I'm finding an increasing need for an in-file memory log: specifically when my program asserts I want to see where it has been. There are two problems with normal logging, i.e. appending to a disk file: * The files get very, very big (I've filled my home partition before) * All that writing to disk slows the application down noticeably. I checked log4cpp and John Torjo's logging library and neither seem to offer this, but it seems it could fit as one of the logging targets. I had in mind an object that is a wrapper for e.g. a 1Mb char buffer with the same interface as std::ostream, so I can just write: log_buffer<<"In func1, x="<<x<<", obj="<<obj<<"\n"; And then when my program asserts I can pass log_buffer as a parameter to be output (requires it to have operator<< defined): SMART_ASSERT(y!=1)(y)(log_buffer); Does anyone know of anything along these lines? Does anyone have the same need, or just me? I found some circular buffers that nearly do what I want [1] [2] [3], but they are lower-level as they don't offer the ostream interface. (In my case I don't need thread-safety.) Darren [1]: http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/Cpp/cpp_mfc/arrays/article.php/c4013/ [2]: http://www.codeguru.com/Cpp/Cpp/cpp_mfc/buffers/article.php/c859/ [3]: Thread-safe circular queue, CUJ, June 2004.