Custom Magento Module Log

Written in 2010. It may still be useful, but tools and my own views have probably moved on since.

PHP errors and messages from other modules can clutter up your tail -f when debugging, and sometimes it’s just nice to have separate logs to the main system.

Set up your own log adapter with:

$my_log = Mage::getModel('core/log_adapter', 'my_module.log');

and log away!

$my_log->log($message);

Extra points for wrapping it up in a class:

class Nick_Module_Model_Log {
    protected $\_adapter;

    public \_\_construct() {
        $this->\_adapter = Mage::getModel('core/log_adapter', 'my_module.log');
    }

    // It's public incase we want to use ->debug(), ->info(), and friends
    public function getAdapter() {
        return $this->\_adapter;
    }

    public function log($message) {
        $this->getAdapter()->log($message);
    }
}

$my_log = Mage::getSingleton('nick/log');
$my_log->log("Logging away!");