Serilog.Sinks.RichTextBox.WinForms.Colored

A Serilog sink that writes log events to a WinForms RichTextBox with support for coloring and custom themes.

Features

• Colored log events in a WinForms RichTextBox control
• Dark and Light theme presets with customization options
• Auto-scrolling to latest messages
• Line limiting to control memory usage

Installation

Install the package from NuGet:

Install-Package Serilog.Sinks.RichTextBox.WinForms.Colored

Usage

Basic Setup

Declare your RichTextBox control:

private System.Windows.Forms.RichTextBox richTextBox1;

private void InitializeComponent()
{
    this.richTextBox1.BackColor = System.Drawing.SystemColors.Window;
    this.richTextBox1.Dock = System.Windows.Forms.DockStyle.Fill;
    this.richTextBox1.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("Consolas", 10.8F, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Bold, System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point);
    this.richTextBox1.Location = new System.Drawing.Point(0, 0);
    this.richTextBox1.Name = "richTextBox1";
}

Configure the logger:

Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
    .WriteTo.RichTextBox(richTextBox1)
    .CreateLogger();

Log.Information("Hello, world!");

Advanced Configuration

You can customize the sink using various parameters from the RichTextBox extension method:

Log.Logger = new LoggerConfiguration()
    .WriteTo.RichTextBox(
        richTextBoxControl: richTextBox1,
        minimumLogEventLevel: LogEventLevel.Debug,
        outputTemplate: "[{Timestamp:HH:mm:ss} {Level:u3}] {Message:lj}{NewLine}{Exception}",
        theme: ThemePresets.Light,
        messageBatchSize: 200,
        messagePendingInterval: 16,
        autoScroll: true,
        maxLogLines: 512)
    .CreateLogger();

Themes

Available built-in themes:

Theme	Description
ThemePresets.Dark	A dark theme inspired by modern IDEs and the Serilog Console sink.
ThemePresets.Light	A light theme with vibrant colors and high contrast for optimal readability.
ThemePresets.DarkClassic	A theme replicating the Serilog Console sink.
ThemePresets.LightClassic	A theme with a light background and contrasting colors.

You can customize the themes by creating your own theme instance or modifying the existing ones. The themes support various style tokens for different parts of the log message, including:

• Text colors for different log levels
• Syntax highlighting for strings, numbers, and booleans
• Background colors for error and fatal messages
• Custom styling for null values and invalid content

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is the package name so long?

Shorter alternatives were already reserved in the NuGet registry, so a more descriptive name was needed for this implementation.

Why use a WinForms RichTextBox instead of a WPF RichTextBox?

This sink is designed for WinForms applications to avoid unnecessary dependencies. Using a WPF-based logging component would require adding the entire WPF framework, greatly increasing the size of the application for a small logging feature.

Support and Contribute

If you find value in this project, there are several ways you can contribute:

• Give the project a star on GitHub.
• Support the project through GitHub Sponsors.
• Improve documentation, report bugs, or submit pull requests.

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0.