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How to Print `var_dump()` to the PHP Error Log

How to Print var_dump() to the PHP Error Log

Debugging in PHP can sometimes be a challenge, especially when you want to print the result of var_dump() to the error log using the error_log() function. In this blog post, we will explore a handy code snippet that allows you to achieve just that.

To begin, let’s take a look at the code snippet:

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ob_start();
var_dump($something);
$contents = ob_get_contents();
ob_end_clean();
error_log($contents);

Let’s break it down:

  1. Using ob_start(), we start output buffering. This means that any output generated by subsequent code will be captured instead of being sent directly to the output.
  2. Next, we use var_dump($something) to print the value of $something to the output buffer.
  3. We then use ob_get_contents() to retrieve the contents of the output buffer and assign it to the variable $contents.
  4. Finally, we clean the output buffer using ob_end_clean() to discard its contents and stop buffering.
  5. Lastly, we use error_log($contents) to print the contents of the output buffer to the PHP error log.

By using this code snippet, you can conveniently redirect the output of var_dump() to the PHP error log for better debugging.

Remember to remove or comment out this code once your debugging is complete, as leaving it enabled in a production environment may lead to performance issues.

Happy debugging!

Tags: PHP, debugging, error log, var_dump