[bairy]

Not exactly related to the first post but some things I find very very useful when coding.

At the bottom of includes/functions.php I have the following:

PHP Code:

function pre($var) {
    if ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' or $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == '127.0.0.1') {
        echo "<pre>";
        print_r($var);
        echo "</pre><br />";
    }
}

function echoa($var) {
    if ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' or $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == '127.0.0.1') echo $var;
}

class microtimer {
// Starts, Ends and Displays Page Creation Time
   function getmicrotime() {
       list($usec, $sec) = explode(" ", microtime());
       return ((float)$usec + (float)$sec);
   }
   
   function s() {
   $this->st = $this->getmicrotime();
   }
       
   function e() {
       $this->et = $this->getmicrotime();
       if ($_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx' or $_SERVER['REMOTE_ADDR'] == 'xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx') echo round(($this->et - $this->st), 6);
   }
}
$tm = new microtimer; 


where xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is your internet IP and 127.0.0.1 is if you have an installation on your pc.

All of the above were taken off user comments at php.net


Usages:

PHP Code:

pre($var);

e.g. pre($vbulletin->userinfo); 


This will print_r a variable in a formatted way (print_r is a php function that outputs the value of variables, good for arrays).
Extremely useful for seeing what vB knows at any point, especially if you need to call some of that data. A tip: don't pre($vbulletin), it's really messy.

PHP Code:

echoa $var; 


Does what echo $var does, but as you can see from the code, it only shows you so it doesn't disrupt the board.

PHP Code:

$tm->s(); 


and

PHP Code:

$tm->e(); 


This is a microtimer, put the s() just before the code you want to time, and the e() after, and it will echo the time it took in seconds. Change the 6 to control the number of decimal places. So:

PHP Code:

$tm->s();
for ($i=0;$i < 1000000; $i++) {
  $tmp = 1;
} 


That will tell you how long it takes the system to assign a value to a variable 1 million times (I got 0.35secs on a 2.4ghz P4, if anyone cares).


These are all bound to your IP or localhost to save unnecessary outputting to the board.