Debugging while module development

[compumate99]

Hello experts,

I am developing component module and having some issue.

<MvFUNCTION NAME = "ComponentModule_Page_Assign" PARAMETERS = "module var, page var, item, settings var" STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL = "">
 <MvEVAL EXPR = "{ Generate_Code_List( l.template_source ) }">
 <MvASSIGN NAME = "l.settings:template_filename" VALUE = "{ tolower( l.page:code ) $ '-' $ tolower( l.item ) $ '.mvc' }">
 <MvASSIGN NAME = "l.settings:template_id"  VALUE = "{ [ g.Module_Feature_TUI_MGR ].TemplateManager_Create_ManagedTemplate_NoDuplicates( l.template_source, l.settings, l.settings:template_filename ) }">
 <MvIF EXPR = "{ l.settings:template_id EQ 0 }">
  <MvFUNCTIONRETURN VALUE = 0>
 </MvIF>
 <MvIF EXPR = "{ NOT [ g.Module_Feature_TUI_MGR ].TemplateManager_Page_Assign_Item( l.page, l.item ) }">
  <MvFUNCTIONRETURN VALUE = 0>
 </MvIF>

 <MvFUNCTIONRETURN VALUE = 1>
</MvFUNCTION>

Is there simple way to test the value from develop machine?

l.settings:template_filename

Thanks in advance

[Scot - ScotsScripts.com]

You could try evaluating it at the bottom of the function (above the function return):

<mvt:eval expr="l.settings:template_filename" />

If that doesn't work or you can't find where it displayed (viewing page/frame source sometimes works) you can try doing a javascript alert just before the function return:

<mvt:eval expr="'<script> alert("' $ l.settings:template_filename $ ' $");</script>'" />

Another option is to export the data file using the various file functions.

<mvt:if expr="sexists('/debug.log')>
<mvt:assign name="l.ok" value="sdelete('/debug.log')" />
</mvt:if>
<mvt:assign name="l.ok" value="file_create( '/debug.log', 'script',l.settings:template_filename )" />

Then open the debug file either by browsing to it (domain.com/debug.log) or ftp'ing into the site and viewing it that way.

[Kent Multer]

I sometimes put MvEVAL's right in my code to display variables on my screen for debugging. Since this is an admin operation, the module needs to output some white space before the variable; otherwise it will be displayed in a place that is hidden by other page elements.

<MvEVAL EXPR="<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>">
<MvEVAL EXPR="{ '<p>Template filename: ' $ l.settings:template_filename $ '</p>' }">

HTH --

[compumate99]

Thanks Scot and Kent

Displaying information using <MvEVAL> and javascript alert did not work, but logging using debug.log file worked for me.

<MvEVAL> also worked in ComonentModule_Content function.

Thanks.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

FYI:

Since you didn't define an output level

STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL=""

You wont see anything eval'd within the function.

[Scot - ScotsScripts.com]

Doesn't MvEVAL display output regardless of STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL settings?

[compumate99]

Even with

STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL = "text,html,compresswhitespace"

It does not display anything.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Doesn't MvEVAL display output regardless of STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL settings?

hasn't been my experiance my i rarely eval directly from a function so we are relying on memories...

[Scot - ScotsScripts.com]

MvEVAL does display values regardless of STANDARDOUTPUT level. If you're not seeing the values then there is no value, OR, it's being displayed up above the top fold and you need to add some whitepace to the top as per Kent's post. It's not easy to see what's going on in the admin because you need to add about 250px of whitepace to the top of the output since the top of the admin content frame is covered by the navbar frame (or something like that.)

[ids]

I don't think the function: ComponentModule_Page_Assign
has anywhere to display when an eval function executes. Or, the screen gets overwritten during the ensuing function. Therefore, I suggest to use Kent's alternate suggestion which is to export the data you want to capture in a file. I do this quite a bit even when printing to the screen works because it sometimes breaks the screen anyway.

Scott

[compumate99]

Thanks for all your help.

<mvt:if expr="sexists('/debug.log')>
    < mvt:assign name="l.ok" value="sdelete('/debug.log')" />
< /mvt:if>
< mvt:assign name="l.ok" value="file_create( '/debug.log', 'script',l.settings:template_filename )" />

This works beautifully.

[Bruce - PhosphorMedia]

Doesn't MvEVAL display output regardless of STANDARDOUTPUTLEVEL settings?

oh, yea...i was confusing that with just entering say, "<p>Hello World</p>" in a function. as i mentioned, i rarely use that method preferring to place that type of output into a variable...which is why I love <mvcapture> so much. :)