Learning Python Network Programming

Engaging with E-mails

Sending e-mails via the logging module

In any modern programming language, the logging facilities are provided with
common features. Similarly, Python's logging module is very rich in features and
flexibilities. We can use the different types of log handlers with the logging module,
such as the console or the file logging handler. One way in which you can maximize
your logging benefits is by e-mailing the log messages to the user just as the log
is being produced. Python's logging module provides a type of handler called
BufferingHandler, which is capable of buffering the log data.

An example of extending BufferingHandler has been displayed later. A child class
called BufferingSMTPHandler is defined by BufferingHandler. In this example,
an instance of the logger object is created by using the logging module. Then, an
instance of BufferingSMTPHandler is tied to this logger object. The logging level is
set to DEBUG so that it can log any message. A sample list of four words has been
used for creating the four log entries. Each log entry should resemble the following:

import logging.handlers

import getpass

MAILHOST = 'localhost'

FROM = 'you@yourdomain'

TO = ['%s@localhost' %getpass.getuser()]

SUBJECT = 'Test Logging email from Python logging module

(buffering)'

class BufferingSMTPHandler(logging.handlers.BufferingHandler):

def __init__(self, mailhost, fromaddr, toaddrs, subject,

capacity):

logging.handlers.BufferingHandler.__init__(self, capacity)

self.mailhost = mailhost

self.mailport = None

self.fromaddr = fromaddr

self.toaddrs = toaddrs

self.subject = subject