Print formatted message — log_message • thisutils

Integrate the message printing function with the cli package, and the base::message function. The message could be suppressed by base::suppressMessages.

Usage

log_message(
  ...,
  verbose = TRUE,
  message_type = c("info", "success", "warning", "error"),
  cli_model = TRUE,
  level = 1,
  symbol = "  ",
  text_color = NULL,
  back_color = NULL,
  text_style = NULL,
  multiline_indent = FALSE,
  timestamp = TRUE,
  timestamp_format = paste0("[", format(Sys.time(), "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"), "] "),
  timestamp_style = TRUE,
  .envir = parent.frame(),
  .frame = .envir
)

Arguments

...: The message to print.
verbose: Whether to print the message. Default is TRUE.
message_type: Type of message. Could be choose one of info, success, warning, and error. Default is info.
cli_model: Whether to use the cli package to print the message. Default is TRUE.
level: The level of the message, which affects the indentation. Level 1 has no indentation, higher levels add more indentation. Default is 1.
symbol: The symbol used for indentation. When specified, it ignores the level parameter and uses the symbol directly. Default is " " (two spaces).
text_color: Color for the message text. Supports R color names (e.g., "orange"), hexadecimal colors (e.g., "#000000"), basic colors: "red", "green", "blue", "yellow", "magenta", "cyan", "white", "black", "grey", "silver", "none", and bright colors: "br_red", "br_green", "br_blue", "br_yellow", "br_magenta", "br_cyan", "br_white", "br_black". Default is NULL.
back_color: Background color for the message text. Details see parameter text_color. Default is NULL.
text_style: Text styles to apply. Can be one or more of: "bold", "italic", "underline", "strikethrough", "dim", "inverse". Multiple styles can be combined (e.g., c("bold", "underline")). Default is NULL.
multiline_indent: Whether to apply consistent formatting (timestamp and indentation) to each line in multiline messages. When TRUE, each line gets the full formatting; when FALSE, only the first line gets the timestamp. Default is FALSE.
timestamp: Whether to show the current time in the message. Default is TRUE.
timestamp_format: Format string for timestamp display. Default is "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S".
timestamp_style: Whether to apply the same text styling to the timestamp as the message text. When TRUE, timestamp formatting matches the message; when FALSE, timestamp keeps its default appearance. Default is TRUE.
.envir: The environment to evaluate calls in. Default is parent.frame().
.frame: The frame to use for error reporting. Default is .envir.

Value

Formated message.

References

https://cli.r-lib.org/articles/index.html

Examples

# basic usage
log_message("Hello, ", "world!")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Hello, world!

log_message("hello, world!")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Hello, world!

log_message("Hello, world!", timestamp = FALSE)
#> ℹ Hello, world!

log_message(
  "Hello, ", "world!",
  message_type = "success"
)
#> ✔ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Hello, world!

log_message(
  "Hello, world!",
  message_type = "warning"
)
#> ! [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Hello, world!

log_message(
  "Hello, ", "world!",
  cli_model = FALSE
)
#> Hello, world!


# suppress messages
suppressMessages(log_message("Hello, world!"))
log_message("Hello, world!", verbose = FALSE)
options(log_message.verbose = FALSE)
log_message("Hello, world!")

# for global verbose option
options(log_message.verbose = TRUE)
log_message("Hello, world!", verbose = FALSE)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Hello, world!
options(log_message.verbose = NULL)


# cli inline markup
log_message("{.arg abc} is a argument")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `abc` is a argument

## 'message' can not deal with cli inline markup
message("hello, {.code world}!")
#> hello, {.code world}!

log_message("{.val list('abc')} is a {.cls {class(list('abc'))}}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] "list('abc')" is a <list>

log_message("{.code lm(y ~ x)} is a code example")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `lm(y ~ x)` is a code example

log_message("{.dt List}list('abc')")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] List: list('abc')

log_message("address: {.email example@example.com}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Address: example@example.com

log_message("{.emph R} is a programming language")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] R is a programming language

log_message("{.envvar R_HOME}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `R_HOME`

log_message("{.file log_message.R} is a file")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] log_message.R is a file

log_message("{.fn lm} is a function")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `lm()` is a function

log_message("{.fun lm} is a function")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `lm()` is a function

log_message("{.help lm} to get help")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] `?lm()` to get help

log_message("... see {.help [{.fun lm}](stats::lm)} to learn more")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] ... see `lm()` (`?stats::lm()`) to learn more

