Serilog GUI for desktop

Question

Serilog is a logging library that has Sinks (adapters) to many log viewing/analysis services (like Glimpse or Loggly). That is cool but all of them require browser to see the logs.

Is there a ready GUI control for desktop applications (using winforms, WPF, etc..) for log entries that works with serilog?

P.S. We can take IObservable serilog Sink and create our own "LogGrid" but we would prefer to not to reinvent a bicycle.

Answer 1

It depends on where you log the messages from Serilog. You can log to numerous "sinks" so most GUI tools will depend on what sink you are using. The list of provided sinks for Serilog is here: https://github.com/serilog/serilog/wiki/Provided-Sinks

Some options include:

Log Parser

If you are using some file-based sinks, then you can use the Microsoft Log Parser available here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=24659

From the site:

Log Parser 2.2 is a powerful, versatile tool that provides universal query access to text-based data such as log files, XML files and CSV files, as well as key data sources on the Windows operating system such as the Event Log, the Registry, the file system, and Active Directory.

Log Parser Lizard GUI

If you want a shiny UI to search the log files using log parser, check out Log Parser Lizard GUI here: http://lizard-labs.com/log_parser_lizard.aspx

From the site:

Log Parser Lizard is a GUI for Microsoft Logparser, definitely the best one available on the market today. Log Parser is a very powerful and versatile query software tool that provides universal query access (using SQL) to text-based data, such as log files, XML files, and TSV/CSV text files, as well as key data sources on the Microsoft Windows operating system, such as the Windows Event Log, IIS log, the registry, the File System, the Active Directory services and much more.

Seq

This does NOT meet your "non-browser based UI" requirement, however Seq does a great job of providing a web-based interface to search and analyze logs with built-in support for Serilog. It is available here: https://getseq.net/

From the site:

Seq is the easiest way for .NET developers to capture, search and integrate structured log events. Compared with traditional plain-text logs, structured logs cut through the complexity of distributed and asynchronous applications.

Answer 2

Have a look at https://github.com/RolandPheasant/TailBlazer to see how Roland did it.