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<source> Element 

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Specifies a trace source that initiates tracing messages.

<source> 
  <listeners>...</listeners>
</source>

Attributes and Elements

The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.

Attributes

Attribute Description

name

Optional attribute.

Specifies the name of the trace source.

switchName

Optional attribute.

Specifies the name of a trace switch instance in the application. If the switch is not identified in a <switches> element, the value specifies the level for the switch.

switchType

Optional attribute.

Specifies the type of the trace switch. If present, the type must be a valid class name and cannot be an empty string.

extraAttribute

Optional attribute.

Specifies the value for a trace source-specific attribute identified by the GetSupportedAttributes method for that trace source.

Child Elements

Element Description

<listeners> Element for <trace>

Contains listeners that collect, store, and route messages.

Parent Elements

Element Description

configuration

The root element in every configuration file used by the common language runtime and .NET Framework applications.

system.diagnostics

Specifies trace listeners that collect, store, and route messages and the level where a trace switch is set.

sources

Contains trace sources that initiate tracing messages.

Remarks

This element can be used in the machine configuration file (Machine.config) and the application configuration file.

Example

The following example shows how to use the <source> element to add the trace source mySource and to set the level for the source switch named sourceSwitch. A console trace listener is added that writes trace information to the console.

<configuration>
  <system.diagnostics>
    <sources>
      <source name="mySource" switchName="sourceSwitch" switchType="System.Diagnostics.SourceSwitch"  >
        <listeners>
          <add name="console" type="System.Diagnostics.ConsoleTraceListener" >
            <filter type="System.Diagnostics.EventTypeFilter" initializeData="Error" />
          </add>
          <remove name="Default" />
        </listeners>
      </source>
    </sources>
        <switches>
           <add name="sourceSwitch" value="Warning" />
        </switches>  
  </system.diagnostics> 
</configuration>

See Also

Reference

Trace and Debug Settings Schema

Concepts

Trace Sources
Trace Switches