Simple way to perform error logging?

Question

I\'ve created a small C# winforms application, as an added feature I was considering adding some form of error logging into it. Anyone have any suggestions for good ways to go a

Answer 1

Create a class called Log.cs I am using Linq To SQl to save to the database

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Linq;
using System.Reflection;
using System.Runtime.CompilerServices;
using System.Text;
public static partial class Log
{
    /// 

    /// Saves the exception details to ErrorLogging db with Low Priority
    /// 
    /// The exception.
    public static void Save(this Exception ex)
    {
        Save(ex, ImpactLevel.Low, "");
    }

    /// 

    /// Saves the exception details to ErrorLogging db with specified ImpactLevel
    /// 
    /// The exception.
    /// The Impact level.
    public static void Save(this Exception ex, ImpactLevel impactLevel)
    {
        Save(ex, impactLevel,"");
    }
    /// 

    /// Saves the exception details to ErrorLogging db with specified ImpactLevel and user message
    /// 
    /// The exception
    /// The impact level.
    /// The error Description.
    public static void Save(this Exception ex, ImpactLevel impactLevel, string errorDescription)
    {
        using (var db = new ErrorLoggingDataContext())
        {
            Log log = new Log();

            if (errorDescription != null && errorDescription != "")
            {
                log.ErrorShortDescription = errorDescription;
            }
            log.ExceptionType = ex.GetType().FullName;
            var stackTrace = new StackTrace(ex, true);
            var allFrames = stackTrace.GetFrames().ToList();
            foreach (var frame in allFrames)
            {
                log.FileName = frame.GetFileName();
                log.LineNumber = frame.GetFileLineNumber();
                var method = frame.GetMethod();
                log.MethodName = method.Name;
                log.ClassName = frame.GetMethod().DeclaringType.ToString();
            }

            log.ImpactLevel = impactLevel.ToString();
            try
            {
                log.ApplicationName = Assembly.GetCallingAssembly().GetName().Name;
            }
            catch
            {
                log.ApplicationName = "";
            }

            log.ErrorMessage = ex.Message;
            log.StackTrace = ex.StackTrace;
            if (ex.InnerException != null)
            {
                log.InnerException = ex.InnerException.ToString();
                log.InnerExceptionMessage = ex.InnerException.Message;
            }
            log.IpAddress = ""; //get the ip address

            if (System.Diagnostics.Debugger.IsAttached)
            {
                log.IsProduction = false;
            }

            try
            {
                db.Logs.InsertOnSubmit(log);
                db.SubmitChanges();
            }
            catch (Exception eex)
            {

            }
        }
    }
}

Create the following table

USE [database Name]
GO

/****** Object:  Table [dbo].[Log]    Script Date: 9/27/2016 11:52:32 AM ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO

SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO

SET ANSI_PADDING ON
GO

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Log](
    [LogId] [INT] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL,
    [ErrorDate] [DATETIME] NOT NULL CONSTRAINT [DF_Log_Date]  DEFAULT (GETDATE()),
    [ErrorShortDescription] [VARCHAR](1000) NULL,
    [ExceptionType] [VARCHAR](255) NULL,
    [FileName] [VARCHAR](1000) NULL,
    [LineNumber] [INT] NULL,
    [MethodName] [VARCHAR](255) NULL,
    [ClassName] [VARCHAR](150) NULL,
    [ImpactLevel] [VARCHAR](50) NOT NULL,
    [ApplicationName] [VARCHAR](255) NULL,
    [ErrorMessage] [VARCHAR](4000) NULL,
    [StackTrace] [VARCHAR](MAX) NULL,
    [InnerException] [VARCHAR](2000) NULL,
    [InnerExceptionMessage] [VARCHAR](2000) NULL,
    [IpAddress] [VARCHAR](150) NULL,
    [IsProduction] [BIT] NOT NULL CONSTRAINT [DF_Log_IsProduction]  DEFAULT ((1)),
    [LastModified] [DATETIME] NOT NULL CONSTRAINT [DF_Log_LastModified]  DEFAULT (GETDATE()),
 CONSTRAINT [PK_Log] PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED 
(
    [LogId] ASC
)WITH (PAD_INDEX = OFF, STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE = OFF, IGNORE_DUP_KEY = OFF, ALLOW_ROW_LOCKS = ON, ALLOW_PAGE_LOCKS = ON) ON [PRIMARY]
) ON [PRIMARY] TEXTIMAGE_ON [PRIMARY]

GO

SET ANSI_PADDING OFF
GO

EXEC sys.sp_addextendedproperty @name=N'MS_Description', @value=N'This table holds all the exceptions. 
ErrorData = when error happened
,[ErrorShortDescription] == short desc about the error entered by the developers
      ,[FileName] = file where error happened full path
      ,[LineNumber] = line number where code failed
      ,[MethodName] = method name where exception happened
      ,[ClassName] = class where exception happened
      ,[ImpactLevel] = high, medium, low
      ,[ApplicationName] = name of the application where error came from
      ,[ErrorMessage] = exception error messge
      ,[StackTrace] = C# stack trace
      ,[InnerException] = inner exception of strack trace
      ,[InnerExceptionMessage] = inner message
      ,[IpAddress]
      ,[IsProduction]' , @level0type=N'SCHEMA',@level0name=N'dbo', @level1type=N'TABLE',@level1name=N'Log'
GO

Impact Level is basically Enum

 public enum ImpactLevel
    {
        High = 0,
        Medium = 1,
        Low = 2,
    }

You can use it as following

try
{


}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    //this will save the exception details and mark exception as low priority
    ex.Save();
}


try
{


}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    //this will save the exception details with  priority you define: High, Medium,Low
    ex.Save(ImpactLevel.Medium);
}

try
{


}
catch(Exception ex)
{
    //this will save the exception details with  priority you define: High, Medium,Low
    ex.Save(ImpactLevel.Medium, "You can enter an details you want here ");
}