tee-logger 6.40

A simple wrapper for python logger that also selectively tee logs to stdout

Tee_Logger

A Python logger that writes to a dated log file and optionally mirrors output to stdout with ANSI colors. Supports in-place compression, automatic log archival, and smart caller line attribution.

Features

• Tee logging — file-only (info, error, …) or stdout+file (teeprint, teeerror, teeok, …)
• Dated layout — {programName}_log/YYYY-MM-DD/{programName}_YYYY-MM-DD_HH-MM-SS.log
• Caller attribution — log lines include abbreviated file:line of the direct caller
• Compression — write .gz/.bz2/.xz/.zst logs directly, or tar.xz archive old day-folders
• Maintenance — auto-compress and delete logs by age on startup

Installation

pip install tee-logger

Optional runtime dependency: python-dateutil (improves log-folder date parsing during cleanup).

Requires Python 3.6+. In-place zstd compression requires Python 3.14+ with zstd support in the build; otherwise it falls back to xz.

Quick start

from Tee_Logger import teeLogger

tl = teeLogger(systemLogFileDir='.', programName='MyApp')
tl.info('file only')
tl.teeprint('stdout and file')
tl.teeerror('error to both')

Compressed logs:

tl = teeLogger(
    programName='MyApp',
    in_place_compression='zstd',  # or 'gzip', 'bz2', 'xz'
    compression_level=3,
)

Disable file logging:

tl = teeLogger(noLog=True)

Configuration

Parameter	Default	Description
systemLogFileDir	'.'	Root directory for log folders; falls back to /tmp on failure
programName	caller file name	Logger name and log file prefix
suppressPrintout	not stdout.isatty()	Hide console output from tee* methods
callerStackDepth	-1	Auto-resolve direct caller; use 0+ for manual stack offset
in_place_compression	None	gzip, bz2, xz/lzma, zstd, or True (xz)
binary_mode	True	Binary append mode for log files
compressLogAfterMonths	2	Archive day-folders older than N months (0 = off)
deleteLogAfterYears	2	Delete day-folders older than N years (0 = off)
noLog	False	Disable file logging
fileDescriptorLength	15	Width of file:line in log records
encoding	'utf-8'	Log file encoding
collapse_single_day_logs	auto	One file per day when compressing in-place

Per-call override: tl.info('msg', callerStackDepth=3).

Log layout

MyApp_log/
├── MyApp_latest.log          # symlink to active log (Unix)
└── 2025-02-10/
    └── MyApp_2025-02-10_01-33-26.log

Log line format:

2025-02-10 01:33:26,623 [INFO    ] [MyApp:42      ] message text

Caller stack depth

With the default callerStackDepth=-1, teeLogger skips its own frames and records the direct caller — your code or your wrapper, not internal Tee_Logger methods.

def my_wrapper(msg):
    tl.info(msg)          # log shows this line

def business():
    my_wrapper('hello')   # log shows my_wrapper, not business

Use a non-negative callerStackDepth or a per-call override for advanced tuning.

Log maintenance

On initialization, cleanup_old_logs() scans {programName}_log/ for YYYY-MM-DD folders:

1. Delete folders older than deleteLogAfterYears
2. Compress folders older than compressLogAfterMonths to .tar.xz

Compression uses system tar+xz when available, otherwise Python's tarfile. Work runs in a background process only when there are eligible folders.

API reference

Full docstrings and examples live in the module:

python -c "import Tee_Logger; help(Tee_Logger.teeLogger)"

Public helpers: abbreviate_filename, pretty_format_table, printWithColor, getCallerInfo, teeLogger.

Testing

Run doctests embedded in the module:

python -m doctest src/Tee_Logger.py -v
python src/Tee_Logger.py --test

Run unit tests:

python -m unittest discover -s tests -v

License

GPL-3.0-or-later