Question

The following code:

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    TraceSource ts = new TraceSource("MyApplication");

    ts.Switch = new SourceSwitch("MySwitch");
    ts.Switch.Level = SourceLevels.All;

    ts.Listeners.Add(new TextWriterTraceListener(Console.Out));

    ts.TraceInformation("Hello World");
    Console.ReadKey();
}

generates the following output:

MyApplication Information: 0 : Hello World

The part “MyApplication Information: 0 :” at the beginning of the trace output is coming from the TraceSource class itself.

However, I need to have a timestamp at the beginning of the line and I would like to change “Information” to “Info” also.

Is there any way to get more freedom in trace output such that I can configure it to be like:

13:03:00 – MyApplication Info: Hello World

I tried for a couple of hours, but with no success. Whatever I do, at the beginning of the output line, there is always this constant predefined “MyApplication Information: 0 : Hello World” output.

MSDN documentation did also not reveal any helpful information.

Answer 1

Set the TraceOutputOptions property on the trace listener. The format is predefined, but you can opt-in for the additional pieces of data defined by the TraceOptions enum.