There would be a really huge help for developers if we could implement an alternative for PHPs var_dump called dBug which replicates the formatting of Coldfusions CFDUMP tag. This facilitates in debugging and error logging far beyond what watchdog / var_dump currently do. Not to mention more readable.

dBug can be found here: http://dbug.ospinto.com/

Along with this, it would be great if certain error types could be HTML emailed to the developer when they happen, so the watchdog table doesn't have to grow so big after a week. We have a setup where any error event at all is grabbed and CFDUMPED along with the error and all variables, cgi, form, scope, session, client into an email and inserted into our company database. There it is organized by company and we can see errors as they happen, making us proactive in our work instead of reactive.

It would be nice if Drupal also had this feature, combining the two and emailing you the error in a readable format.

Comments

stevenpatz’s picture

stevenpatz
he/him
commented
Version: 5.x-dev » 7.x-dev
Priority: Critical » Normal

Features go in head.

kevinquillen’s picture

kevinquillen commented

Sorry, I wasn't sure where to put it. It could apply to any version, 5.x is just what we use.

kevinquillen’s picture

kevinquillen commented

Anyone?

j.somers’s picture

j.somers commented

Have you taken a look at the Devel module? It implements Krumo which is, as far as I can tell, something similar, at least to some level. Take a look at the screen shots and screen casts for more examples.

On the other hand I really doubt something like that would make it into core. It might be useful but it would have more success as a separate module than part of core.

kevinquillen’s picture

kevinquillen commented

Whoa blast from the past. I see. Perhaps I shall write this module for Drupal 7. Does the hook_watchdog allow you to manipulate Drupal when an error happens, or is that only from within your own module?

j.somers’s picture

j.somers commented

I am not entirely sure what you mean by

Does the hook_watchdog allow you to manipulate Drupal when an error happens, or is that only from within your own module?

As a reference, the dblog module, which is part of Drupal, is an implementation of hook_watchdog, these are the reports you see in Drupal. This is not related to what the Devel module does. When developing you can call on of the Devel module functions which combines the drupal_set_message function and an advanced var_dump call.

jody lynn’s picture

jody lynn
she/her
Primary language English
commented
Status: Active » Closed (won't fix)