Working with the Debugger
The purpose of this tutorial is to teach you how to debug
files and applications both remotely and locally in order to gain maximum
efficiency and accuracy from your files and projects.
Contents:
Purpose and Usage
PDT's
Debugging feature can detect and diagnose errors in PHP code situated
locally or on remote servers. The debugger allows you to control the execution
of your program by setting breakpoints, suspending launched programs,
stepping through your code, and examining the contents of variables.
PDT
includes several types of debugging:
Locally Debugging PHP Scripts - Debugging PHP files
using's an internal PHP Executable debugger.
Debugging PHP Web Pages - Debugging files, applications
and projects on your server.
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Debugging Local PHP Files (PHP Scripts)
PHP files (PHP Scripts)
on your workspace can be debugged locally
using PDT's internal debugger.
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This procedure demonstrates how to debug
a file using the internal debugger or your server's debugger:
Inside
a PHP project, ,
called "debug", and copy-paste the example code into it. (Click
here to see the code.)
Set a breakpoint at line
103 by double-clicking the marker bar to the left of the editor window.
A blue ball will appear.
Save the file.
Click the arrow next to
the debug button on the toolbar and select Debug Configurations...
-or- select Run | Debug Configurations... from the main menu -or- right-click
the file in PHP Explorer view and select Debug Configurations....
A Debug dialog will appear.
Double-click the PHP Script
option to create a new debug configuration.

Enter a name for the new
configuration.
To debug the file using
your PHP Executable debugger, select the PHP Executable option
in the Debugger Location category.
Under PHP File, click Browse
and select the "debug" file.
Ensure that the 'Break at
First Line' Breakpoint checkbox is selected.
Click Apply and then Debug.
Click Yes if asked whether
to open the PHP Debug Perspective.
A number of views will open
with information about your script.
The Debug View is where
the debug stack trace is displayed and the debugging process can be monitored
and controlled.

The debugging process will currently have
stopped where your first <?php label appears.
Click the Resume icon
to continue to the breakpoint.
Click Step Into .
The Debugger goes into the function defined in line 103 and advances to
line 77.
The Variable view will now
display various information about the relevant variables and parameters
through which the function was reached.
In the editor window, place
and hold the cursor over $worker_name, $worker_address, and $worker_phone.
A tooltip appears displaying the variable values.

Click Step Return.
The cursor returns to line 103.
The Debug Output view will display the HTML output created up until
the breakpoint, while the Browser Output view will show the current output
to a browser.
In the Debug view, click
Resume until the debugging process is terminated.
Notice that as the debugging process progresses, the Debug Output and
Browser Output displays are updated.

The console view will display
any errors or warnings about your script. In this case, it will display
a Notice about an undefined variable on line 105.
Click on the PHP Perspective
icon to return to normal editing mode.
To run the debugging process
again, click the arrow next to the debug icon on the toolbar and select your configuration
-or- select Debug Configurations... and double-click your configuration
from the Debug dialog.
Clicking the debug icon will debug the last executed launch configuration.
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Debugging PHP Applications (PHP
Web Pages)
PDT also allows you to debug
applications, projects or files that are already on the server.
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This procedure demonstrates how to debug
applications on a server:
Inside a PHP project, create a new PHP file,
called "form1", with the following code:
<html>
<body>
<form action="welcome.php"
method="post">
Name: <input type="text"
name="name" />
Age: <input type="text"
name="age" />
<input type="submit"
/>
</form>
</body>
</html>
Create a second PHP file,
called "welcome", with the following code:
<html>
<body>
Welcome <?php echo $_POST["name"];
?>.<br />
You are <?php echo $_POST["age"];
?> years old.
</body>
</html>
Save both files and copy
them to your server.
Click
the arrow next to the debug button on the toolbar and
select Debug Configurations... -or- right-click the file in PHP explorer
or within the file's editor window and select Debug as | Debug Configurations....
A Debug dialog will appear.
Double-click on the PHP
Web Page option to create a new debug configuration.
Enter a name for the new
configuration.
Select the Debugger from the Server Debugger drop-down list.
Select your server from
the drop-down list.
If you have not configured a server, click the PHP Servers link to
be taken to the PHP Servers Preferences
page.
Under the File/Project category,
click Browse and select the "form1" file. This will be the file
from which the debugger will start debugging (the 'debug target'.)
Ensure that the URL pointing
to the file location is correct.
If this is not correct, unmark the Auto Generate checkbox and manually
change the URL.

Click Apply and then Debug.
Click Yes when asked whether
to open the PHP Debug Perspective.
The Debug Perspective will
open with several views relevant to the debugging process (See 'PHP
Debug Perspective' for more information on the different views.)
In the editor view, you
will see the code for the "form1" file.
In the Debug view, click
Resume to resume the debugging process.
The browser output will
display a form asking you to enter your Name and Age.
Select the browser view
(tabbed with the editor window). This will display the output of your
script in a browser in 'real time'.
Note that this is different from the Browser Output window.
In the browser view, enter
your Name and Age and click Submit Query.

Another editor tab will
open, with the script from the welcome.php file.
In the Debug view, click
Resume to resume the debugging process.
The browser output and browser
views will display the final result of your application:
"Welcome [Name].
You are [Age] years old."

The debugging process will
have terminated.
Click on the PHP Perspective
icon to return to normal editing mode.
To run the debugging process
again, click the arrow next to the debug icon on the toolbar and select your debugging
configuration.
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