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inanepain/dumper
================

A little tool to help with debugging by writing a `var\_dump` like message unobtrusively into a collapsible panel at the bottom of a page.

1.17.0(5mo ago)132UnlicensePHPPHP >=8.4

Since Mar 30Pushed 2mo ago1 watchersCompare

[ Source](https://github.com/inanepain/dumper)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/inanepain/dumper)[ Docs](https://git.cathedral.co.za:3000/inanepain/dumper)[ RSS](/packages/inanepain-dumper/feed)WikiDiscussions develop Synced 1mo ago

READMEChangelogDependencies (1)Versions (21)Used By (0)

inanepain/dumper [![icon](./icon.png "inanepain/dumper")](./icon.png)
=====================================================================

[](#inanepaindumper-)

Table of Contents

- [Overview ![icon](./icon.png "inanepain/dumper") inanepain/dumper](#overview-inanepaindumper)
- [1. Install](#install)
- [2. Basic Usage](#basic-usage)
    - [2.1. Ease of use](#ease-of-use)
    - [2.2. Dumper::Todo](#dumpertodo)
- [3. Getting more out of Dumper](#getting-more-out-of-dumper)
    - [3.1. Aliases](#aliases)
    - [3.2. Configuration](#configuration)
    - [3.3. UI](#ui)
    - [3.4. Silence](#silence)
    - [3.5. Other Useful Information](#other-useful-information)

Overview [![icon](./icon.png "inanepain/dumper")](./icon.png) inanepain/dumper
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[](#overview--inanepaindumper)

A little tool to help with debugging by writing a `var\_dump` like message unobtrusively into a collapsible panel at the bottom of a page.

1. Install
----------

[](#1-install)

Example 1. composer

composer require inanepain/dumper

2. Basic Usage
--------------

[](#2-basic-usage)

Dumper works right out the box. Once installed via **composer** you can use it straight away to dump your objects using either method; `dump` or `assert` on the `\Inane\Dumper\Dumper` object.

The `dump` method is the default method and logs what it is given. Where as the `assert` has a test for its first parameter and only logs if the test **fails** (*falsy*).

basic usage

```
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::dump($data, 'After marge process');
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::assert(!$data->error, $data, 'After marge process'); // (1)
```

1. Logs if error is **true**

### 2.1. Ease of use

[](#21-ease-of-use)

Dumper registers the shortcut functions `dd` and `da` that work just like calling `\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::dump()` or `\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::assert()`.

Warning

Dumper does not overwrite existing functions. So if either `dd` or `da` are already taken, Dumper will skip them. See **Dumper: Aliases** \[Dumper: Aliases\] on creating your own custom alias functions.

basic shortcut usage

```
dd($data, 'After marge process');
da(!$data->error, $data, 'After marge process'); // (1)
```

1. Logs if error is **true**

### 2.2. Dumper::Todo

[](#22-dumpertodo)

@since 1.17.0

This is an alias for `Dumper::dump` that is pre-configured to use `Type::Todo`.
Esencially it’s a normal dmup but with some styling to make it standout more and can be used to add todo items to your code.
Todos do not show by default and need to be added to `Dumper::$additionalTypes` to be seen. This is so that they do not show up while debugging and distract you.

```
// enable todo output
Dumper::$additionalTypes[] = Type::Todo;

Dumper::todo($callback, 'Add error handling');
```

3. Getting more out of Dumper
-----------------------------

[](#3-getting-more-out-of-dumper)

Some more or less helpful hints and tips regarding usage of `Dumper`.

### 3.1. Aliases

[](#31-aliases)

Creating a custom global function as an alias to `\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::dump` method.

Tip

**ext-runkit7** required to register global functions. Without it the function is stored in a variable instead.

Creating a custom alias for Dumper

```
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::dumper('kickIt', 'shErr');

// you can now use your `kickIt` function the same as the `dump` method.
kickIt($data, 'Data after...'); // (1)
// what about `shErr`?
shErr(!$data->error, $data, 'Data after...'); // (2)

// without *ext-runkit7*. Note the $kickIt is a variable.
$kickIt($data, 'Data after...');
$shErr(!$data->error, $data, 'Data after...'); // (2)
```

1. The first parameter of the dumper method creates `dump` aliases akin to the `dd` function.
2. The second parameter sets the alias for `assert` akin to `da`.

That’s how easy it is to create a custom global shortcut function for Dumper.

### 3.2. Configuration

[](#32-configuration)

Dumper has a few static public properties you can use to change some of the default behaviours.

#### 3.2.1. enabled

[](#321-enabled)

Dumper starts enabled but should you wish all Dumpers related content gone. Disable it here.

default: `true`

config: turn off Dumper’s output

```
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$enabled = false;
```

#### 3.2.2. bufferOutput

[](#322-bufferoutput)

Write dumps last. Just before php terminates. Set to `false` to have dumps inserted as the occur at runtime.

