Ladybug: Simple and Extensible PHP Dumper

Ladybug provides an easy and extensible var_dump/print_r replacement for PHP 5.3+ projects. For example, with this library, the following is possible:

<?php
    $var1 = NULL;
    $var2 = 15;
    $var3 = 15.5;
    $var4 = 'hello world!';
    $var5 = false;

    ladybug_dump($var1, $var2, $var3, $var4, $var5);

As a result:

NULL
int 15
float 15.5
string(12) "hello world!"
bool FALSE

Examples

It is possible to dump any variable, including arrays, objects and resources:

Dumping an array

<?php
    $var = array(1, 2, 3);
    ladybug_dump($var)

Dumping an object

<?php
    $var = new Foo();
    ladybug_dump($var)

Dumping a mysql resultset

<?php
    $connection = mysql_connect('localhost', 'dbuser', 'dbpassword');
    mysql_select_db('dbname', $connection);
    $result = mysql_query('SELECT * FROM user', $connection);

    ladybug_dump($result);

Dumping a GD image

<?php
    $img = imagecreatefrompng(__DIR__ . '/images/ladybug.png');
    ladybug_dump($img);

CLI (Command-line interface) support

$ php examples/array.php

There are more examples in examples directory.

Installation

As easy as download, include the library and use the provided helpers.

<?php
require_once 'lib/Ladybug/Autoloader.php';
Ladybug\Ladybug_Autoloader::register();

ladybug_dump($var1);

If you want to clone the project, you will have to execute git submodule init and git submodule update in order to download the dependencies.

Helpers

The are 5 helpers:

ladybug_dump($var1[, $var2[, ...]]): Dumps one or more variables

ladybug_dump_die($var1[, $var2[, ...]]): Dumps one or more variables and terminates the current script

ladybug_dump_return($format, $var1[, $var2[, ...]]): Dumps one or more variables and returns the dump in any of the following formats:

• yml: Returns the dump in YAML
• json: Returns the dump in JSON
• xml: Returns the dump in XML
• php: Returns the dump in PHP arrays

ladybug_dump_ini([$extension]): Dumps all configuration options

ladybug_dump_ext(): Dumps loaded extensions

There are also some shortcuts in case you are not using this function names:

ld($var1[, $var2[, ...]]): shortcut for ladybug_dump

ldd($var1[, $var2[, ...]]): shortcut for ladybug_dump_die

ldr($format, $var1[, $var2[, ...]]): shortcut for ladybug_return

Customizable

Almost any display option can be easily customizable, using the function ladybug_set($key, $value). Available options and default values:

• array.max_nesting_level = 8
• object.max_nesting_level = 3
• object.show_data = TRUE
• object.show_classinfo = TRUE
• object.show_constants = TRUE
• object.show_methods = TRUE
• object.show_properties = TRUE
• processor.active = TRUE
• bool.html_color = '#008'
• bool.cli_color = 'blue'
• float.html_color = '#800'
• float.cli_color = 'red'
• int.html_color = '#800'
• int.cli_color = 'red'
• string.html_color = '#080'
• string.cli_color = 'green'
• string.show_quotes = TRUE

Extensible

The library is easily extensible by adding new classes in lib/Ladybug/Extension/Object and lib/Ladybug/Extension/Resource directories. These new classes will have to extend from LadybugExtension class.

For example, there is already an extension to dump the rows of a mysql resultset, in lib/Ladybug/Extension/Resource/MysqlResult.php, so once is defined, Ladybug will be able to find it and use its dump method.

If you want to add a new dumper for DateTime object, you should create a new class in lib/Ladybug/Extension/Object/Datetime.php, that will extend from LadybugExtension and will have to provide a public method called dump.

Symfony2 users

Take a look at LadybugBundle