Turn off need to "registerCustomFields" about cf-nodejs-logging-support HOT 3 CLOSED

Please note that unregistered custom fields will not show up in logging messages at all currently. However, we will add a mechanism to log any unregistered custom fields as top-level fields to make them available as non-indexed fields in Kibana.

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As of version 6.1.0 unregistered fields will be added as top-level fields.

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Thanks, for you nice feedback. Let me explain a little bit about the need to register custom fields. You are always welcome to add any fields you like to the structure of the log message. However, declaring a field as a custom field is a feature specifically targeting the SAP Cloud Platform. It tells the Application Logging Service to parse this field (as a string) and provide it as a searchable field to Kibana. This is a decision, that should be taken deliberately, considering the need for each field, since the overall number of custom fields is limited. The registration mechanism in its current form was introduced, to avoid the accidental creation of custom fields. If you create too many custom fields you may find your app blocked from the Application Logging Service. Note, that if you do not register your fields as custom fields, they will still be part of the message in Kibana as top-level fields of the JSON message. The only drawback is, that they are not indexed, so that you cannot build visualisations based on those fields.

With that in mind, I would conclude, that the custom fields mechanism is a very specific feature of this library with respect to the SAP Cloud Platform. It will only be useful to applications, running on that platform. As developers of the Application Logging Service we need to protect our stack against the ingestion of too many custom fields. If we drop the registration in the library, we would need to employ other measures, e.g. registration of custom fields during the bind service operation. But this would mean an even worse experience. If you have other suggestions, please let us know.

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