Handy Python logging initialization function that sets up logging to screen and to a file

init_logging.py

def init_logging(verbose=False, log_file=None):
    logger = logging.getLogger()
    logger.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
    
    if verbose:
        level = logging.DEBUG
    else:
        level = logging.INFO

    # Start up console handler
    console = logging.StreamHandler()
    console.setLevel(level)
    console.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(fmt=SCREEN_FORMAT))

    logger.addHandler(console)
    
    # Log to a file if the option is supplied
    if log_file:
        log_dir = os.path.dirname(log_file)
        if len(log_dir) > 0 and not os.path.exists(log_dir):
            os.makedirs(os.path.dirname(log_file))
        
        logger = logging.getLogger()
        fileout = logging.FileHandler(log_file, "w")
        fileout.setLevel(logging.DEBUG)
        fileout.setFormatter(logging.Formatter(fmt=LOG_FORMAT))
        logger.addHandler(fileout)