REF, or r() is a nicer alternative to PHP's print_r / var_dump functions.
- (server) PHP 5.3+ (5.4+ displays additional info)
- (client) Any browser, except IE 8 and lower of course
Basic usage:
// include the class
require '/full/path/to/ref.php';
// display info about defined classes
r(get_declared_classes());
// display info about global variables
r($GLOBALS);
To print in text mode you can use the rt() function instead:
rt($var);
To terminate the script after the info is dumped, prepend the bitwise NOT operator:
~r($var); // html
~rt($var); // text
Prepending the error control operator (@) will return the information:
$output = @r($var); // html
$output = @rt($var); // text
Keyboard shortcuts (javascript must be enabled):
X- collapses / expands all levels
To modify the global configuration call ref::config():
// example: initially expand first 3 levels
ref::config('expandDepth', 3);
Currently available options and their default values:
| Option name | Default value | Description |
|---|---|---|
'expandDepth' |
1 |
Initial expand depth (for HTML mode only). A negative value will expand all levels |
'extendedInfo' |
true |
When this is set to true, additional information is returned. Note that this seriously affects performance for queries that involve large amounts of data (like arrays/iterators with many string elements) |
'formatter' |
array() |
Callbacks for custom/external formatters (as associative array: format => callback) |
'shortcutFunc' |
array('r', 'rt') |
Shortcut functions used to detect the input expression. If they are namespaced, the namespace must be present as well (methods are not supported) |
'stylePath' |
'{:dir}/ref.css' |
Local path to a custom stylesheet (HTML only); false means that no CSS is included. |
'scriptPath' |
'{:dir}/ref.js' |
Local path to a custom javascript (HTML only); false means no javascript (tooltips / toggle / kbd shortcuts require JS) |