`EventLog`

This uses the Windows event log. With this control, we write events to the system log. The event log can be browsed using the Windows operating system.

EventLog can help with debugging on your users' systems—partly because no special software needs to be installed to use the event log.

Example

To get started with the EventLog, open the ToolBox window and double-click on the EventLog item. Next, in Form1_Load, we can write entries to the event log.

Note The Source must always be set. You can set this in the Properties panel if you do not want to assign the property in code.

Tip WriteEntry can be called in a variety of ways. The overloads that have more arguments will cause more data to be stored in the event log.

Also The extra data should be used if it will be useful in diagnosing issues through the event logs.

using System;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form
    {
        public Form1()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void Form1_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            eventLog1.Source = "test";

            eventLog1.WriteEntry("Dot Net Perls article being written.");

            eventLog1.WriteEntry("Please stand by while article continues.",
                EventLogEntryType.Information);

            eventLog1.WriteEntry("This website is being worked on.",
                EventLogEntryType.Warning,
                1000);
        }
    }
}

Discussion

The WriteEvent method requires an EventInstance. With an EventInstance, you need an integer that corresponds to a string in a separate resource file.

Tip The event log can be located by browsing to Control Panel, System and Maintenance, Administrative Tools, View event logs.

The EventLog type can be used to write entries to the system event log. After assigning the Source, you can call WriteEntry (or WriteEvent) to write messages to the system.