debugging php on mac?

Question

was wondering what was the best way to debug PHP on my local machine. I use MAMP on mac os 10.5

thanks, Patrick

Answer 1

Using xdebug is a good start. Download the package and follow the instructions in the INSTALL file. It's fairly easy. Once this is done, add the following lines to your php.ini file:

;;[xdebug]
zend_extension="/Path/to/your/module/xdebug.so"
xdebug.file_link_format="txmt://open?url=file://%f&line=%1"
xdebug.var_display_max_depth = 20

Don't forget to restart Apache after this.

Most debugging can be done using a simple die(var_dump($some_variable)). It's not very sophisticated, but with xdebug installed, the output of a vardump looks pretty good in a browser. In most of the cases this is enough.

If you need more control, you can add an xdebug_break(); statement in your code and add the following lines to your php.ini:

xdebug.remote_enable=1
xdebug.remote_host=localhost
xdebug.remote_port=9000
xdebug.remote_autostart=1

Again, don't forget to restart Apache.

Now, using a tool like MacGDBp (or Eclipse+PDT if you must), you get a classic debugger. You can step though your program.

Have fun!

Answer 2

I've always thought the "best" way of PHP debugging on any platform is by using FirePHP, which can output debug messages straight into the Firebug window in Firefox.