Added design and initial project documentation

.Lumberjack.UserState/debug.lvprojstate

@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+<Configuration>
+  <Target name="My Computer">
+    <EnableDebuggingForAllVIs>0</EnableDebuggingForAllVIs>
+  </Target>
+</Configuration>

.gitattributes

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+# Normalize line endings for text files; binaries are marked explicitly below.
+* text=auto
+
+# --- LabVIEW source files ---
+# These are binary, or XML that must NOT be auto-merged (git merges corrupt
+# them). Use NI LVCompare / LVMerge to diff and merge visually.
+*.vi      binary
+*.vit     binary
+*.vim     binary
+*.ctl     binary
+*.ctt     binary
+*.llb     binary
+*.lvclass binary
+*.lvlib   binary
+*.lvproj  binary
+*.lvlibp  binary
+*.mnu     binary
+
+# --- Documentation and diagram artifacts ---
+*.docx    binary
+*.pdf     binary
+*.png     binary
+
+# --- Text sources ---
+*.md      text eol=lf
+*.json    text eol=lf

.gitignore

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-# Libraries
-*.lvlibp
-*.llb
+# --- LabVIEW ---
+# Object cache and per-user settings (regenerable)
+.cache/
+*.aliases
+*.lvlps
 
-# Shared objects (inc. Windows DLLs)
-*.dll
-*.so
-*.so.*
-*.dylib
+# --- Build outputs (regenerable, not committed) ---
+/builds/
+*.lvlibp        # Packed Project Library (output of Build PPL)
+*.vip           # VI Package (output of Package)
 
-# Executables
-*.exe
+# --- OS / editor cruft ---
+.DS_Store
+Thumbs.db
+desktop.ini
+*~
+*.tmp
+*.zip
 
-# Metadata
-*.aliases
-*.lvlps
-.cache/
+# --- Rendered docs are artifacts of the Markdown sources ---
+# Uncomment if you prefer to regenerate rather than commit them:
+docs/*.docx
+docs/*.pdf

LICENSE

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 BSD 3-Clause License
 
-Copyright (c) 2023, Field R&D Services
+Copyright (c) 2026, Field R&D Services
 
 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

Lumberjack.lvproj

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+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+<Project Type="Project" LVVersion="26008000">
+	<Property Name="NI.LV.All.SaveVersion" Type="Str">26.0</Property>
+	<Property Name="NI.LV.All.SourceOnly" Type="Bool">true</Property>
+	<Item Name="My Computer" Type="My Computer">
+		<Property Name="server.app.propertiesEnabled" Type="Bool">true</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.control.propertiesEnabled" Type="Bool">true</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.tcp.enabled" Type="Bool">false</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.tcp.port" Type="Int">0</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.tcp.serviceName" Type="Str">My Computer/VI Server</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.tcp.serviceName.default" Type="Str">My Computer/VI Server</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.vi.callsEnabled" Type="Bool">true</Property>
+		<Property Name="server.vi.propertiesEnabled" Type="Bool">true</Property>
+		<Property Name="specify.custom.address" Type="Bool">false</Property>
+		<Item Name="Dependencies" Type="Dependencies"/>
+		<Item Name="Build Specifications" Type="Build"/>
+	</Item>
+</Project>

README.md

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+# Lumberjack
+
+An Actor Framework logging library for LabVIEW: a log4j-style logger with
+severity levels, pluggable appenders, per-appender filtering and routing, and
+non-blocking asynchronous delivery. It is a redesign of the earlier singleton
+"Logger" library on top of the NI Actor Framework.
+
+**Status:** design complete; implementation in progress (see the build
+checklist).
+
+## Requirements
+
+- LabVIEW 2014 or newer (native JSON and the Actor Framework).
+- NI Actor Framework (the only runtime dependency).
+- Caraya, for the test suite only (not required at runtime).
+
+## What it does
+
+- Six severity levels (Fatal, Error, Warn, Info, Debug, Trace) with a global
+  threshold and per-appender thresholds.
+- Appenders are independent actors: file (rolling, retained), console, and a
+  relay that hands statements back to your application.
+- Two-stage filtering: a coarse global gate on the caller side, then an
+  authoritative per-appender threshold and selection filter (mirror, or routed
+  by level range and hierarchical source tag).
+- Non-blocking delivery with optional bounded queues and drop policies.
+- Singleton by default (log from anywhere with no handle) with an optional
+  instance API.
+
+## Quick start
+
+Singleton style, three nodes:
+
+1. `Initialize` at application start.
+2. `Info`, `Error`, etc. anywhere, with a message string. No handle needed.
+3. `Shutdown` at exit to flush and close.
+
+@TODO - Include a VI snippet/PNG when available
+
+See the API and Usage Guide for configuration, appenders, routing, and the
+instance API.
+
+## Repository layout
+
+```
+src/         the Lumberjack.lvlib and all classes, types, and support VIs
+docs/        specification and guides (Markdown source; .docx are rendered)
+examples/    runnable usage examples
+tests/       Caraya unit and integration tests
+scripts/     build, package, and test runners
+configs/     VI Package build spec
+```
+
+The full layout, element-to-path mapping, and packaging notes are in the Design
+Document, section 8.
+
+## Documentation
+
+Markdown is the source of truth; the `.docx` files are rendered from it.
+
+- Requirements:
+  [`docs/Lumberjack-Requirements.md`](docs/Lumberjack-Requirements.md)
+- Design: [`docs/Lumberjack-Design.md`](docs/Lumberjack-Design.md)
+- API and usage: [`docs/Lumberjack-API-Guide.md`](docs/Lumberjack-API-Guide.md)
+- Message and class reference:
+  [`docs/Lumberjack-Class-Reference.md`](docs/Lumberjack-Class-Reference.md)
+- Test strategy:
+  [`docs/Lumberjack-Test-Strategy.md`](docs/Lumberjack-Test-Strategy.md)
+- Build checklist:
+  [`docs/Lumberjack-Build-Checklist.md`](docs/Lumberjack-Build-Checklist.md)
+
+## Building and testing
+
+- Build the packed library with `scripts/Build PPL.vi`, the VI Package with
+  `scripts/Package.vi`, and a source distribution with `scripts/Build.vi`.
+- Run the test suite with `scripts/Test.vi` (Caraya). Unit tests cover the pure
+  VIs; integration tests use a relay-queue capture probe.
+
+## Working with the source in git
+
+LabVIEW files are marked binary in `.gitattributes` because git cannot safely
+merge them. Use NI **LVCompare** and **LVMerge** to diff and merge VIs and
+classes visually. Build outputs (`.lvlibp`, `.vip`) and LabVIEW caches are
+ignored; see `.gitignore`.
+
+## License
+
+3-clause BSD. See [`docs/LICENSE.txt`](docs/LICENSE.txt). Change history is in
+[`docs/CHANGELOG.md`](docs/CHANGELOG.md).