Question

Is it possible to see PHP super globals like $_SESSION and $_POST in the debugger variables perspective?

Also, in the following example…

class myclass {
    public myvar = 'value';
    ...
}

… if I’m debugging the class I’d like to be able to see $this->myvar in the debugger

Answer 1

It appears as though the availability of superglobals changed significantly in ZS8. From this post in Zend Forums:

During development of Zend Studio 7 the decision was made to restrict
the variables list displayed in the Variables view to the current
scope (e.g. current function scope). We are convinced that this
approach provides better usability and performance of debugging. BTW,
this is a standard approach for many IDE products.

I can’t say this makes much sense to me (actually it’s a pain in the neck) and if it is indeed becoming standard in many IDEs that seems less like justification for the ZS8 change and more like a widespread bad idea. But I’ll quit griping.

The post seems to insinuate that you can view the superglobals by switching the stack you are viewing in the debugger (and they gave this rather unhelpful link). I have not had success with this.

For the time being, the only apparent way to view superglobals is by opening the expressions view (Window > Show View > Expressions) and typing in the variable you wish to see.