var_dump() sucks

gistfile1.md

Better variable dumping for PHP

• debug($variable) prints html and source code friendly variable information
• inspect($variable) returns the variable information as a string

Associative arrays are printed as:

{
  key: 'value'
  'key 2': 'value 2'
}

Numeric arrays:

[
    'value 1',
    'value 2',
    'value 3'
]

Objects:

Name\Space\Foo#0 (
    attribute: 'value',
    *privateAttribute: 'value'
)

The asterisk before privateAttribute signifies that this attribute is private. The #0 after the class signifies the instance of the class, if this instance occurs again, its contents won't be printed to prevent recursion e.g.

$x = new Foo;
$y = new Bar;
$x->self = $x;
$x->other = $y;
$y->self = $y;
$y->other = $x;
debug($x);

Outputs:

Foo#0 (
  self: Foo#0,
  other: Bar#0 (
    self: Bar#0,
    other: Foo#0 
  )
)

Set the max depth to dump only shallow data:

$x = new Foo;
$x->bar = array(1, 2, 3);
$array = array('foo' => $x);
debug($array, 2);

Outputs:

{
    foo: Foo#0: (
        bar: [
            ...
        ]
    )
}

gistfile2.php

<?php

// Outputs debug info for a variable
function debug($var, $maxDepth = 6, $referenceMap = array(), $depth = 1) {
    echo '<pre>' . inspect($var, $maxDepth, $referenceMap, $depth) . '</pre>';
}

// Returns debug info for a variable
function inspect($var, $maxDepth = 6, &$referenceMap = array(), $depth = 1) {
    if (is_array($var)) return inspect_contents($var, $maxDepth, $referenceMap, $depth);
    if (is_object($var)) return inspect_object($var, $maxDepth, $referenceMap, $depth);
    if (is_resource($var)) return 'Resource#(' . get_resource_type($var) . ')';
    return var_export($var, true);
}

// Returns debug info for an object,
// $referenceMap prevents repeated objects from being listed recursively
function inspect_object($obj, $maxDepth = 6, &$referenceMap = array(), $depth = 0) {
    $class = get_class($obj);
    $hash = spl_object_hash($obj);
    $contents = '';

    // We create a sub array for each class
    if (!isset($referenceMap[$class])) $referenceMap[$class] = array();

    // We use the object hash to track each instance of the class
    if (!isset($referenceMap[$class][$hash])) {
        $referenceMap[$class][$hash] = count($referenceMap[$class]);
        $contents = ' ' . inspect_contents($obj, $maxDepth, $referenceMap, $depth);
    }
    return '' . $class . "#". $referenceMap[$class][$hash] . $contents;
}

// Returns debug info for the contents of an object or array
function inspect_contents($var, $maxDepth = 6, &$referenceMap = array(), $depth = 0) {
    if ($maxDepth !== null && $depth >= $maxDepth) {
        $contents = str_repeat('  ', $depth + 1) . '...';
    }
    else {
        $values = array();
        // We show the keys to each value if its not a numeric array
        $showKeys = is_object($var) || is_associative($var);
        foreach ((array) $var as $key => $val) {
            // Addresses PHP's strange behavior for private/protected properties when array casting objs:
            if (is_object($var)) $key = preg_replace('~^\0[^\0]*\0~', '*', $key);

            // Quote the key if it has spaces
            if (strpos($key, ' ') !== false) $key = "'$key'";

            // Forms the output of each value
            $key = $showKeys ? "$key: " : '';
            $indent = str_repeat('  ', $depth + 1);
            $values[] = $indent . $key . inspect($val, $maxDepth, $referenceMap, $depth + 1);
        }
        $contents = implode(",\n", $values);
    }

    // Delimiters are selected by the variable type
    $delimiters = array('[', ']');
    if (is_object($var)) $delimiters = array('(', ')');
    else if (is_associative($var)) $delimiters = array('{', '}');

    return $delimiters[0] . "\n" . $contents . "\n" . str_repeat('  ', $depth) . $delimiters[1];
}

// Returns if an array has numeric keys only
function is_associative($array) {
    return array_keys($array) !== range(0, count($array) - 1);
}