CodeIgniter helpful hints

[eluser]Lone[/eluser]
Yet Another Hint - Easy Array/Variable Output

From the previous CMS we built we had the following function to help us with out with viewing what is in an array or variable. It's not the prettiest looking output but saves a heap of time when developing.

We added it to CodeIgniter by making it a helper called 'debug_helper.php' and just autoload it.

Example

Code:

$people = array('John','Mary','Alberto');
p($people); // Will print_r onto screen with a <pre> tag

Helper Code

Code:

function p($var)
{
    if(is_array($var)) {
        $array = 1;
        $title = 'Array Output';
    } else {
        $array = 0;
        $title = 'Variable Output';
    }
    
    echo '<div style="background:#eee; border:1px solid #888; color: #444; font-size: 12px; clear:both;">'."\n";
    echo '<h5 style="font-weight:bold; font-size:1.2em; line-height: 1.4em;">'.$title.'</h5>'."\n";
    if($array) {
        echo '<pre>'."\n";
        print_r($var);
        echo '</pre>'."\n";
    } else {
        echo $var;
    }
    echo '</div>'."\n";
}