Tip

This is mostly useful when running console code.

default: `true`

config: turn off buffered output to print dumps inline

```
// Somewhere before using Dumper, or even after for a section of code and then turn buffer on again.
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$bufferOutput = false;
// some code loop probably
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$bufferOutput = true;
```

#### 3.2.3. useVarExport

[](#323-usevarexport)

By default Dumper uses its own variable parser to generate the output. Here you can tell Dumper to use `var_export` instead.

default: `false`

config: set dumper to use var_export

```
// set value to true
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$useVarExport = true;
```

#### 3.2.4. highlight

[](#324-highlight)

Set the colour theme dumper uses. The default is to use the colours already set in your php.ini file.

default: `\Inane\Stdlib\Highlight::CURRENT`

1. Available colours in `\Inane\Stdlib\Highlight`

    - CURRENT
    - DEFAULT
    - PHP2
    - HTML

config: set dumper colours

```
// set colour theme
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$highlight = \Inane\Stdlib\Highlight::PHP2;
```

#### 3.2.5. expanded

[](#325-expanded)

Note

**Since**: 1.8.0

Controls the initial expanded state of the Dumper panel.

default: `false`

config: dumper log panel initial state

```
// Create the Dumper panel expanded
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$expanded = true;
```

#### 3.2.6. setColours

[](#326-setcolours)

Note

**Since**: 1.14.0

Allows setting custom cli colours or disabling cli colours completely.

default:

```
[
	'reset' => "\033[0m",		# console default
	'dumper' => "\033[35m",		# magenta
	'label' => "\033[34m",		# blue
	'file' => "\033[97m",		# while
	'line' => "\033[31m",		# red
	'divider' => "\033[33m",	# yellow
];
```

config: setting cli colours

```
// Remove cli colouring
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::setConsoleColours(false);

// Setting default colours
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::setConsoleColours([]);

// Remove cli colouring
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::setConsoleColours(false);
// creating a colour using Pencil from `inanepain/cli`
$label = new \Inane\Cli\Pencil(colour: \Inane\Cli\Pencil\Colour::Green, background: \Inane\Cli\Pencil\Colour::Red, style: \Inane\Cli\Pencil\Style::SlowBlink);
// Then set colours for **file**, **label** and **reset**
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::setConsoleColours([
	'file' => "\033[36m",
	'label' => "$label",
	'reset' => "\033[0m",
]);
```

#### 3.2.7. Hide runkit7 support message

[](#327-hide-runkit7-support-message)

Note

**Since**: 1.16.0

Option to hide the support message to install **runkit7** if not found.
There are two methods to disable this message: via class static property or via a global constant.

class property

```
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$showRunkit7SupportMessage = false;
```

global constant

```
define('INANE_DUMPER_HIDE_RUNKIT7', true);
```

### 3.3. UI

[](#33-ui)

Customising Dumpers look and feel.

#### 3.3.1. Panel

[](#331-panel)

This is done by setting the values of the following **css variables** and a few php **class properties**.

##### font size

[](#font-size)

Adjust the font size used by the Dumper panel.

- variable: `--dumper-font-size`
- default: `smaller`

##### max height

[](#max-height)

Adjust the maximum height allowed of the Dumper panel when opened.

- variable: `--dumper-max-height`
- default: `80vh`

##### expanded

[](#expanded)

Note

**Since**: 1.8.0

Controls the initial expanded state of the Dumper panel.

default: `false`

config: dumper log panel initial state

```
// Create the Dumper panel expanded
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$expanded = true;
```

#### 3.3.2. Theme

[](#332-theme)

Switching Dumpers theme is done in the php by changing a static property on the Dumper object.

##### highlight

[](#highlight)

Set the colour theme dumper uses. The default is to use the colours already set in your php.ini file.

default: `\Inane\Stdlib\Highlight::CURRENT`

1. Available colours in `\Inane\Stdlib\Highlight`

    - CURRENT
    - DEFAULT
    - PHP2
    - HTML

config: set dumper colours

```
// set colour theme
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::$highlight = \Inane\Stdlib\Highlight::PHP2;
```

### 3.4. Silence

[](#34-silence)

You can use the `\Inane\Dumper\Silence` attribute to silence dumps, silence a specified number of dumps, only show a specified number of dumps then go silent, per **class**, **method** or **function**. The Silence attribute also allows you to set Silence’s initial state and then set a counter after which the state will toggle.

Note

If a class is silenced all functions are silenced regardless of their individual settings.

