Use logging print the output of pprint

Question:

I want to use pprint’s output to show a complex data structure, but I would like to output it using the logging module rather than stdout.

ds = [{'hello': 'there'}]
logging.debug( pprint.pprint(ds) ) # outputs as STDOUT
Asked By: yee379

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Answers:

Use pprint.pformat to get a string, and then send it to your logging framework.

from pprint import pformat
ds = [{'hello': 'there'}]
logging.debug(pformat(ds))
Answered By: robert

The solution above didn’t quite cut it for me because I’m also using a formatter to add name and levelname when logging. It looks a little untidy:

__main__    : DEBUG   : ['aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa',
'bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb',
'cccccccccccccccccccc',
'dddddddddddddddddddd']
__main__    : DEBUG   : Some other logging text

There may be a more elegant solution, but this:

for line in pprint.pformat(ds).split('n'):
    logging.debug(line)

produces something a little nicer:

__main__    : DEBUG   : ['aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa',
__main__    : DEBUG   :  'bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbb',
__main__    : DEBUG   :  'cccccccccccccccccccc',
__main__    : DEBUG   :  'dddddddddddddddddddd']
__main__    : DEBUG   : Some other logging text
Answered By: Hywel Thomas

An alternative is to use json.dumps with the indent arg. In some cases (depending on logging format, data size, etc) it might give you nicer output.

logging.error('Malformed input data!')
logging.error(pformat(foo))

ERROR:root:Malformed input data!
ERROR:root:{'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 'womp rat', 'd': 'turd sandwich'}

vs.

logging.error('Malformed input data!') 
logging.error(json.dumps(foo, indent=4))

ERROR:root:Malformed input data!
ERROR:root:{
    "a": 1,
    "b": 2,
    "c": "womp rat",
    "d": "turd sandwich"
}
Answered By: Brian Wylie
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