Problem with print an array using print_r

By leoman730 on 3 Jul 2007 at 18:36 UTC

Hi guys,

I have a question on the print_r() method. I know that we can used this function to print out an array. My problem is if i got too many elements in the array, the print_r() could not return a nice look print out. For example:
print_r($array) may have result of:

Array ( [514] => stdClass Object ( [cookie_id] => 1 [nid] => 514 [qty] => 2 [changed] => 1183484115 [data] => 7362 [vid] => 514 [pparent] => 0 [sku] => [price] => 342.55 [ptype] => tangible [hide_cart_link] => 0 [stock] => 7 [manage_stock] => 1 [availability] => 1 [original_price] => 527.00 )

but what i want is something looks like this:

Array(
[514] => stdClass Object (
                                   [cookie_id] => 1
                                   [nid] => 514
                                   [qty] => 2...
                      )

[data]=> 7362

...

Anyone have clue how to do it?
Thanks.

Comments

Use pre tag

robmilne commented 3 July 2007 at 20:07

echo '<pre>'; print_r($array); echo '</pre>';

View Source, or dprint_r

mandclu commented 3 July 2007 at 19:07

If you view the source of the page, you should be able to see structured version of the output, which is probably what you want.

If it absolutely has to appear formatted in the standard browser view of the page, you can try a couple of things, like:

<pre>
<?php print_r($array_var); ?>
</pre>

Or, you could use the dprint_r function in the devel module, though that's probably overkill for just the one function. Still, it does a nice job of formatting the output.

And just one more tip... I

rszrama commented 3 July 2007 at 20:43

And just one more tip... I use the following all the time in my modules to debug different parts:

  drupal_set_message('<pre>'. print_r($array_or_object_var, TRUE) .'</pre>');

I use it so much I should create a keyboard key just for that string. : P

----------------------
Current Drupal project: http://www.ubercart.org

Great tip

ardee-1 commented 18 June 2008 at 22:20

Great tip rszrama! Thanks!

Try this

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commented 3 July 2007 at 20:58

// Helper function for traversing an array.
// Since some arrays may contain arrays, this function can be called recursively.
// Also handles objects.
function _handle_array(&$array) {
  $header = array(t('Name'), t('Value'));
  $rows = array();

  if (count($array) == 0) { return t('Empty'); }

  foreach ($array as $name => $value) {
    if (is_array($array[$name])) { $value = _handle_array($array[$name]); }  /* recursive call for imbedded array */
    else { 
      if (is_string($array[$name]) || is_integer($array[$name]) || is_null($array[$name])) { $value = check_plain($array[$name]); }
      else {
        if (is_bool($array[$name])) { $value = $array[$name] ? t('True') : t('False'); }
        else { 
          if (is_object($array[$name])) {
            $obj = array();
            foreach ($array[$name] as $key => $val) {
              if (is_array($val)) { $val = _handle_array($val); }
               $obj[] = "[$key] => $val";
             } /* end foreach obj */
            $value = theme('item_list', $obj);
           } /* end if obj */
          else {
            $value = '<strong>'. gettype($array[$name]) .'</strong>';
            drupal_set_message('Help, I found a '. gettype($array[$name]) .' in the data!', 'warning');
           } /* end else obj */
        } /* end else bool */
       } /* end else string */
     } /* end else array */
    $rows[] = array($name, $value);
   } /* end foreach */

  return theme('table', $header, $rows);
}

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