php editor/compiler/whatever that shows errors in my code

Question

Lets say I have some code:

  <?php
  echo "Hello Everybody!";
  echo "<br/>" ;
  $var1 = 23 ;  
  var_dump($var1)   ;

  $str = <<<HERE

  some random text
  more random strings

  HERE;

  echo $str ;
?>

Now running this as index.php on localhost , gives a blank page. Thats probably because there is some error in the code. Now is there something(editor,compiler,whatever) that will tell me exactly where and what my error is ?

Currently I use one of those portable servers (XAMP , netserver,uniserver) to run my php pages, which works good , but it doesn't tell me what errors are there in my code.

Thanks

Answer 1

I'll let others to answer the question of the editor. I'll answer the error part in the code:

  HERE;

to

HERE;

There should be no leading space where the heredoc ends. From the manual:

The closing identifier must begin in the first column of the line. Also, the identifier must follow the same naming rules as any other label in PHP: it must contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores, and must start with a non-digit character or underscore.

Answer 2

Check your php.ini to see if error_reporting is turned off.

Answer 3

Many IDEs offer this functionality - NetBeans being one that comes to mind, Dreamweaver CS5 to a certain extent.

They will highlight blatant syntax errors like missing semicolons/unbalanced bracers.

But bear in mind if a compiler could identify every error then they could fix them too. no idea will help fix poor programming logic etc.

also as an answer below highlights, error_reporting can be turned off so should be turned on for development.

Answer 4

Make new page, call it index.php

error_reporting(E_ALL);
ini_set("display_errors", 1);
include('content.php');

content.php should be the page where your code is,

Now it will show your error! Also i problem i noticed couple of days ago when you're working on a tmp-server.

Answer 5

The tool you should use for this is PHP.

Make sure error_reporting is set to something high, such as E_STRICT:

In PHP 5 a new error level E_STRICT is available. As E_STRICT is not included within E_ALL you have to explicitly enable this kind of error level. Enabling E_STRICT during development has some benefits. STRICT messages will help you to use the latest and greatest suggested method of coding, for example warn you about using deprecated functions.

Answer 6

FYI, if you just want to do a quick syntax check, use the -l switch with the php binary.

php -l myscript.php