dBug - Examples

How to use
String
Array
Object
Database resource
XML Resource

How to use

Create an instance of the dBug class and pass in the variable for output.

1
2

include_once("dBug.php");
new dBug($myVariable); 

That simple. No need to access specific methods in the class.

NOTE: It's advisable to create a new instance of the dBug class each time you need to dump a variable. This ensures that all the public class variables are reset. This is really helpful especially when you are trying to dump xml variables.

1
2

new dBug($myVariable1);
new dBug($myVariable2); 

String

1
2

$variable = "this is my string";
new dBug($variable); 

Output:

This is my string

Array

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

$variable = array(
    "first"=>"1",
    "second",
    "third"=>array(
        "inner third 1",
        "inner third 2"=>"yeah"),
    "fourth");

new dBug($variable); 

Output:

$variable (array)

first

second

third

array
0	inner third 1
inner third 2	yeah

fourth

Object

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21

class Vegetable {

   var $edible;
   var $color;

   function Vegetable($edible, $color="green") {
       $this->edible = $edible;
       $this->color = $color;
   }

   function is_edible() {
       return $this->edible;
   }

   function what_color() {
       return $this->color;
   }
   
}
$variable=new Vegetable("spinach");
new dBug($variable); 

Output:

$variable (object)
edible	spinach
color	green
vegetable	[function]
is_edible	[function]
what_color	[function]

Database resource

When a database resource is dumped, mouse-overing the column names (example: ID, firstname,...) will display the database column type information in alt tags.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7

$link = mysql_connect('localhost', 'mysql_user', 'mysql_password');
if (!$link)
   die('Could not connect: ' . mysql_error());

mysql_select_db('mydb');
$result = mysql_query('select * from empinfo');
new dBug($result); 

Output:

$result (resource)

mysql result
	ID	firstname	lastname	age	city	state
1	99980	John	Jones	45	Payson	Arizona
2	99982	Mary	Jones	25	Payson	Arizona
3	88232	Eric	Howell	32	San Diego	California
4	88233	Mary Ann	Edwards	32	Phoenix	Arizona

XML Resource

When an xml variable is dumped as is, it is recognized as a string. This is even so with PHP's var_dump. The dBug class has a second optional parameter where you pass in the string "xml".

1
2

$xmlData = "msc/data.xml"; //path to xml file;
new dBug($xmlData, "xml"); 

Output:

$xmlData,"xml" (xml document)

xmlRoot

xml element

xmlName

chapter

xmlAttributes

xmlText

xmlComment

xmlChildren

xml element
xmlName	TITLE
xmlAttributes
xmlText	This is my title
xmlComment
xmlChildren

xml element

xmlName

tgroup

xmlAttributes

array
cols	3

xmlText

xmlComment

Another comment here on second line

xmlChildren

xml element

xmlName

entry

xmlAttributes

array
morerows	1

xmlText

xmlComment

xmlChildren