Saving Logcat to a text file in Android Device
Use an Application class at the beginning of your app. That allows a proper file and log handling.
Code below creates a log file at the following location:
/ExternalStorage/MyPersonalAppFolder/logs/logcat_XXX.txt
XXX is the current time in milliseconds. Every time you run your app, a new logcat_XXX.txt file will be created.
public class MyPersonalApp extends Application {
/**
* Called when the application is starting, before any activity, service, or receiver objects (excluding content providers) have been created.
*/
public void onCreate() {
super.onCreate();
if ( isExternalStorageWritable() ) {
File appDirectory = new File( Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/MyPersonalAppFolder" );
File logDirectory = new File( appDirectory + "/logs" );
File logFile = new File( logDirectory, "logcat_" + System.currentTimeMillis() + ".txt" );
// create app folder
if ( !appDirectory.exists() ) {
appDirectory.mkdir();
}
// create log folder
if ( !logDirectory.exists() ) {
logDirectory.mkdir();
}
// clear the previous logcat and then write the new one to the file
try {
Process process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("logcat -c");
process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("logcat -f " + logFile);
} catch ( IOException e ) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
} else if ( isExternalStorageReadable() ) {
// only readable
} else {
// not accessible
}
}
/* Checks if external storage is available for read and write */
public boolean isExternalStorageWritable() {
String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
if ( Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals( state ) ) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
/* Checks if external storage is available to at least read */
public boolean isExternalStorageReadable() {
String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
if ( Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals( state ) ||
Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED_READ_ONLY.equals( state ) ) {
return true;
}
return false;
}
}
you need the correct permissions and name of your application class in your .manifest file:
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_LOGS" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />
<application
android:name=".MyPersonalApp"
... >
Edit:
if you want to save log of only some particular activities..
replace:
process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("logcat -f " + logFile);
with:
process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec( "logcat -f " + logFile + " *:S MyActivity:D MyActivity2:D");
adb shell logcat -t 500 > D:\logcat_output.txt
Go onto your terminal/command prompt and navigate to the folder with adb in it, if its not already added to your environmental variables and paste this command.
t is the number lines you need to view
D:\logcat_output.txt is where your logcat will get stored.
Use -f option with logcat in your class:
Runtime.getRuntime().exec("logcat -f" + " /sdcard/Logcat.txt");
This will dump the logs to the file stored device.
Note that the path "/sdcard/" may not be available in all devices. You should use the standard APIs to access the external storage.
As I cannot comment yet, I`ll post this as an answer
I did as @HeisenBerg said, worked fine for me, but since from android 6.0 on we have to ask for permission at Run Time, I had to add the following:
if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
if(checkSelfPermission(android.Manifest.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) != PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{android.Manifest.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE}, 1);
}
}
And call
process = Runtime.getRuntime().exec("logcat -f " + logFile);
Only on the callback onRequestPermissionsResult
Apparently android.permission.READ_LOGS is only granted to system apps in latest versions of Android.