Home > Bot Chats

Special Characters In Logs

ChatGPT Prompt

What’s with all the special characters in this log message?
| 2024-12-14T08:34:24.861Z | plugin:obsidian-mkdocs-publisher:202:74 | log | [“\u001b[37m2024-12-14 08:34:24.861\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[91m\u001b[1mFATAL\u001b[22m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\u001b[1m\u001b[37m\tEnveloppe\u001b[39m\u001b[22m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\n\u001b[97m\u001b[101m\u001b[1m ReferenceError \u001b[22m\u001b[49m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m Buffer is not defined\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\nerror stack:\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n • \u001b[33m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\t\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\n\t\u001b[37m\u001b[39m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m\u001b[0m”] |

Response

The special characters in the log message are ANSI escape codes, which are used to add colors, styles, and formatting to terminal output. They are often used in development tools or logging libraries to make logs more readable when viewed in a terminal that supports them. However, if these logs are being output to a file or another environment that doesn’t render these codes, they appear as the raw escape sequences (e.g., \u001b[37m).

What These Codes Represent:

1. \u001b: This represents the escape character (ASCII 27) in Unicode.
2. [37m, [91m, [1m, [22m, etc.: These are control sequences that define specific styles:
   • [37m: Sets the text color to white.
   • [91m: Sets the text color to bright red.
   • [1m: Makes the text bold.
   • [22m: Resets bold formatting.
   • [39m: Resets text color to the default.
   • [0m: Resets all styles (color, bold, etc.).
3. \t, \n: These are tab and newline characters.

---

Example Decoded Log:

When rendered in a terminal, this log would look something like this:

2024-12-14 08:34:24.861    FATAL    Enveloppe  
    ReferenceError: Buffer is not defined  

• FATAL: Likely styled in bold, red.
• Timestamps, text: White or default terminal colors.
• ”ReferenceError”: Styled with a red background and white text.

---

How to Fix or Handle This:

1. Remove ANSI Codes:
   If you don’t want the formatting, you can strip these escape codes. In JavaScript, you can use a regex:

   const strippedLog = log.replace(/\u001b\[\d+m/g, '');  

2. Enable Terminal Rendering:
   If you’re viewing the logs in an environment that supports ANSI codes, ensure it’s set up to render them (e.g., a terminal like bash or zsh).

3. Disable Colored Output:
   Many tools and libraries (e.g., chalk, winston) allow disabling colored output with a configuration option like --no-color.

---

Would you like specific instructions on removing or rendering these codes in your logs?