mod: rem zlog dependency; stream line logging structure; do not write ansi control characters when logging to file

README.md

@@ -5,6 +5,26 @@ Standard Library log wrapper. `zlog` provides adjusted `std.log` output and a pr
 > [!caution]
 > Only builds using the zig master version are tested to work.
 
+## Install
+
+Add or update this library as a dependency in your zig project run the following command:
+
+```sh
+zig fetch --save git+https://gitea.yves-biener.de/yves-biener/zlog
+```
+
+Afterwards add the library as a dependendy to any module in your *build.zig*:
+
+```zig
+const ztime_dependency = b.dependency("ztime", .{
+  .target = target,
+  .optimize = optimize,
+  .timestamp = true, // default (only required if non-default value shall be used)
+  .stderr = true, // default (only required if non-default value shall be used)
+  .file = "", // default (only required if non-default value shall be used)
+});
+```
+
 ## Usage
 
 The following snippet shows an example usage of `zlog` to change the default log format and add pretty printing to the user defined types:
@@ -58,6 +78,8 @@ const Struct = struct {
 };
 
 pub fn main() void {
+    // without explict scope (i.e. `.default` scope)
+    std.log.info("Without explicit scope or `.default` scope", .{});
     // initialize zlog with the scope of `main`
     const log = std.log.scoped(.main);
     // NOTE the scope of `default` will result in no scoping being printed in
@@ -75,7 +97,7 @@ pub fn main() void {
     const void_tagged_union: TaggedUnion = .nothing;
     const uniun: Union = .{ .boolean = true };
 
-    // NOTE: Depending on the optimization target some of these log messages
+    // NOTE Depending on the optimization target some of these log messages
     // will not show, which is inline with the behavior of `std.log`.
     log.debug("Debug message {any}", .{int_var});
     log.info("Info message {any}", .{array_var});
@@ -87,6 +109,7 @@ pub fn main() void {
     log.err("Error message {any}", .{tagged_union});
 }
 
+// apply *zlog* logging options to `std` logger
 pub const std_options = zlog.std_options;
 
 const std = @import("std");
@@ -96,60 +119,30 @@ const zlog = @import("zlog");
 This will result in the following output:
 
 ```
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [debug](main): Debug message 42
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [info](main): Info message { 1, 2, 3, 4 }
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [info](main): Info message "This is a test"
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [warning](main): Warning message main.Options = enum {
-	a,
-	b,
-	c,
-} = .a
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [warning](main): Warning message main.TaggedUnion = union(enum) {
-	one: i16,
-	two: u32,
-	three: []const u8,
-	nothing,
-} = .{ .nothing = void }
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [warning](main): Warning message main.Union = union {
-	int: i32,
-	boolean: bool,
-} = @7fffd1c71048
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [error](main): Error message main.Struct = struct {
-	.a = 42,
-	.b = true,
-	.c = []u16: { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 },
-	.d = "string",
-	.e = main.Options = enum {
-		a,
-		b,
-		c,
-	} = .b,
-	.f = main.TaggedUnion = union(enum) {
-		one: i16,
-		two: u32,
-		three: []const u8,
-		nothing,
-	} = .{ .one = -5 },
-}
-[2025-07-17 19:41:43] [error](main): Error message main.TaggedUnion = union(enum) {
-	one: i16,
-	two: u32,
-	three: []const u8,
-	nothing,
-} = .{ .three = "Three" }
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [info] Without explicit scope or `.default` scope
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [debug](main) Debug message 42
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [info](main) Info message { 1, 2, 3, 4 }
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [info](main) Info message "This is a test"
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [warning](main) Warning message .a
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [warning](main) Warning message .{ .nothing = void }
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [warning](main) Warning message .{ ... }
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [error](main) Error message .{ .a = 42, .b = true, .c = { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 }, .d = { 115, 116, 114, 105, 110, 103 }, .e = .b, .f = .{ .one = -5 } }
+2025/11/02 11:57:29 [error](main) Error message .{ .three = { 84, 104, 114, 101, 101 } }
 ```
 
 ## Customization
 
 For more details about the output customization see the configuration options of the `zlog` module. Following options are available:
 
-- *timestamp* (default: `true`): Prepend the current timestamp before each log message.
+- *timestamp* (default: `true`): Prepend the current timestamp before each log message. If disabled the date and time (i.e. `2025/11/02 11:57:29 `) are not prepended to each log message.
 - *stderr* (default: `true`): Print log messages to stderr.
-- *file* (default: `""`): File path to log messages to. Without a path no log file will be created and logged to. Can be used in parallel with the *stderr* option
+- *file* (default: `""`): File path to log (appending; creates if does not exist) messages to. Without a path no log file will be created and logged to. Can be used in parallel with the *stderr* option.
 
-## Tips
+---
 
-The following list shows some tips on how to use logging more effectively. These tips do not apply just to `zlog` (and not even only to zig code).
+> [!tip]
+> The following list shows some tips on how to use logging more effectively.
+> These tips do not apply just to `zlog` (and not even only to zig code).
 
 - Use `errdefer` to directly print messages on failures in the same function they occur:
   ```zig
@@ -162,4 +155,4 @@ The following list shows some tips on how to use logging more effectively. These
     break :port try fmt.parseInt(u16, buf[0 .. len -| 1], 10);
   };
   ```
-- When looking through the output of the log (i.e. written to disk by `program 2> log` when using the _stderr_ build option) the `log` file contains control code characters (*ansi*) for the colored outputs. You can still see them correctly with the following command `less -R log`.
+- When looking through the output of the log (i.e. written to disk by `program 2> log` when using the *stderr* build option) the `log` file contains control code characters (*ansi*) for the colored outputs. You can still see them correctly with the following command `less -R log`. When using the *file* build option the *ansi* control characters are not omitted when logging to the file.