How to set multiple PHP classes intoa Debug mode?

Question

What would be the best way to set 10+ PHP classes into Debug mode easily but still keeping the classes non-dependent of other stuff?

If I set a Global Constant then check for it's value inside every class then every class is reliant on this constant being set. Meaning if I try to use the class in another project it is relying on a Constant from another file.

Answer 1

I use a constant *IS_PRODUCTION* which, when is set to false, means that I suspect all the warnings to be shown and to output additional information about the failures...this constant is included on every page.

P.S. I hope that I understood your question correctly...

Answer 2

You could do something like:

define("DEBUG", TRUE);

and then

if(defined("DEBUG"))
{
    // .... debug code
}

This would set your entire script into debug mode

You could use Class Constants instead. (or namespace constants if your into that)

class MyClass{
    const Debug = true;

    public function do()
    {
          if(self::Debug == true)
          {
               // .. debug stuff
          }
    }
}

Then you just change the constant based on the status.

This is actually VERY powerful when using namespaces, as I keep all my 'system' specific files (logger, database connection, etc) in its own namespace. If I have all of those classes check for namespace specific debug constants, I can JUST have the code I'm working on (the not-system code) be in Debug mode.

Answer 3

Depending on what you mean by debug mode you might be interested in Assertions.

Answer 4

Isn't the question somewhat contradictory? If you have 10+ classes and you want to have them to depend on something else together to be in a 'debug' state, then you can't really keep them completely independent. The point is that you will necessarily be dependent of something; I think your best take is to choose what's the least entangling solution.

I can think of two ways: using a define and using an environment variable.

I'd use a define:

define('DEBUG', true);

And in each of my class files, before declaring the class, I'd check if the constant exists:

if(!defined('DEBUG')) define('DEBUG', $my_default_debug_value);

So they can still work in a standalone fashion, but you're still dependent on a constant.

---

Another possibility would be to rely on an environment variable, but that could fail under safe_mode if you have no grip over which environment variables are allowed. I personally wouldn't use it because I don't like them, but maybe it's just what you're looking for.

putenv('MYPROJECTNAME_DEBUG=1');

Then getenv can be used to retrieve the 'MYPROJECTNAME_DEBUG' environment variable; it will be false if it can't be found.

getenv('MYPROJECTNAME_DEBUG');