README

Phoog is a lightweight PHP library offering short-named debugging functions for quick variable inspection. Designed for speed, and zero dependencies — ideal for rapid prototyping, legacy debugging, or everyday dev workflows.

Features

Compact functions like evi(), evid(), evc(), vip(), etc.
Output optimized for both HTML and CLI

Installation

composer require andreabsferrazza/phoog

Optional: Global Shortcuts

If you prefer to use the debug functions (evc(), evi(), etc.) without importing them in every file, you can include the helper once in your project bootstrap. To enable them, define PHOOG_ENABLE_HELPERS = true before loading Composer’s autoload.

// Before autoload
define("PHOOG_ENABLE_HELPERS", true);
require_once __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';

Usage

⚠️ Phoog provides tools for quick diagnostics and prototyping. It is not designed for secure or high-availability production use. Global function exposure and file logging should be used with discretion.

vet($var); - var export true

return var_export($var,true);

Example:

try{
    ...
}catch(Exception $e){
    ...
    echo "Var x = ".vet($x);
}

vip($var); - var info pre

Wraps VET between pre tags and returns it.

evi($var); - echo var info pre

echo vip($var); The main function to print variables in HTML. Example:

$x = 0;
$y = array( 0,1,2,3 );
evi($x);
evi($y);

result:

0
array (
  0 => 0,
  1 => 1,
  2 => 2,
  3 => 3,
)

evid($var); - evi and die

Dies after echoing VIP. Example:

foreach($array as $k=>$v){
    ...
    if($condition) evid($v);
    ...
}

Prints the variable $v and dies if $condition == true

sip($str); - string in pre

Expects a String. Returns EVI with some HTML formatting. Usually for printing out queries or text with \n.

esp($str); - echo string in pre

Expects a String. echo sip($var); Example:

$query = "SELECT * 
            FROM whatever";
esp($query);

Prints the query with newlines.

espd($str); - esp and die

Expects a String. Dies after echoing ESP. Example:

$query = "SELECT * 
            FROM whatever";
espd($query);
echo $smth;

Prints the query with newlines and then dies, so $smth won't be echoed.

vit($var); - var info td

Wraps VET between td tags and returns it. This is for debugging in table tags, which often is a bit hefty.

evt($var); - echo var info td

echo vit($var);

evc($var); - echo var CLI

echo vet($var).PHP_EOL; The main function to print variables in CLI

evcd($var); - evc and die

Dies after evc($var); Example:

$array = array(0,1,2,3,4);
evcd($array);
arsort($array);

Will print the array before it is sorted. Result:

sm@smw:~/$ php your_program.php
array (
  0 => 0,
  1 => 1,
  2 => 2,
  3 => 3,
)
sm@smw:~/$

dof($var, $filename = "debug_log.json", $incremental = true) - debug on file

Writes the contents of a variable to a JSON file. Useful when outputting to screen isn’t possible (e.g. in reports, cron jobs, or background processes).

$incremental: If true, appends each call as a new entry (default). If false, overwrites the file on each call.

Each log entry is saved as a timestamped object inside a debug array, making the file easy to parse or view in tools like Firefox.

Example

$data = ['user' => 'Monkey', 'role' => 'admin'];
dof($data); // Writes to debug_log.json

// Custom filename and overwrite
dof($_POST, '/tmp/my-debug.json', false);

⚠️ Caution when using dof()

dof() writes to disk — make sure the target path ($filename) is writable and not publicly accessible via web, especially if it contains sensitive data. Use dof() only in development environments, not in production. Avoid dumping user data to predictable paths like /tmp/debug_log.json without proper permissions. If $incremental is true, the log file may grow indefinitely — monitor its size in long-running systems.

andreabsferrazza / phoog

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