Colored var_dump() and errors

Use this code. I've been using it for years. I can't even remember where it originally came from.

function var_dump_pretty($data, $label='', $return = false) {
    $debug = debug_backtrace();
    $callingFile = $debug[0]['file'];
    $callingFileLine = $debug[0]['line'];

    ob_start();
    var_dump($data);
    $c = ob_get_contents();
    ob_end_clean();

    $c = preg_replace("/\r\n|\r/", "\n", $c);
    $c = str_replace("]=>\n", '] = ', $c);
    $c = preg_replace('/= {2,}/', '= ', $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/\[\"(.*?)\"\] = /i", "[$1] = ", $c);
    $c = preg_replace('/  /', "    ", $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/\"\"(.*?)\"/i", "\"$1\"", $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/(int|float)\(([0-9\.]+)\)/i", "$1() <span class=\"number\">$2</span>", $c);

    // Syntax Highlighting of Strings. This seems cryptic, but it will also allow non-terminated strings to get parsed.
    $c = preg_replace("/(\[[\w ]+\] = string\([0-9]+\) )\"(.*?)/sim", "$1<span class=\"string\">\"", $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/(\"\n{1,})( {0,}\})/sim", "$1</span>$2", $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/(\"\n{1,})( {0,}\[)/sim", "$1</span>$2", $c);
    $c = preg_replace("/(string\([0-9]+\) )\"(.*?)\"\n/sim", "$1<span class=\"string\">\"$2\"</span>\n", $c);

    $regex = array(
        // Numberrs
        'numbers' => array('/(^|] = )(array|float|int|string|resource|object\(.*\)|\&amp;object\(.*\))\(([0-9\.]+)\)/i', '$1$2(<span class="number">$3</span>)'),
        // Keywords
        'null' => array('/(^|] = )(null)/i', '$1<span class="keyword">$2</span>'),
        'bool' => array('/(bool)\((true|false)\)/i', '$1(<span class="keyword">$2</span>)'),
        // Types
        'types' => array('/(of type )\((.*)\)/i', '$1(<span class="type">$2</span>)'),
        // Objects
        'object' => array('/(object|\&amp;object)\(([\w]+)\)/i', '$1(<span class="object">$2</span>)'),
        // Function
        'function' => array('/(^|] = )(array|string|int|float|bool|resource|object|\&amp;object)\(/i', '$1<span class="function">$2</span>('),
    );

    foreach ($regex as $x) {
        $c = preg_replace($x[0], $x[1], $c);
    }

    $style = '
    /* outside div - it will float and match the screen */
    .dumpr {
        margin: 2px;
        padding: 2px;
        background-color: #fbfbfb;
        float: left;
        clear: both;
    }
    /* font size and family */
    .dumpr pre {
        color: #000000;
        font-size: 9pt;
        font-family: "Courier New",Courier,Monaco,monospace;
        margin: 0px;
        padding-top: 5px;
        padding-bottom: 7px;
        padding-left: 9px;
        padding-right: 9px;
    }
    /* inside div */
    .dumpr div {
        background-color: #fcfcfc;
        border: 1px solid #d9d9d9;
        float: left;
        clear: both;
    }
    /* syntax highlighting */
    .dumpr span.string {color: #c40000;}
    .dumpr span.number {color: #ff0000;}
    .dumpr span.keyword {color: #007200;}
    .dumpr span.function {color: #0000c4;}
    .dumpr span.object {color: #ac00ac;}
    .dumpr span.type {color: #0072c4;}
    ';

    $style = preg_replace("/ {2,}/", "", $style);
    $style = preg_replace("/\t|\r\n|\r|\n/", "", $style);
    $style = preg_replace("/\/\*.*?\*\//i", '', $style);
    $style = str_replace('}', '} ', $style);
    $style = str_replace(' {', '{', $style);
    $style = trim($style);

    $c = trim($c);
    $c = preg_replace("/\n<\/span>/", "</span>\n", $c);

    if ($label == ''){
        $line1 = '';
    } else {
        $line1 = "<strong>$label</strong> \n";
    }

    $out = "\n<!-- Dumpr Begin -->\n".
        "<style type=\"text/css\">".$style."</style>\n".
        "<div class=\"dumpr\">
        <div><pre>$line1 $callingFile : $callingFileLine \n$c\n</pre></div></div><div style=\"clear:both;\">&nbsp;</div>".
        "\n<!-- Dumpr End -->\n";
    if($return) {
        return $out;
    } else {
        echo $out;
    }
}

You get the colored output when you ínstall and enable Xdebug:

Xdebug replaces PHP's var_dump() function for displaying variables. Xdebug's version includes different colors for different types and places limits on the amount of array elements/object properties, maximum depth and string lengths. There are a few other functions dealing with variable display as well.

You can enable/disable this with the ini setting xdebug.overload_var_dump

By default Xdebug overloads var_dump() with its own improved version for displaying variables when the html_errors php.ini setting is set to 1. In case you do not want that, you can set this setting to 0, but check first if it's not smarter to turn off html_errors.

Check the documentation for further information.

Note that you do not want to have the Xdebug extension installed on a production server as it will significantly slow down code execution.

You can also use this extension for a colored debug: (this is very easy to install)

http://www.sitepoint.com/var_dump-introducing-symfony-vardumper/

Symfony VarDumper is a component designed to replace your var_dumps. It performs essentially the same functionality, but provides you with much, much more information in a much prettier format. It’s the var_dump you’ve always wanted.