Xdebug and var_dump

If you are using Xdebug with PHP and are using the var_dump function it is important to note that Xdebug will limit var_dump's depth when dumping information about a variable. By default this limit is 3 and can easily be identified by the ellipsis that are added to var_dump's output:

 1object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[135]
 2  protected 'items' =>
 3    array (size=2)
 4      0 =>
 5        object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[133]
 6          protected 'items' =>
 7            array (size=3)
 8              ...
 9      1 =>
10        object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[134]
11          protected 'items' =>
12            array (size=3)
13              ...

This Xdebug setting can be configured via the php.ini file (as explained in Xdebug's documentation section "xdebug.var_display_max_depth"). Luckily for us, this configuration value can be modified using PHP's init_set function, so it can be changed whenever we want during a script's execution:

1<?php
2 
3// Change var_dump's depth when using Xdebug:
4ini_set('xdebug.var_display_max_depth', '10');

Now var_dump will output all the information we were originally looking for:

 1object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[135]
 2  protected 'items' =>
 3    array (size=2)
 4      0 =>
 5        object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[133]
 6          protected 'items' =>
 7            array (size=3)
 8              0 => string '1' (length=1)
 9              1 => string '2' (length=1)
10              2 => string '3' (length=1)
11      1 =>
12        object(Illuminate\Support\Collection)[134]
13          protected 'items' =>
14            array (size=3)
15              0 => string '4' (length=1)
16              1 => string '5' (length=1)
17              2 => string '6' (length=1)

#Conclusion

If you are having difficulties displaying all the information you need when using the var_dump function and you have Xdebug installed and enabled, it is more than likely a configuration value you missed. Modify the xdebug.var_display_max_depth configuration value as needed to display all the information needed.

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