How to Debug Variables in Smarty like in PHP var_dump()

Question

I have some variables inside a template and I don't know where I assigned them. I need to know what is inside a particular variable; for instance, say I have a variable in smarty called member. I tried with {debug} but it didn't work, and no popup was shown.

How can I output/debug smarty variables using something like var_dump() inside the templates?

Epiphenomenon

Answer 1

You can use {php} tags

Method 1 (won't work in Smarty 3.1 or later):

{php}

$var =
$this->get_template_vars('var');
var_dump($var);

{/php}

Method 2:

{$var|@print_r}

Method 3:

{$var|@var_dump}

Abbyabbye

Resorting to php tags is not good practice and ideally they should be disabled for security reasons anyway. @debug_print_var (see answer from Chris) is a much better solition. – Cislunar

With the latest version of Smarty disabling the {php}...{/php} tags, Methods 2 or 3 are better options. – Welldressed

Output looks even better if you surround it with <pre> tags. Methods above are the best. – Ithnan

Add an additional param to print_r() to make it return the output to smarty, to avoid an extra echo at the end: {$var|@print_r:true} – Windtight

Most clean view of the variable gives {$var|@dump} and it doesn't even need to be wrapped with <pre></pre>. {$var|dump} works just the same on Smarty 3. – Apiary

Answer 2

This should work:

{$var|@print_r}

or

{$var|@var_dump}

The @ is needed for arrays to make smarty run the modifier against the whole thing, otherwise it does it for each element.

Washboard

A lot better then the chose answer. – Yukyukaghir

better then the chosen answer? srsly? the chosen answer has those solutions in it too but just contains one more for older smarty versions, so I cannot really get how you could say it's better than the chosen one xD – Recipience

@Recipience Just take a look at the revisions. In 2012 the answer was far away from where it is now! – Roby

Answer 3

For what it's worth, you can do {$varname|@debug_print_var} to get a var_dump()-esque output for your variable.

Dunk

Sometimes you are not sure what the variable is and many times @print_r and @var_dump did not work (in x-cart for example), but @debug_print_var output was there. – Wellturned

Thanks so much! Your answer is the only that works form me. – Hillard

Answer 4

just use {debug} in your .tpl and look at your sourcecode

Oocyte

Nice. This actually created a pop-up window for me, so I didn't have to look at the source. Had to disable my pop-up blocker though. – Hearne

Answer 5

In new Smarty it is:

<pre>
{var_dump($variable)}
</pre>

Leitao

Answer 6

Try out with the Smarty Session:

{$smarty.session|@debug_print_var}

or

{$smarty.session|@print_r}

To beautify your output, use it between <pre> </pre> tags

Nambypamby

Answer 7

try this .... Set $debugging to TRUE in Smarty.

Outcrop

sure i know that, but i need to do it without modding the core php files – Epiphenomenon

Answer 8

I prefer to use <script>console.log({$varname|@json_encode})</script> to log to the console.

Jago

Note: it's reqire to add a single quotes inside console.log('code'); – Borgerhout

Answer 9

To debug in smarty in prestashop 1.6.x :

{ddd($variable)} -> debug and die

{ppp($variable)} -> debug only

An onther usefull debug tag :

{debug}

Washy

Answer 10

If you want something prettier I would advise

{"<?php\n\$data =\n"|@cat:{$yourvariable|@var_export:true|@cat:";\n?>"}|@highlight_string:true}

just replace yourvariable by your variable

Andreeandrei

Answer 11

in smarty V3 you can use this

{var_dump($variable)}

Newspaperwoman

Answer 12

{$variable|@debug_print_var nofilter} and you not need to add "<pre>" tags

{$variable|var_dump} show you more (but worse formatting) because debug_print_var not showing private variable in object!

Mawkish

Answer 13

For better display :

{$var|@dump}

Waiter

Answer 14

In smarty there is built in modifier you could use that by using | (single pipeline operator). Like this {$varname|@print_r} will print value as print_r($php_variable)

Rance