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[catagits/Catalyst-Runtime.git] / lib / Catalyst / Manual / Tutorial / Debugging.pod

=head1 NAME

Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Debugging - Catalyst Tutorial - Part 6: Debugging



=head1 OVERVIEW

This is B<Part 6 of 9> for the Catalyst tutorial.

L<Tutorial Overview|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial>

=over 4

=item 1

L<Introduction|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Intro>

=item 2

L<Catalyst Basics|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::CatalystBasics>

=item 3

L<Basic CRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial_BasicCRUD>

=item 4

L<Authentication|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authentication>

=item 5

L<Authorization|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Authorization>

=item 6

B<Debugging>

=item 7

L<Testing|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Testing>

=item 8

L<AdvancedCRUD|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::AdvancedCRUD>

=item 9

L<Appendicies|Catalyst::Manual::Tutorial::Appendicies>

=back



=head1 DESCRIPTION

This part of the tutorial takes a brief look at the primary options
available for troubleshooting Catalyst applications.

Note that when it comes to debugging and troubleshooting, there are two camps:

=over 4

=item * 

Fans of C<log> and C<print> statements embedded in the code.

=item * 

Fans of interactive debuggers.

=back

Catalyst is able to easily accommodate both styles of debugging.



=head1 LOG STATEMENTS

Folks in the former group can use Catalyst's C<$c-E<gt>log> facility.
For example, if you add the following code to a controller action
method:

    $c->log->debug("This is a test log message");

Then the Catalyst development server will display your message along
with the other debug output.  To accomplish the same thing in a TTSite
view use:

    [% Catalyst.log.debug("This is a test log message") %]

You can also use L<Data::Dumper|Data::Dumper> in both Catalyst code
(C<$c-E<gt>log-E<gt>dumper($myvar)>) and TT templates (C<[%
Dumper.dump(book) %]> as discussed in earlier parts of the tutorial.



=head1 RUNNING CATALYST UNDER THE PERL DEBUGGER

Members of the interactive debuggers fan club will also be at home with
Catalyst applications.  One approach to this style of Perl debugging is
to embed breakpoints in your code.  For example, open
C<lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm> in your editor and add the
C<DB::single=1> line as follows inside the C<list> method (I like to
"left-justify" my debug statements so I don't forget to remove them, but
you can obviously indent them if you prefer):

    sub list : Local {
        # Retrieve the usual perl OO '$self' for this object. $c is the Catalyst
        # 'Context' that's used to 'glue together' the various components
        # that make up the application
        my ($self, $c) = @_;
    
    $DB::single=1;
            
        # Retrieve all of the book records as book model objects and store in the
        # stash where they can be accessed by the TT template
        $c->stash->{books} = [$c->model('MyAppDB::Book')->all];
            
        # Set the TT template to use.  You will almost always want to do this
        # in your action methods.
        $c->stash->{template} = 'books/list.tt2';
    }

This causes the Perl Debugger to enter "single step mode" when this command is 
encountered (it has no effect when Perl is run without the C<-d> flag).

To now run the Catalyst development server under the Perl debugger, simply 
prepend C<perl -d> to the front of C<script/myapp_server.pl>:

    $ perl -d script/myapp_server.pl

This will start the interactive debugger and produce output similar to:

    $ perl -d script/myapp_server.pl  
    
    Loading DB routines from perl5db.pl version 1.27
    Editor support available.
    
    Enter h or `h h' for help, or `man perldebug' for more help.
    
    main::(script/myapp_server.pl:14):      my $debug         = 0;
    
      DB<1> 

Press the C<c> key and hit C<Enter> to continue executing the Catalyst
development server under the debugger.  Although execution speed will be
slightly slower than normal, you should soon see the usual Catalyst
startup debug information.

Now point your browser to L<http://localhost:3000/books/list> and log
in.  Once the breakpoint is encountered in the
C<MyApp::Controller::list> method, the console session running the
development server will drop to the Perl debugger prompt:

    MyApp::Controller::Books::list(/home/me/MyApp/script/../lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm:40):
    40:         $c->stash->{books} = [$c->model('MyAppDB::Book')->all];
    
      DB<1>

You now have the full Perl debugger at your disposal.  First use the
C<next> feature by typing C<n> to execute the C<all> method on the Book
model (C<n> jumps over method/subroutine calls; you can also use C<s> to
C<single-step> into methods/subroutines):

      DB<1> n
    SELECT me.id, me.authors, me.title, me.rating FROM books me:
    MyApp::Controller::Books::list(/home/me/MyApp/script/../lib/MyApp/Controller/Books.pm:44):
    44:         $c->stash->{template} = 'books/list.tt2';
    
      DB<1>

This takes you to the next line of code where the template name is set.
Notice that because we enabled C<DBIX_CLASS_STORAGE_DBI_DEBUG=1>
earlier, SQL debug output also shows up in the development server debug
output.

Next, list the methods available on our C<Book> model:

      DB<1> m $c->model('MyAppDB::Book')
    ()
    (0+
    (bool
    MODIFY_CODE_ATTRIBUTES
    _attr_cache
    _collapse_result
    _construct_object
    _count
    _result_class_accessor
    _result_source_accessor
    all
    carp
    <lines removed for brevity>
    
      DB<2>

We can also play with the model directly:

      DB<2> x ($c->model('MyAppDB::Book')->all)[1]->title
    SELECT me.id, me.title, me.rating FROM books me:
    0  'TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1'

This uses the Perl debugger C<x> command to display the title of a book.

Next we inspect the C<books> element of the Catalyst C<stash> (the C<4>
argument to the C<x> command limits the depth of the dump to 4 levels):

      DB<3> x 4 $c->stash->{books}
    0  ARRAY(0xa8f3b7c)
       0  MyApp::Model::MyAppDB::Book=HASH(0xb8e702c)
          '_column_data' => HASH(0xb8e5e2c)
             'id' => 1
             'rating' => 5
             'title' => 'CCSP SNRS Exam Certification Guide'
          '_in_storage' => 1
    <lines removed for brevity>

Then enter the C<c> command to continue processing until the next
breakpoint is hit (or the application exits):

      DB<4> c
    SELECT author.id, author.first_name, author.last_name FROM ...

Finally, press C<Ctrl+C> to break out of the development server.
Because we are running inside the Perl debugger, you will drop to the
debugger prompt.  Press C<q> to exit the debugger and return to your OS
shell prompt:

      DB<4> q
    $

For more information on using the Perl debugger, please see C<perldebug>
and C<perldebtut>.  You can also type C<h> or C<h h> at the debugger
prompt to view the built-in help screens.



=head1 AUTHOR

Kennedy Clark, C<hkclark@gmail.com>

Please report any errors, issues or suggestions to the author.

Copyright 2006, Kennedy Clark, under Creative Commons License (L<http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/>).

Version: .94