Debug function for any php project. Works fine with ajax debug, remote user debug. tail -f for log view.

dumping.php

<?php
/**
* Include this file in the starting point of application
* change error log location
* Usage: dumppp($test);
*/

// normal dump won't work correctly on cyclic objects
include_once('TVarDumper.php');
// set error log file, if not set properly, change this with your own location
ini_set("error_log", "c:\wamp64\logs\php_error.log");

// switch to show or hide errors, by default you show all errors to debug
$show_errors = true;
if ($show_errors) {
    ini_set("log_errors", 1);
    error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set('display_errors', 1);
} else {
    ini_set("log_errors", 0);
    error_reporting(E_ERROR);
    ini_set("display_errors", 0);
}

// this is the testing function
function dumppp($any_mixed)
{
    error_log(TVarDumper::dump($any_mixed));
}

TVarDumper.php

<?php
/**
 * TVarDumper class file
 *
 * @author Qiang Xue <[email protected]>
 * @link http://www.pradosoft.com/
 * @copyright Copyright &copy; 2005-2013 PradoSoft
 * @license http://www.pradosoft.com/license/
 * @version $Id$
 * @package System.Util
 */

/**
 * TVarDumper class.
 *
 * TVarDumper is intended to replace the buggy PHP function var_dump and print_r.
 * It can correctly identify the recursively referenced objects in a complex
 * object structure. It also has a recursive depth control to avoid indefinite
 * recursive display of some peculiar variables.
 *
 * TVarDumper can be used as follows,
 * <code>
 *   echo TVarDumper::dump($var);
 * </code>
 *
 * @author Qiang Xue <[email protected]>
 * @version $Id$
 * @package System.Util
 * @since 3.0
 */
class TVarDumper
{
	private static $_objects;
	private static $_output;
	private static $_depth;

	/**
	 * Converts a variable into a string representation.
	 * This method achieves the similar functionality as var_dump and print_r
	 * but is more robust when handling complex objects such as PRADO controls.
	 * @param mixed variable to be dumped
	 * @param integer maximum depth that the dumper should go into the variable. Defaults to 10.
	 * @return string the string representation of the variable
	 */
	public static function dump($var,$depth=10,$highlight=false)
	{
		self::$_output='';
		self::$_objects=array();
		self::$_depth=$depth;
		self::dumpInternal($var,0);
		if($highlight)
		{
			$result=highlight_string("<?php\n".self::$_output,true);
			return preg_replace('/&lt;\\?php<br \\/>/','',$result,1);
		}
		else
			return self::$_output;
	}

	private static function dumpInternal($var,$level)
	{
		switch(gettype($var))
		{
			case 'boolean':
				self::$_output.=$var?'true':'false';
				break;
			case 'integer':
				self::$_output.="$var";
				break;
			case 'double':
				self::$_output.="$var";
				break;
			case 'string':
				self::$_output.="'$var'";
				break;
			case 'resource':
				self::$_output.='{resource}';
				break;
			case 'NULL':
				self::$_output.="null";
				break;
			case 'unknown type':
				self::$_output.='{unknown}';
				break;
			case 'array':
				if(self::$_depth<=$level)
					self::$_output.='array(...)';
				else if(empty($var))
					self::$_output.='array()';
				else
				{
					$keys=array_keys($var);
					$spaces=str_repeat(' ',$level*4);
					self::$_output.="array\n".$spaces.'(';
					foreach($keys as $key)
					{
						self::$_output.="\n".$spaces."    [$key] => ";
						self::$_output.=self::dumpInternal($var[$key],$level+1);
					}
					self::$_output.="\n".$spaces.')';
				}
				break;
			case 'object':
				if(($id=array_search($var,self::$_objects,true))!==false)
					self::$_output.=get_class($var).'#'.($id+1).'(...)';
				else if(self::$_depth<=$level)
					self::$_output.=get_class($var).'(...)';
				else
				{
					$id=array_push(self::$_objects,$var);
					$className=get_class($var);
					$members=(array)$var;
					$keys=array_keys($members);
					$spaces=str_repeat(' ',$level*4);
					self::$_output.="$className#$id\n".$spaces.'(';
					foreach($keys as $key)
					{
						$keyDisplay=strtr(trim($key),array("\0"=>':'));
						self::$_output.="\n".$spaces."    [$keyDisplay] => ";
						self::$_output.=self::dumpInternal($members[$key],$level+1);
					}
					self::$_output.="\n".$spaces.')';
				}
				break;
		}
	}
}