Page debugger

From phpCMS

[edit] Using the page debugger

Since version 1.2.0 phpCMS has a debugger to help you to find errors in newly created web sites, while developing plug-ins, or with the implementation of scripts.

[edit] Difference between the page debugger and the "classic" debug mode

Please do not confound this new debugger and the so called "debug mode" of phpCMS that exists for quite a while already. That debug mode can be activated via a switch in the configuration GUI of phpCMS.
In debug mode, phpCMS will issue an error message if an error occurs (e.g. a page is not found).

For "live" web sites the debug mode should always be switched "off". It should only be used during development and testing of a new or just modified web site!

[edit] The page debugger

Apart from this "classic" debug mode phpCMS as from version 1.2.0 also has a page debugger offering much more functionality.
To be able to invoke this debugger, phpCMS has to be in debug mode (see above). Once that is done, you can activate the page debugger by adding the parameter "?debug" to the URL of the page to be examined, e.g. "http://YourServer.net/index.htm?debug".

The debugger is protected by the same password you use to invoke the phpCMS GUI.

After a successful login you will get a frame display, showing your page on the right and a menu on the left offering the following features:

• possibility to inspect the contents of a number of files involved in the rendering of the page;
• possibility to retrieve the current value of any global variable defined in phpCMS by entering its name into the upper menu.

This can be very useful for plug-in development or even allows you to just have a little peek under the hood of phpCMS.

Note: Once your work is finished, do not forget to switch debug mode back to "off" in the GUI and to log off!