Can I make error msgs appear in the browser window?

[Michael]

Hi,
I've just started with PHP and am picking up my error msgs from the
Apache log file. Is there any way to force the error msgs to appear in
the browser window?

Thanks,
M. McDonnell

[Erwin Moller]

Michael wrote:

Hi,
I've just started with PHP and am picking up my error msgs from the
Apache log file. Is there any way to force the error msgs to appear in
the browser window?
Yes,

During development it is much easier if you just let them appear during
scriptexecution.

You can do this in different ways.
If you have your own server, just edit php.ini, and look for ERROR_REPORTING
in it.
Read what it says before changing.
You probably want E_ALL

If you do not have access to php.ini, you can just start all your scripts
with with this directive by using ini_set().

Look it up here:
http://nl2.php.net/ini_set

Now find the name/value pair, and just set it.

The difference between php.ini and ini_set is that the former sets
directives for ALL PHP scripts on the server, and the latter just sets
something for the duration of your script.

Good luck

Regards,
Erwin Moller
Thanks,
M. McDonnell

[Michael]

Erwin,

Thank you for taking the time to respond with your clear and helpful
response. Used ini_set, and it works fine. Much better than looking at
the error log.

By the way, do you happen to know if there are any useful PHP
IDE/Debuggers out there? ... the type of environment where you can
single step, set breakpoints, inspect variables, etc.?

Thanks again,
M. McDonnell

[Erwin Moller]

Michael wrote:

Erwin,

Thank you for taking the time to respond with your clear and helpful
response. Used ini_set, and it works fine. Much better than looking at
the error log.
Good. :-)

By the way, do you happen to know if there are any useful PHP
IDE/Debuggers out there? ... the type of environment where you can
single step, set breakpoints, inspect variables, etc.?

Yes, just google for them.
I have no advise because I never needed them. As in Never.
And I make my living as PHP developer. :-)

Two things that are extremely helpfull when debugging/coding:
1) Errorreporting on (for all errors and notices and warnings)
That one you have up and running already. :-)
2) Just output your variables to the html.
An extremely usefull function for this is print_r($somevariable)
If you have arrays, no matter how complex, the follwing example will format
them for you:
from html:
<pre>
<? print_r($myComplexArray); ?>
</pre>

If you want to print an object, you can also use print_r().

Really, I never needed a debugger, and I know many others over here do not
use one.
I am not saying they are bad or anything, just that most developers don't
need one (for PHP that is).

Regards,
Erwin Moller
Thanks again,
M. McDonnell

[Kimmo Laine]

"Erwin Moller"
<si******************************************@spam yourself.com> wrote in
message news:43***********************@news.xs4all.nl...

Michael wrote:

Erwin,

Thank you for taking the time to respond with your clear and helpful
response. Used ini_set, and it works fine. Much better than looking at
the error log.

Good. :-)

By the way, do you happen to know if there are any useful PHP
IDE/Debuggers out there? ... the type of environment where you can
single step, set breakpoints, inspect variables, etc.?

Yes, just google for them.
I have no advise because I never needed them. As in Never.
And I make my living as PHP developer. :-)

Two things that are extremely helpfull when debugging/coding:
1) Errorreporting on (for all errors and notices and warnings)
That one you have up and running already. :-)
2) Just output your variables to the html.
An extremely usefull function for this is print_r($somevariable)
If you have arrays, no matter how complex, the follwing example will
format
them for you:
from html:
<pre>
<? print_r($myComplexArray); ?>
</pre>

If you want to print an object, you can also use print_r().

3) Use debug_print_backtrace();. It really helps if you're dealing with
included files, to show where the function or method call really originated.

--
"En ole paha ihminen, mutta omenat ovat elinkeinoni." -Perttu Sirviö
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