MVC3 best way to log request

Question

I want to keep a log of all the requests to my MVC 3 app, including requested URL, user's ip adress, user agent, etc. Where is the best place to do this,

1) use a base controller?

2) use an action filter?

3) others?

Answer 1

I do this inside my BaseController. Something like this:

protected override void OnActionExecuted(ActionExecutedContext filterContext)
{
    // If in Debug mode...
    if (filterContext.HttpContext.IsDebuggingEnabled)
    {
        var message = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                    "Leaving {0}.{1} => {2}",
                                    filterContext.Controller.GetType().Name,
                                    filterContext.ActionDescriptor.ActionName.Trim(),
                                    filterContext.Result);
        Logger.Debug(message);
    }

    // Logs error no matter what
    if (filterContext.Exception != null)
    {
        var message = string.Format(CultureInfo.InvariantCulture,
                                    "Exception occured {0}.{1} => {2}",
                                    filterContext.Controller.GetType().Name,
                                    filterContext.ActionDescriptor.ActionName.Trim(),
                                    filterContext.Exception.Message);
         Logger.Error(message);
     }

     base.OnActionExecuted(filterContext);
}

Hope you get the idea.

You can also log before the action is executed using:

protected override void OnActionExecuting(ActionExecutingContext filterContext)

Answer 2

An HttpModule seems like the best fit, if you ask me.

All of the data you're talking about logging is available well before any particular Controller gets invoked. So if you do logging outside of the controller, then you get to capture even those requests which are not to valid controller actions. And there's no need to clutter your controller code with something that's really a cross-cutting concern.