Structured log using LoggingAppender

[Kamui123]

Hi,

Is it possible to create structured log using LoggingAppender?
I managed to do it using ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender and net.logstash.logback.encoder.LogstashEncoder

<appender name="LOGBOOK" class="ch.qos.logback.core.ConsoleAppender">
    <encoder class="net.logstash.logback.encoder.LogstashEncoder"/>
</appender>

but now instead of logging it to console I would like to use specific named log to separate it from stdout.

<appender name="LOGBOOK" class="com.google.cloud.spring.logging.LoggingAppender">
    <log>logbook</log>
</appender>

This configuration works but logs are not structure. Log json is printed as string.

[losalex]

Thanks @Kamui123 for opening this issue. When you mentioned "Log json is printed as string", can you please share any screenshot how you see it in Log Explorer?

[Kamui123]

Sample entry

[losalex]

Thanks @Kamui123 for sharing the output from Log Explorer. Indeed, looking into code it seems we do not support today structured JSON payload and use ILoggingEvent. getFormattedMessage to retrieve string payload and embed it into a jsonPayload.
It seems that ILoggingEvent does not provide built-in support for JSON either, so the only way to make it work is to try to detect if given message string is actually a valid JSON (thus it could be converted and embedded into jsonPayload). I believe the only way to make it work today is by using LoggingEventEnhancer - this way you can add a custom code to detect if ILoggingEvent message is indeed JSON and if yes, you could replace jsonPayload field for LogEntry currently prepared by calling to LogEntry.Builder.setPayload with Payload.JsonPayload object (you can see tests on how Payload.JsonPayload can be created).

[losalex]

Closing this issue due to staleness and lack of response - feel free to reactivate or comment