README

Yii VarDumper

VarDumper enhances functionality of var_dump() and var_export(). It is dealing with recursive references, may highlight syntax and export closures.

Requirements

• PHP 8.0 or higher.

Installation

The package could be installed with Composer:

composer require yiisoft/var-dumper

General usage

Quick debugging

In case you want to echo a string representing variable contents use the following code:

\Yiisoft\VarDumper\VarDumper::dump($variable);

That is useful for quick debugging. By default, it goes deep 10 levels into variable and highlights syntax. You may adjust these settings via second and third argument of the method respectively.

For convenience, you can use the functions:

// Prints variables:
d($variable, /* Further variables to dump. */);
// The same as above
dump($variable, /* Further variables to dump. */);

// Prints variables and terminate the current script:
dd($variable, /* Further variables to dump. */);

Formatting debug string

To get a string representing variable contents, same as above but without echo:

$string = \Yiisoft\VarDumper\VarDumper::create($variable)->asString(10, true);

10 is maximum recursion depth and true is telling dumper to highlight syntax.

Exporting as PHP code

In order to get a valid PHP expression string that can be evaluated by PHP parser, and the evaluation result will give back the variable value, use the following code:

$string = \Yiisoft\VarDumper\VarDumper::create($variable)->export();

It is similar to var_export() but uses short array syntax, handles closures, and serializes objects.

In the above export() will give you nicely formatted code. You can remove formatting by passing false as the first $format argument.

$useVariables argument allows specifying array of variables that will be in use statement for closures. That is especially useful if an object contains callbacks that should get info from upper scope.

$serializeObjects argument when given false allows to force turn off using of serialization for objects so instead closures and reflection API are used the same was as for exporting closures. De-serialization performance is better. Closures are way more readable.

Exporting as JSON string

$string = \Yiisoft\VarDumper\VarDumper::create($variable)->asJson();

It is similar to json_encode() but uses short array syntax, handles closures, and serializes objects.

In the above asJson() will give you nicely formatted code. You can remove formatting by passing false as the first $format argument.

$depth argument allows you to set maximum recursion depth.

Output destination

Choose one of existing classes or create a new one to control the destination where "dumps" will be sent to:

• EchoHandler
  • Uses echo to write to stdout stream.
  • Used by default.
• StreamHandler
  • Uses ext-sockets to sent dumps encoded with json_encode to a UDP socket.
• CompositeHandler
  • Helpful class to sent dumps to multiple handlers in a row, for example EchoHandler and StreamHandler.

Output handlers are set via VarDumper::setDefaultHandler() method.

Limitations

Current limitations are:

• Variables or properties that are anonymous classes or contain anonymous classes are not supported.

Documentation

• Internals

If you need help or have a question, the Yii Forum is a good place for that. You may also check out other Yii Community Resources.

License

The Yii VarDumper is free software. It is released under the terms of the BSD License. Please see LICENSE for more information.

Maintained by Yii Software.

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