NAME Data::Dump::PHP - Pretty printing of data structures as PHP code VERSION version 0.01 SYNOPSIS use Data::Dump::PHP qw(dump_php ddx_php); # in Perl $str = dump($var); $str2 = dump(@list); # in PHP $var = eval("return $str;"); $array = eval("return $str2;"); # or use it for easy debug printout ddx_php localtime; DESCRIPTION This module provide functions that takes a list of values as their argument and produces a string as its result. The string contains PHP code that, when "eval"ed, produces a deep copy of the original arguments. The main feature of the module is that it strives to produce output that is easy to read. Example: @a = (1, [2, 3], {4 => 5}); dump(@a); Produces: array(1, array(2, 3), array( 4 => 5 )) If you dump just a little data, it is output on a single line. If you dump data that is more complex or there is a lot of it, line breaks are automatically added to keep it easy to read. The following functions are provided (only the dd* functions are exported by default): dump_php( ... ) pp_php( ... ) Returns a string containing a PHP expression/code. If you pass this string to PHP's built-in eval() function like this: eval("return $res;") or eval("\$a = $res;"), it should return a copy of the arguments you passed to dump_php(). If you call the function with multiple arguments then the output will be wrapped in an outer array "array( ..., ... )". If you call the function with a single argument the output will not have the wrapping. If you call the function with a single scalar (non-reference) argument it will just return the scalar quoted if needed, but never break it into multiple lines. If you pass multiple arguments or references to arrays of hashes then the return value might contain line breaks to format it for easier reading. The returned string will never be "\n" terminated, even if contains multiple lines. This allows PHP code like this to place the semicolon in the expected place: echo print '$obj = ', dump_php($obj), ";\n"; If dump_php() is called in void context, then the dump is printed on STDERR and then "\n" terminated. You might find this useful for quick debug printouts, but the dd*() functions might be better alternatives for this. There is no difference between dump_php() and pp_php(). quote_php( $string ) Returns a quoted version of the provided string. It differs from "dd_php($string)" in that it will quote even numbers and not try to come up with clever expressions that might shorten the output. dd_php( ... ) ddx_php( ... ) These functions will call dump_php() on their argument and print the result to STDOUT (actually, it's the currently selected output handle, but STDOUT is the default for that). The difference between them is only that ddx_php() will prefix the lines it prints with "# " and mark the first line with the file and line number where it was called. This is meant to be useful for debug printouts of state within programs. LIMITATIONS Code references will be displayed as simply "create_function('', '')" when dumped. Thus, "eval"ing them will not reproduce the original routine. Regex objects in Perl will become string in PHP. If you want to use this string in PHP's PCRE functions, you need to make sure that the regex will be compatible. SEE ALSO Data::Dump (from which this codebase is based) PHP::Var (I tried this first before hacking up Data::Dump::PHP, but it has bugs, doesn't do scalars, and doesn't handle recursion.) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Data::Dump::PHP is a quick hack (as I needed it for Data::Schema::Emitter::PHP). I simply copied the code from Gisle Ass' wonderful "Data::Dump" and changed only whatever is necessary. AUTHORS The "Data::Dump::PHP" module is written by Steven Haryanto , based on "Data::Dump" by Gisle Aas , based on "Data::Dumper" by Gurusamy Sarathy . Copyright 2010 Steven Haryanto. Copyright 1998-2000,2003-2004,2008 Gisle Aas. Copyright 1996-1998 Gurusamy Sarathy. This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.