Suggestion: Allow for a cleaner way to selectively shortcut loggings

[aanndryyyy]

Background information: I am using Simple History as a logging framework where I want to disable all built-in logging functionality. I have also set the logging database to never purge (days = 0) and disabled the manual clearing button.

Currently the filters for simple_history/log/do_log are returning after each apply_filters() call. I propose to make it return only at the end, so instead of this:

add_filter( 'simple_history/log/do_log', 'my_big_function_to_filter_loggers' );

it would be possible to do this:

add_filter( 'simple_history/log/do_log', '__return_false' ); // Disable all loggers
add_filter( 'simple_history/log/do_log/MyCustomLogger', '__return_true' ); // Allow only my custom logger

resulting in only MyCustomLogger logs being allowed. Or am I missing something and its already possible to do it like this? 🤔

---

Reference to hooks:

WordPress-Simple-History/loggers/class-logger.php

Lines 1065 to 1129 in cd40b93

	/**
	* Filter that makes it possible to shortcut the logging of a message.
	* Return bool false to cancel logging .
	*
	* @since 2.3.1
	*
	* @param bool $doLog Whether to log or not.
	* @param string $level The loglevel.
	* @param string $message The log message.
	* @param array $context The message context.
	* @param Logger $instance Logger instance.
	*/
	$do_log = apply_filters(
	'simple_history/log/do_log',
	true,
	$level,
	$message,
	$context,
	$this
	);
	if ( false === $do_log ) {
	return $this;
	}
	/**
	* Easy shortcut method to disable logging of messages from
	* a specific logger.
	*
	* Example filter name:
	* simple_history/log/do_log/SimpleUserLogger
	* simple_history/log/do_log/SimplePostLogger
	*
	* Example to disable logging of any user login/logout/failed login activity:
	* add_filter('simple_history/log/do_log/SimpleUserLogger', '__return_false')
	*
	* @since 2.nn
	*/
	$do_log = apply_filters(
	"simple_history/log/do_log/{$this->get_slug()}",
	true
	);
	if ( false === $do_log ) {
	return $this;
	}
	/**
	* Easy shortcut method to disable logging of messages from
	* a specific logger and message.
	*
	* Example filter name:
	* simple_history/log/do_log/SimpleUserLogger/user_logged_in
	* simple_history/log/do_log/SimplePostLogger/post_updated
	*
	* @since 2.nn
	*/
	$message_key = $context['_message_key'] ?? null;
	$do_log = apply_filters(
	"simple_history/log/do_log/{$this->get_slug()}/{$message_key}",
	true
	);
	if ( false === $do_log ) {
	return $this;
	}

[aanndryyyy]

It is actually doable with one hook:

add_filter( 'simple_history/core_loggers', '__return_empty_array' );
add_action( 'simple_history/add_custom_logger', '...' );

I guess I was missing something after all 😄

[bonny]

Nice solution! Never though about that but I'm happy you found a way.

[aanndryyyy]

@bonny seems that a PHP error is raised at

WordPress-Simple-History/inc/class-simple-history.php

Line 2644 in cd40b93

$arr_found_additional_ip_headers = $this->instantiated_loggers['SimpleLogger']['instance']->get_event_ip_number_headers( $oneLogRow );

when using this solution:

add_filter( 'simple_history/core_loggers', '__return_empty_array' );
add_action( 'simple_history/add_custom_logger', '...' );

The PHP Error

[18-Jul-2023 11:33:48 UTC] PHP Notice:  Undefined index: SimpleLogger in /wp-content/plugins/simple-history/inc/class-simple-history.php on line 2644
[18-Jul-2023 11:33:48 UTC] PHP Notice:  Trying to access array offset on value of type null in /wp-content/plugins/simple-history/inc/class-simple-history.php on line 2644
[18-Jul-2023 11:33:48 UTC] PHP Fatal error:  Uncaught Error: Call to a member function get_event_ip_number_headers() on null in /wp-content/plugins/simple-history/inc/class-simple-history.php:2644
Stack trace:
#0 /wp-content/plugins/simple-history/inc/class-simple-history.php(683): Simple_History\Simple_History->get_log_row_html_output(Object(stdClass), Array)
#1 /wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(308): Simple_History\Simple_History->api('')
#2 /wp-includes/class-wp-hook.php(332): WP_Hook->apply_filters('', Array)
#3 /wp-includes/plugin.php(517): WP_Hook->do_action(Array)
#4 /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php(188): do_action('wp_ajax_simple_...')
#5 {main in /wp-content/plugins/simple-history/inc/class-simple-history.php on line 2644

error is solved when allowing Simple_Logger to register:

add_filter( 'simple_history/core_loggers', fn() => [
    Loggers\Simple_Logger::class,
]);

The custom logger in this case is a very simple class that has one $this->info_message(). Error is not raised if the logs have been just cleared but immediately appears when adding a new log with the custom logger.

[bonny]

Ah, I never tried the plugin with no core loggers loaded at all. I will make a test and then a fix so I works in this scenario.

[bonny]

@aanndryyyy This will hopefully be fixed in the next version. If you want to test already you can test with the main branch here.

[bonny]

@aanndryyyy Please check if the latest version (4.4.0) of Simple History solved this.