Android Logging using Timber Library

 

Timber  is a logger with a small, extensible API which provides utility on top of Android's normal Log class.

Before the release, we’ll cleanup the log statements by removing them manually (even though logs can be disabled in release build). This tedious process can be avoided easily by using Timber.

Timber provides lots of other options as well. Let’s see how it can be used in our projects to maintain the logs better.

1. Timber

Below are few debug statements printed using default Log class.

int a = 100; Log.e("TAG", String.format("Integer a value is: %d", a));   String name = "Android Codest"; Log.e("TAG", String.format("Find source from: %s", name)); The above same statements can be printed using Timber as below. int a = 100; Timber.d("Integer a value is: %d", a);   String name = "Android Codest"; Timber.d("Find source from: %s", name); You can notice here, the TAG is not passed to Timber as it automatically detects the class in which logs were written. Also String formatted is not used to format the statement as Timber can do it automatically for you. 2. Integrating Timber Now let’s see how to integrate Timber library in your project making it available in every class. 1. Create a new project in Android Studio from File ⇒ New Project  and select Basic Activity from templates. 2. Open build.gradle and add Timber dependency. build.gradle // timber implementation 'com.jakewharton.timber:timber:4.7.1' 3. Timber has to be initialized as soon as app starts. So, Application class  would be best place to do that. Create new class named MyApplication.java and extend  the class from Application.   -> Initialize Timber in onCreate method by planting a new Tree. -> Here Timber.DebugTree() prints logs in debug mode. -> If you want to catch exceptions in release mode, you can create a different Tree and plant it in release mode. This step is completely optional but if you want to send exceptions to a different service, this is the appropriate place to do it. MyApplication.java package com.androidcodest.timber;   import android.app.Application;   import com.androidcodest.timber.log.ReleaseTree; import timber.log.Timber;   public class MyApplication extends Application {     @Override     public void onCreate() {         super.onCreate();           if (BuildConfig.DEBUG) {             Timber.plant(new Timber.DebugTree());         } else {             Timber.plant(new ReleaseTree());         }     } } 4. You can create a custom tree by extending the class from Timber.Tree.  Here is the example of ReleaseTree.java class. ReleaseTree.java package com.androidcodest.timber.log;   import android.util.Log;   import timber.log.Timber;   public class ReleaseTree extends Timber.Tree {     @Override     protected void log(int priority, String tag, String message, Throwable t) {  if (priority == Log.VERBOSE || priority == Log.DEBUG) {             return;         }               } } 4. Finally add MyApplication to your <application> tag in your AndroidManifest.xml AndroidManifest.xml <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"     package="com.androidcodest.timber">       <application         android:name=".MyApplication"         ...>       </application>   </manifest> 5. Now, Timber is ready to use in your app. Below are few examples  of Timber log statements demonstrating different scenarios. MainActivity.java package com.androidcodest.timber;   import android.os.Bundle; import android.support.v7.app.AppCompatActivity; import android.support.v7.widget.Toolbar; import android.widget.Toast;   import butterknife.ButterKnife; import butterknife.OnClick; import butterknife.Unbinder; import timber.log.Timber;   public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {       private Unbinder unbinder;       @Override     protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);         setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);         unbinder = ButterKnife.bind(this);           Toolbar toolbar = findViewById(R.id.toolbar);         setSupportActionBar(toolbar);           // boolean         boolean isWeekend = false;         Timber.d("The boolean value. Is weekend: %b", isWeekend);           // integer         int a = 100;         Timber.d("Integer a value is: %d", a);           // float         float pi = 3.14159f;         Timber.d("Pi value is: %f", pi);     }       @OnClick(R.id.btn_log_string)     void logMessage() {         Timber.d("Hello from Timber!");           showToast();     }       @OnClick(R.id.btn_log_exception)     void logException() {         try {             int a = 10 / 0;             Timber.d("Value of a: %d", a);         } catch (Exception e) {             Timber.e(e);               // or //               Timber.e("Exception in math operation: %s", e.getMessage());         }           showToast();     }       private void showToast() {         Toast.makeText(getApplicationContext(), "Check LogCat for message or error!", Toast.LENGTH_SHORT).show();     }       @Override     protected void onDestroy() {         super.onDestroy();         unbinder.unbind();     } } That's all folks !!