How to write an NLog target using Signalr - nlog

Question

I'm trying to write a target for NLog to send messages out to connected clients using SignalR.
Here's what I have now. What I'm wondering is should I be using resolving the ConnectionManager like this -or- somehow obtain a reference to the hub (SignalrTargetHub) and call a SendMessage method on it?
Are there performance ramifications for either?
[Target("Signalr")]
public class SignalrTarget:TargetWithLayout
{
public SignalR.IConnectionManager ConnectionManager { get; set; }
public SignalrTarget()
{
ConnectionManager = AspNetHost.DependencyResolver.Resolve<IConnectionManager>();
}
protected override void Write(NLog.LogEventInfo logEvent)
{
dynamic clients = GetClients();
var logEventObject = new
{
Message = this.Layout.Render(logEvent),
Level = logEvent.Level.Name,
TimeStamp = logEvent.TimeStamp.ToString("yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.fff")
};
clients.onLoggedEvent(logEventObject);
}
private dynamic GetClients()
{
return ConnectionManager.GetClients<SignalrTargetHub>();
}
}

Answer 1

I ended up with the basic the same basic structure that I started with. Just a few tweaks to get the information I needed.
Added exception details.
Html encoded the final message.
[Target("Signalr")]
public class SignalrTarget:TargetWithLayout
{
protected override void Write(NLog.LogEventInfo logEvent)
{
var sb = new System.Text.StringBuilder();
sb.Append(this.Layout.Render(logEvent));
if (logEvent.Exception != null)
sb.AppendLine().Append(logEvent.Exception.ToString());
var message = HttpUtility.HtmlEncode(sb.ToString());
var logEventObject = new
{
Message = message,
Logger = logEvent.LoggerName,
Level = logEvent.Level.Name,
TimeStamp = logEvent.TimeStamp.ToString("HH:mm:ss.fff")
};
GetClients().onLoggedEvent(logEventObject);
}
private dynamic GetClients()
{
return AspNetHost.DependencyResolver.Resolve<IConnectionManager>().GetClients<SignalrTargetHub>();
}
}
In my simple testing it's working well. Still remains to be seen if this adds any significant load when under stress.