log_message(
  "See the {.href [cli homepage](https://cli.r-lib.org)} for details"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] See the cli homepage (<https://cli.r-lib.org>) for details

log_message("press {.kbd ENTER}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Press [ENTER]

log_message("press {.key ENTER}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Press [ENTER]

log_message("URL: {.url https://cli.r-lib.org}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] URL: <https://cli.r-lib.org>

log_message("Some {.field field}")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] Some field

log_message("{.path /usr/bin/R} is a path")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:52] /usr/bin/R is a path

log_message("{.pkg cli} is a package")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] cli is a package

log_message("{.val object} is a variable")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] "object" is a variable

log_message("{.run Rscript log_message.R} is a runnable file")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] `Rscript log_message.R` is a runnable file

log_message("{.str object} is a string")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] "object" is a string

log_message("{.strong abc} is a strong string")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] abc is a strong string

log_message("{.topic stats::lm} is a topic")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] `?stats::lm` is a topic

log_message("{.vignette cli} is a vignette")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] `vignette(cli)` is a vignette


# set indentation
log_message("Hello, world!", level = 2)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53]   Hello, world!

log_message("Hello, world!", symbol = "->")
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] -> Hello, world!

log_message(
  "Hello, world!",
  symbol = "#####",
  level = 3
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] ############### Hello, world!

# color formatting
log_message(
  "This is a red message",
  text_color = "#ff9900"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] This is a red message

log_message(
  "This is a message with background",
  back_color = "#EE4000"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] This is a message with background

log_message(
  "This is a message with both text and background",
  text_color = "white",
  back_color = "cyan"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] This is a message with both text and background

log_message(
  "This is a message with background",
  back_color = "#EE4000",
  cli_model = FALSE
)
#> This is a message with background

log_message(
  "This is a message with both text and background",
  text_color = "red",
  back_color = "cyan",
  cli_model = FALSE
)
#> This is a message with both text and background

log_message(
  "Hex color with {.arg cli_model = FALSE}",
  text_color = "#FF5733",
  cli_model = FALSE
)
#> Hex color with `cli_model = FALSE`

log_message(
  "Bright red text",
  text_color = "br_red"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Bright red text

log_message(
  "Bright background",
  back_color = "br_yellow"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Bright background

log_message(
  "Combined grey and style",
  text_color = "grey",
  text_style = "bold"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Combined grey and style

# text style formatting
log_message(
  "Bold message",
  text_style = "bold"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Bold message

log_message(
  "Italic message",
  text_style = "italic"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Italic message

log_message(
  "Underlined message",
  text_style = "underline"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Underlined message

log_message(
  "Combined styles",
  text_style = c("bold", "underline")
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Combined styles

log_message(
  "Color and style",
  text_color = "blue",
  text_style = c("bold", "italic")
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Color and style

log_message(
  "Hex color and style",
  text_color = "#FF5733",
  text_style = c("bold", "underline")
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Hex color and style


# multiline message
log_message(
  "Line 1\nLine 2\nLine 3",
  multiline_indent = TRUE,
  text_style = "italic"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Line 1
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Line 2
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Line 3

log_message(
  "Multi-line\ncolored\nmessage",
  text_color = "blue",
  text_style = "italic"
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Multi-line
#> ℹ                       colored
#> ℹ                       message

log_message(
  "Multi-line\ncolored\nmessage",
  text_color = "blue",
  timestamp = FALSE
)
#> ℹ Multi-line
#> ℹ colored
#> ℹ message

# timestamp styling
log_message(
  "Multi-line message\nwith timestamp styling",
  text_color = "red",
  text_style = "bold",
  timestamp_style = TRUE
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Multi-line message
#> ℹ                       with timestamp styling

log_message(
  "Multi-line message\nwithout timestamp styling",
  text_color = "#669999",
  text_style = c("bold", "italic"),
  timestamp_style = FALSE
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] Multi-line message
#> ℹ                       without timestamp styling


# combine cli package and log_message
log_message(
  cli::col_green(
    "I am a green line ",
    cli::col_blue(
      cli::style_underline(
        cli::style_bold("with a blue substring")
      )
    ),
    " that becomes green again!"
  )
)
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] I am a green line with a blue substring that becomes green again!

# cli variables
fun <- function(x = 1) {
  log_message("{.val x}")
  log_message("{.val {x}}")
  log_message("{.val {x + 1}}")
}
fun()
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] "x"
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] 1
#> ℹ [2025-07-25 01:38:53] 2