Files
tbf/AppDiagnostic.Logging/README.md
T
marekf 8c77df207a <Feat>: Add universal NLog diagnostics and improve AppDiagnostic UI
Cause:

- Live diagnostics required logging from multiple applications without blocking TBF.
- Shared nlog.config files caused configuration conflicts.
- The original viewer lacked configurable colors and practical log controls.
- Inconsistent diagnostic deployment caused log transfer failures and locked shared DLLs during builds.

Solution:

1. Added universal diagnostic transport
   - Added AppDiagnostic.Logging with an NLog target and named-pipe communication.
   - Added background buffering and automatic reconnection.
   - Registered the diagnostic connector programmatically.

2. Separated diagnostic window lifecycle
   - Run AppDiagnostic as an independent process.
   - Activate the existing window on repeated launches.
   - Keep TBF running when the diagnostic window closes.

3. Corrected diagnostic deployment
   - Copy the complete diagnostic output into a dedicated AppDiagnostic subdirectory during build.
   - Overwrite existing deployment files to prevent inconsistent versions.
   - Validate and launch the executable from that subdirectory with an explicit working directory.

4. Improved the log viewer
   - Added configurable substring colors with a palette and live preview.
   - Added text, level and application filters.
   - Added line wrapping, clipboard actions and log export.
   - Added Pause/Resume, Refresh, Clear, auto-scroll and Always on top.
   - Added connection and log counters.
   - Persist color rules between sessions.

5. Removed legacy dependencies
   - Replaced LiveLogCache with structured diagnostic storage.
   - Removed AppDiagnostic dependencies on log4net and SharedComponents.

Validation:

- Confirmed successful log transfer when launching AppDiagnostic from TBF.
2026-09-10 17:45:29 +02:00

995 B

AppDiagnostic.Logging

Reusable NLog target for sending structured diagnostic events from multiple .NET Framework processes to AppDiagnostic.exe through a local named pipe.

Producer integration

Reference this project from the producer application and add the extension and target to its NLog configuration:

<extensions>
  <add assembly="AppDiagnostic.Logging" />
</extensions>

<targets>
  <target name="appDiagnostic"
          xsi:type="AppDiagnostic"
          layout="${message}" />
</targets>

<rules>
  <logger name="*" minlevel="Trace" writeTo="appDiagnostic" />
</rules>

The target writes to a bounded background queue. Producer threads are not blocked while the diagnostic viewer is unavailable. Queued messages are sent after the viewer becomes available; new messages are discarded when the queue limit is reached.

The receiver can read messages with:

DiagnosticLogEntry entry =
    DiagnosticMessageSerializer.ReadFramed(namedPipeServerStream);