EECI 2011 Workshop: Debugging EE

DEBUGGING EESITE PROBLEMS ERIKREAGAN • EECI

WHO IS THIS GUY? Partner & Lead Developer2 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

FORMAT Sample problem Debugging process3 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

STEP QUESTIONS • Verbally speak the problem • Have you seen this problem in the past? • Have you read about or hear someone talk about this problem?4 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

STEP QUESTIONS • What are the symptoms? • I have incorrect content displaying • No content is displaying • My template not rendering as expected • All URLs show my site’s home page • I see the “white page of death” on certain pages5 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

STEP CONFIRMATION • “Is it plugged in” • Clear your cache • Try multiple browsers / computers if necessary • Log in as the user who experienced the problem6 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

STEP CONFIRMATION • Based on the symptom(s), what do we know about the problem in the past? • Log debugging issues for future use and refer to them later.7 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

STEP MAKE CHANGES • Begin to change things to ﬁnd the source of the problem • Template code • Channel Entry (or related module) data • System setting changes8 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

SAMPLE PROBLEMS9 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM Verbal review of the problem: I have the 10 most recent “News” entries on my sidebar, but they don’t show up on some pages.10 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE QUESTIONS Have you seen this problem in the past? (If you’re Lisa Wess you probably have dreams (nightmares?) about this problem, they’re so common.) • If so, what was the solution to that problem? • If not, it’s time to start making changes.11 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE SOLUTION Add dynamic=”no” to the {exp:channel:entries} loop parameters so the URL doesn’t determine what results are returned in the sidebar.12 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM Verbal review of the problem: I’m making changes to my template ﬂat ﬁle, but they aren’t appearing on the website.13 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE QUESTIONS Have you seen this problem in the past? • If so, what was the solution to that problem? • If not, it’s time to start making changes.14 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM CONFIRMATION • Check database details • Clear the cache • Try updating a diﬀerent template (narrow the search)15 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE CHANGES • We have unexpected template / display output • Start with enabling the template debugging option • What is diﬀerent between templates that work, and the one that does not? • Goes back to your experience and what you remember or have logged about previous problems16 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE SOLUTION The template that wasn’t showing changes was flagged in the database to not be saved as a flat file and thus our changes were not being displayed. Switching the template to be saved as a flat file fixes the problem.17 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM Verbal review of the problem: My channel:entries loop isn’t returning the expected number of results.18 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM CONFIRMATION • Check number of results with CP ﬁlter (if possible) • Clear the cache20 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE CHANGES • Review the query being executed • Manually run the query yourself if needed • Update the channel:entries parameters to modify the query being executed21 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE SOLUTION ExpressionEngine defaults to limiting Channel Entry loops to 100 results for performance reasons. Because we want over 100 results returned in a single loop we had to add a limit=”x” parameter to the tag.22 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM Verbal review of the problem: My entire site is nothing but a “white page of death.” I can log in to the CP, but the front-end isn’t displaying.23 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM CONFIRMATION • Make sure it’s not just a single template • Clear the cache • Review any recent repository changes • Recall any recent database changes25 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE CHANGES • Enable all debugging • Template debugging • Output proﬁler • Debug setting in EE • $debug variable in index.php26 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE SOLUTION A newly implemented plugin, CI Helpers, had a bug in its plugin ﬁle. Turning on our debug settings allowed us to see the PHP error and ﬁx the problem.27 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM Verbal review of the problem: My entire site is nothing but a “white page of death.” This time it’s even the control panel. I can’t access the CP to turn on any debug settings or see what’s wrong.28 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM CONFIRMATION • Review any recent repository changes • Recall any recent database changes30 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE CHANGES • Disable extensions to see if that helps • Enable all debugging in your config file • Template debugging • Output profiler • Debug setting in EE • $debug variable in index.php31 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

PROBLEM THE SOLUTION A newly implemented extension had a bug in the code. Disabling extensions allowed us to determine it was an extension causing the problem. Turning on our debug settings allowed us to see the PHP error and ﬁx the problem.32 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

QUESTIONS • Verbally speak the problem • Have you seen this problem in the past? • Have you read about or hear someone talk about this problem? • What are the symptoms?33 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

NON EE TIPS • .htaccess • print_r() • var_dump() • debug_backtrace() • Xdebug for PHP34 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

GETTING HELP • Seek help on EE forums or 3rd party support channel • Ask on twitter (with the #eecms hash, of course) • Consider sites like Stack Overﬂow for general PHP or server issues35 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

WHAT NOT TO DO • Bug the ﬁrst person you see on AIM/Skype/gTalk without trying things yourself • Complain on the EE forums without troubleshooting yourself • Complain on a 3rd party devs forums without troubleshooting yourself • Complain on twitter36 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

focuslabllc.com/blog/troubleshooting-expressionengine37 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

THANKS! @ErikReagan38 ERIKREAGAN • EECI

EECI 2011 Workshop: Debugging EE

by Erik Reagan on Oct 22, 2011

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