What issues exist with using log4net as a logging framework for ArcGIS Desktop?

Question

While updating some ArcObjects projects to ArcGIS 10, I realized that I don't have a comprehensive logging strategy. Sometimes it's log4net. Sometimes it's System Trace/Debug. Sometimes custom logging. Sometimes all three within in the same project.

log4net certainly seems to be popular. I use it and I have had no trouble with it, but I don't feel like I'm experienced enough with log4net to anticipate possible issues with its use.

This question is for ArcGIS Desktop only: AddIn or COM extensibility. I think the answers to the same question for ArcGIS Server might be different and deserve its own question and its own set of tags.

What issues exist with using log4net as a logging framework for ArcGIS Desktop?

Some related Stackoverflow.com questions:
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/576456/log4net-versus-tracesource

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/98080/what-is-the-best-logging-solution-for-a-c-net-3-5-project

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2410438/log4net-performance

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/126540/what-is-your-net-logging-framework-of-choice

Answer 1

We have used log4net in several non-ESRI projects and a few ArcGIS Server projects and have found that it works quite well in terms of ease-of-use, configurability, and scaleability. I would think that for Desktop projects one issue would be placement/discovery of the configuration file. See Dave Bouwman's blog post on the topic for reference (applies to pre-10 projects). However, with the ArcGIS 10 add-in architecture and the use of well-known folders, I would think that this should no longer be an issue.

Answer 2

Because log4net is a popular logging framework for .Net, you can run into problems if other ArcMap extensions are using the same version or log4net that you are. In that case you can run into some crossed wires in terms of configuration and static methods such as LogManager.Shutdown.