Why Android TimingLogger is not able to print logs?

Why Android TimingLogger is not able to print logs?

Android’s TimingLogger is a helpful tool for measuring the performance of your application, especially when dealing with lengthy operations. However, you may encounter situations where the TimingLogger refuses to print logs. This article explores common reasons behind this issue and provides solutions.

Understanding TimingLogger

TimingLogger is designed to track the time taken by various segments of code. It uses a simple API to mark the start and end of operations, enabling you to analyze the time consumed by each section.

Common Reasons for Missing Logs

1. Log Level Configuration

The Android Log system has different log levels: Verbose, Debug, Info, Warn, Error, and Assert. TimingLogger uses the DEBUG log level. If your app’s log level is set to something higher than DEBUG (like INFO, WARN, etc.), TimingLogger logs will be suppressed.

Solution:

Adjust your app’s log level to DEBUG or Verbose to ensure TimingLogger outputs are displayed.

2. Proguard Configuration

Proguard is a tool used to optimize and obfuscate your Android application. If Proguard is misconfigured, it might remove TimingLogger calls from your final APK, resulting in no logs being generated.

Solution:

Add the following line to your Proguard configuration file to prevent Proguard from removing TimingLogger:

-keep class android.util.TimingLogger { *; }

3. Incorrect Usage

Ensure you are using TimingLogger correctly.

Solution:

Review your code and confirm the following:

• You have correctly initialized the TimingLogger object.
• You are calling the addSplit method with appropriate names and data.
• You are calling dumpToLog at the end of the process to print the results.

4. Logcat Buffer Overflow

If your app generates a large number of logs, the Logcat buffer might overflow, causing older logs (including TimingLogger outputs) to be discarded.

Solution:

Increase the Logcat buffer size using the following command in your terminal:

adb shell logcat -G 10m

Example Code

Below is an example demonstrating the basic usage of TimingLogger:

import android.util.TimingLogger;

public class MyActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

  private TimingLogger timingLogger;

  @Override
  protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
    super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);

    // Initialize TimingLogger with a unique tag
    timingLogger = new TimingLogger("MyActivity", "onCreate");

    timingLogger.addSplit("Start");

    // Perform some operations here...

    timingLogger.addSplit("Operation1");
    timingLogger.addSplit("Operation2");

    // Print the results to Logcat
    timingLogger.dumpToLog();
  }
}

// Output in Logcat:
// MyActivity onCreate: 
//      Start:       ms
//      Operation1:   ms
//      Operation2:   ms
//      Total:       ms