Basic Silence Usage

```
use Inane\Dumper\Silence as DumperSilence;

#[DumperSilence()]
function doFirst(): void {
	echo 'hello', PHP_EOL;

	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'one');
	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'two');
}

#[DumperSilence(false)]
function doSecond(): void {
	echo 'hello', PHP_EOL;

	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'one');
	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'two');
}

doFirst(); // (1)
// hello

doSecond(); // (2)
// hello
// doSecond, one
// doSecond, two
```

1. This only outputs the `echo`. The `dd’s are ignored.
2. Here the `echo` and `dd` output is displayed.

#### 3.4.1. Toggling State

[](#341-toggling-state)

This feature of Silence lets you either enable or disable dumping after a specified number of dump requests have been made. This lets you log only a few items when iterating over a large collection.

If you specify a limit, Silence’s second parameter, the Silence instance will toggle its value after it has received that many check requests. i.e. Silent becomes verbose and vice versa.

Note

The toggle only happens once. **NOT** every time the limit is reached.

Tip

The is an issue logged to pass an array in place of an limit that sets when to toggle and how long the toggle should remain active.

Toggle Silence Usage

```
use Inane\Dumper\Silence as DumperSilence;

#[DumperSilence(false, 1)]
function doFirst(): void {
	echo 'hello', PHP_EOL;

	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'one');
	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'two');
}

#[DumperSilence(true, 1)]
function doSecond(): void {
	echo 'hello', PHP_EOL;

	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'one');
	dd(__FUNCTION__, 'two');
}

doFirst(); // (1)
// hello
// doFirst, two

doSecond(); // (2)
// hello
// doSecond, one
```

1. Now we have the `echo` and the value from the first `dd` request. Silence toggled **false** to **true** after **1** request so the second `dd` request was ignored.
2. This is the reverse of the first. Here only the first `dd` request is shown.

#### 3.4.2. Advanced: Logging Silence checks

[](#342-advanced-logging-silence-checks)

Actually geeky stuff would be a better way to describe this section. By default Silence checks are not shown in the Dumper panel but this can be enabled if you want to figure out why your toggles are not doing what you expect them to do.

To enable this this is one simple step, add `Type::Silence` to the `Dumper::$additionalTypes` array.

Logging Silence Requests

```
Dumper::$additionalTypes[] = Type::Silence; // (1)
// code
Dumper::$additionalTypes = []; // (2)
```

1. future Silence checks will be shown in the Dumper panel.
2. and Silence checks after this will no longer show in the Dumper panel.

##### Customising Silence checks

[](#customising-silence-checks)

You can customise the Silence check logs per Silence instance to make them stand out from the rest by giving it a custom **label** and **colour**.

Customising Silence Logs

```
#[Silence(on: true, config: [
	'label' => 'Do Test This', // (1)
	'colour' => 'purple', // (2)
])]
function doThis(): void {
	dd(null, 'Dump nothing important'); // (3)
}

doThis(); // (4)
doThis(); // (4)
doThis(); // (4)
```

1. set custom label to appear in Dumper panel.
2. set custom colour for log entry in Dumper panel.
3. this will not be show due to Silence
4. a purple entry labelled **Do Test This** will be added every time this function is called

### 3.5. Other Useful Information

[](#35-other-useful-information)

Dumper has a few more tricks up its sleve. Here are some of the more useful ones.

#### 3.5.1. Exception Handling

[](#351-exception-handling)

You can set Dumper as the Exception Handler. This will catch any uncaught exceptions and dump them. This is useful for debugging in production environments. The method provided is a simple ease of use function since the same effect can be achived quiet simple in php.

setting Dumper as the exception handler

```
\Inane\Dumper\Dumper::setExceptionHandler();

// The same thing can be done usding
set_exception_handler(['Inane\Dumper\Dumper', 'dump']);
```

###  Health Score

46

—

FairBetter than 93% of packages

Maintenance78

Regular maintenance activity

Popularity9

Limited adoption so far

Community9

Small or concentrated contributor base

Maturity75

Established project with proven stability

 Bus Factor1

Top contributor holds 98% of commits — single point of failure

How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window.

**Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores.

**Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement.

**Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability.

###  Release Activity

Cadence

Every ~74 days

Recently: every ~111 days

Total

19

Last Release

158d ago

Major Versions

0.16.0 → 1.17.02025-12-08

PHP version history (2 changes)1.7.1PHP >=8.1

1.17.0PHP >=8.4

### Community

Maintainers

![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1823594?v=4)[Philip Michael Raab](/maintainers/inanepain)[@inanepain](https://github.com/inanepain)

---

Top Contributors

[![inanepain](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/1823594?v=4)](https://github.com/inanepain "inanepain (99 commits)")[![philipmraab](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/177214788?v=4)](https://github.com/philipmraab "philipmraab (2 commits)")

---

Tags

logphpcomposerloggingdebuglibraryexceptionassertdumperinanepainsilence-counter

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