__ = _stdout_default.__init__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__init_subclass__" ):
                    __init_subclass__ = _stdout_default.__init_subclass__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__instancecheck__" ):
                    __instancecheck__ = _stdout_default.__instancecheck__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__itemsize__" ):
                    __itemsize__ = _stdout_default.__itemsize__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__le__" ):
                    __le__ = _stdout_default.__le__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__lt__" ):
                    __lt__ = _stdout_default.__lt__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__module__" ):
                    __module__ = _stdout_default.__module__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__mro__" ):
                    __mro__ = _stdout_default.__mro__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__name__" ):
                    __name__ = _stdout_default.__name__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__ne__" ):
                    __ne__ = _stdout_default.__ne__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__new__" ):
                    __new__ = _stdout_default.__new__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__prepare__" ):
                    __prepare__ = _stdout_default.__prepare__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__qualname__" ):
                    __qualname__ = _stdout_default.__qualname__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__reduce__" ):
                    __reduce__ = _stdout_default.__reduce__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__reduce_ex__" ):
                    __reduce_ex__ = _stdout_default.__reduce_ex__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__repr__" ):
                    __repr__ = _stdout_default.__repr__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__setattr__" ):
                    __setattr__ = _stdout_default.__setattr__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__sizeof__" ):
                    __sizeof__ = _stdout_default.__sizeof__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__str__" ):
                    __str__ = _stdout_default.__str__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__subclasscheck__" ):
                    __subclasscheck__ = _stdout_default.__subclasscheck__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__subclasses__" ):
                    __subclasses__ = _stdout_default.__subclasses__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__subclasshook__" ):
                    __subclasshook__ = _stdout_default.__subclasshook__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__text_signature__" ):
                    __text_signature__ = _stdout_default.__text_signature__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "__weakrefoffset__" ):
                    __weakrefoffset__ = _stdout_default.__weakrefoffset__

                if hasattr( _stdout_default, "mro" ):
                    mro = _stdout_default.mro

                def __init__(self):
                    """
                        Override any super class `type( _stdout_default )` constructor, so we can 
                        instantiate any kind of `sys.stdout` replacement object, in case it was already 
                        replaced by something else like on Sublime Text with `_LogWriter()`.

                        Assures all attributes were statically replaced just above. This should happen in case
                        some new attribute is added to the python language.

                        This also ignores the only two methods which are not equal, `__init__()` and `__getattribute__()`.
                    """
                    different_methods = ("__init__", "__getattribute__")
                    attributes_to_check = set( dir( object ) + dir( type ) )

                    for attribute in attributes_to_check:

                        if attribute not in different_methods \
                                and hasattr( _stdout_default, attribute ):

                            base_class_attribute = super( _stdout_default_class_type, self ).__getattribute__( attribute )
                            target_class_attribute = _stdout_default.__getattribute__( attribute )

                            if base_class_attribute != target_class_attribute:
                                sys.stdout.write( "    The base class attribute `%s` is different from the target class:\n%s\n%s\n\n" % (
                                        attribute, base_class_attribute, target_class_attribute ) )

                def __getattribute__(self, item):

                    if item == 'write':
                        return _sys_stdout_write

                    try:
                        return _stdout_default.__getattribute__( item )

                    except AttributeError:
                        return super( _stdout_default_class_type, _stdout_default ).__getattribute__( item )

            _stdout_singleton = StdOutReplamentHidden()
            sys.stdout = _stdout_singleton

        return cls

    @classmethod
    def unlock(cls):
        """
            Detach this `stdout` writer from `sys.stdout` and allow the next call to `lock()` create
            a new writer for the stdout.
        """

        if cls.is_active:
            global _sys_stdout_write_hidden

            cls.is_active = False
            _sys_stdout_write_hidden = _stdout_default.write

To use this you can just call StdErrReplament::lock(logger) and StdOutReplament::lock(logger) passing the logger you want to use to send the output text. For example:

import os
import sys
import logging

current_folder = os.path.dirname( os.path.realpath( __file__ ) )
log_file_path = os.path.join( current_folder, "my_log_file.txt" )

file_handler = logging.FileHandler( log_file_path, 'a' )
file_handler.formatter = logging.Formatter( "%(asctime)s %(name)s %(levelname)s - %(message)s", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" )

log = logging.getLogger( __name__ )
log.setLevel( "DEBUG" )
log.addHandler( file_handler )

log.file_handler = file_handler
log.clean_formatter = logging.Formatter( "", "" )

StdOutReplament.lock( log )
StdErrReplament.lock( log )

log.debug( "I am doing usual logging debug..." )
sys.stderr.write( "Tests 1...\n" )
sys.stdout.write( "Tests 2...\n" )

Running this code, you will see on the screen:

And on the file contents:

If you would like to also see the contents of the log.debug calls on the screen, you will need to add a stream handler to your logger. On this case it would be like this:

import os
import sys
import logging

class ContextFilter(logging.Filter):
    """ This filter avoids duplicated information to be displayed to the StreamHandler log. """
    def filter(self, record):
        return not "_duplicated_from_file" in record.__dict__

current_folder = os.path.dirname( os.path.realpath( __file__ ) )
log_file_path = os.path.join( current_folder, "my_log_file.txt" )

stream_handler = logging.StreamHandler()
file_handler = logging.FileHandler( log_file_path, 'a' )

formatter = logging.Formatter( "%(asctime)s %(name)s %(levelname)s - %(message)s", "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S" )
file_handler.formatter = formatter
stream_handler.formatter = formatter
stream_handler.addFilter( ContextFilter() )

log = logging.getLogger( __name__ )
log.setLevel( "DEBUG" )
log.addHandler( file_handler )
log.addHandler( stream_handler )

log.file_handler = file_handler
log.stream_handler = stream_handler
log.clean_formatter = logging.Formatter( "", "" )

StdOutReplament.lock( log )
StdErrReplament.lock( log )

log.debug( "I am doing usual logging debug..." )
sys.stderr.write( "Tests 1...\n" )
sys.stdout.write( "Tests 2...\n" )

Which would output like this when running:

While it would still saving this to the file my_log_file.txt:

When disabling this with StdErrReplament:unlock(), it will only restore the standard behavior of the stderr stream, as the attached logger cannot be never detached because someone else can have a reference to its older version. This is why it is a global singleton which can never dies. Therefore, in case of reloading this module with imp or something else, it will never recapture the current sys.stderr as it was already injected on it and have it saved internally.