NLog time formatting

Question

How do I write a layout for NLog that outputs time with milliseconds like this 11:32:08:123? I use ${date:format=yyyy-MM-dd HH\:mm\:ss} but I need more time precision in my logs.

Solution 1

${date:format=yyyy-MM-dd HH\:mm\:ss.fff}

According to the NLog documentation, you can use C# DateTime format string.

This is a pretty good reference for DateTime format strings: http://www.geekzilla.co.uk/View00FF7904-B510-468C-A2C8-F859AA20581F.htm

Solution 2

${longdate}

Another alternative to the format suggested by harriyott is to use the ${longdate} renderer. It should automatically give you the precision you need.

Solution 3

Another alternative solution is to use the ISO 8601 format '1998-02-23T14:23:05.555'. This format is independet of the languange of the sql server.

${date:format=yyyy-MM-ddTHH\:mm\:ss.fff}

Comments

[Nick]

${longdate} works great, but be aware that you must define the database column as datetime2 rather than datetime or NLog will throw an exception when you try to store the longdate value.