---
title: SAIF.Framework.Logging overview
summary: High-level purpose, scope, and responsibilities for this library.
status: draft
owner: <owner>
last_reviewed: 2026-07-23
library: SAIF.Framework.Logging
reference_type: package
---

# SAIF.Framework.Logging overview

> **Documentation context:** nuspec-referenced
>
> This library is packaged into `SAIF.BOF.Framework` via the repository-root-relative nuspec glob in `SAIF.Framework.Core/SAIF.BOF.Framework.Core.nuspec`, and is also directly consumed by sibling framework libraries.

SAIF.Framework.Logging is a cross-cutting, application-agnostic logging utility library that provides audit, error, and (deprecated) trace logging concerns for hosting applications, each dispatching to either a local CSV file or a remote SOAP web service (`wsLogging`) depending on the hosting application type.

## Purpose
- Provide reusable audit, error, and trace logging entry points (`clsLogAudit`, `clsLogError`, `clsLogTrace`) so that hosting applications do not need to implement their own logging plumbing.
- Provide secondary/legacy logging utilities: a monthly login-event logger (`clsLoginLog`), an MSMQ queue path-name helper (`clsLoggingQueues`), and a deprecated rolling-file logger (`LogList`) retained for backward compatibility.
- Consumed by hosting applications (web and non-web/batch) across the SAIF.BOF.Framework ecosystem that need best-effort, non-blocking logging of business events, errors, and (historically) trace data*.

## Responsibilities
- Capture ambient logging context (machine name, application name, page name, environment, current username) for each log record via `GetBasic*Info()` helper methods.
- Dispatch log records to exactly one of two sinks per instance: a local CSV file (opened via `ToFile()`) or the remote `wsLogging` SOAP web service (default).
- Suppress noisy, non-actionable ASP.NET ViewState errors before writing (`clsLogError.SuppressLogging()`).
- Optionally notify a recipient by email when an error is logged (`clsLogError.CreateErrorWithEmail`).
- Swallow all logging failures silently so that logging never causes a calling application to fail.
- Resolve an MSMQ queue path-name string from configuration (`clsLoggingQueues`), without performing queue I/O itself.
- Record user login events to a monthly CSV file (`clsLoginLog`).

## Key components
- `clsLogAudit`: Static audit-message logging entry point, opt-in via `IsEnabled` (defaults `False`).
- `clsLogError`: Exception logging entry point, including ViewState-noise suppression and optional email notification.
- `clsLogTrace`: Method-level trace logging entry point — fully disabled and obsolete (see [Architecture](architecture.md#design-constraints)).
- `clsLogCommon`: `Public` shared helper exposing `Public Const` format constants as part of the external surface; its web/non-web context detection, environment/application-name derivation, and related properties/methods are `Friend`-scoped (assembly-internal).
- `clsLoginLog`: Legacy login-event logger writing directly to a monthly CSV file.
- `clsLoggingQueues`: MSMQ queue path-name helper resolved from `ConfigurationManager.AppSettings`.
- `LogList`: Deprecated, independently designed rolling-file logger retained only for backward compatibility.
- `wsLogging.clsWSLogging`: Generated SOAP client proxy used as the remote logging sink.

## Related documentation
- [Index](index.md)
- [Architecture](architecture.md)
- [Dependencies](dependencies.md)
- [Operations and processes](operations-processes.md)
- [Business rules](business-rules.md)
- [Configuration](configuration.md)
- [API reference](api/index.md)

## Sources
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLogAudit.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLogError.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLogTrace.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLogCommon.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLoginLog.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/clsLoggingQueues.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/LogList.vb`
- `SAIF.Framework.Logging/SAIF.BOF.Framework.Logging.vbproj`
- `SAIF.Framework.Core/SAIF.BOF.Framework.Core.nuspec`