[TIP / TRICK] viewArray debug function

[mattice]

Fist of all: This is a tip for php coders, not a trick for your shop.

It is only handy if you hack into your osCommerce shop alot.

If not you can stop reading here ;)

 

I found this function in the annotated manual of php.net long time ago,

I do not recall the author but it wasn't me.

What I did do was alter it for php commandline use as well.

 

 

What does this do?

It displays the content of an array in a nice visual format, no matter how many nested arrays there are which is ideal for debugging.

 

So how do I use it?

You add the viewArray code to includes/functions/general.php

on both the admin / catalog side.

Now whenever you are working with arrays (most of the time in osC)

and want to know what they contain at a certain point in your script you can simply call:

 

viewArray($whatever_array);

 

Try it in product_listing.php for instance and be amazed...

 

<?php

///////

// Extremely handy function to view (n-dimentional) arrays



function viewArray($arr) {

       echo '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1">';

  foreach ($arr as $key1 => $elem1) {

       echo '<tr>';

       echo '<td>'.$key1.' </td>';

  if (is_array($elem1)) { extArray($elem1); }

else { echo '<td>'.$elem1.' </td>'; }

       echo '</tr>';

 }

echo '</table>';

}



function extArray($arr) {

               echo '<td>';

               echo '<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" border="1">';

       foreach ($arr as $key => $elem) {

                       echo '<tr>';

                       echo '<td>'.$key.' </td>';

         if (is_array($elem)) { extArray($elem); }

   else { echo '<td>'.htmlspecialchars($elem).' </td>'; }

       echo '</tr>';

  }

echo '</table>';

echo '</td>';

}

 

And my commandline version which you need to include in your

actual commandline script.... Note that this is called c_viewArray as I do

include application_top in my commandline scripts now and then in which case it needs to be called differently.

 

///////////////

// PHP commandline version: 



function c_viewArray($arr) {

  foreach ($arr as $key1 => $elem1) {

       echo "n" . '['.$key1.']--------------------------' . "n";

  if (is_array($elem1)) { c_extArray($elem1); }

else { echo ' -> '.$elem1 . "n"; }

  }

}



function c_extArray($arr) {

       foreach ($arr as $key => $elem) {

                       echo "t" . '['.$key . "]";

         if (is_array($elem)) { c_extArray($elem); }

   else { echo  ' -> '. $elem . "n"; }

   }

}

?>

 

I use this function on a daily basis and thought I'd share it,

as it has been very helpfull to me.

 

Mattice

[jhilgeman]

Not as pretty/visual, but functionally good:

 

<?php

print "<pre>";

print_r($Whatever_Array);

print "</pre>";

?>

[elari]

nice mattice...

but can you make something for me

 

instead of display array in main page, just show a icon_debug_tag and open a new windows to display it using onmouseover or onclick ????

 

it would really help :)))))

[mattice]

nice mattice...

but can you make something for me

 

instead of display array in main page, just show a icon_debug_tag and open a new windows to display it using onmouseover or onclick ????

 

it would really help :)))))

 

You should not ask questions in the Tips & Tricks forum....

 

I'll give you a hint though:

 

try changing all echo in to $output .=

Don't forget to return $output in the first function.

That should work. If not PM / mail me over it.

[elari]

i have made some change and publish it as debug package

 

mainly, instead of displaying data inside the same page, it display only a small icon and when you click on it display value in a popup

 

and in admin you decide to allow or not debug, so no more need to remove the debug line after