NAME

Devel::SimpleTrace - See where you code warns and dies using stack traces

VERSION

Version 0.08

SYNOPSIS

On the command-line:

    perl -wMDevel::SimpleTrace program_with_strange_errors.pl

Inside a module:

    use Devel::SimpleTrace;

DESCRIPTION

This module can be used to more easily spot the place where a program or a module generates errors. Its use is extremely simple, reduced to just useing it.

This is achieved by modifying the functions warn() and die() in order to replace the standard messages by complete stack traces that precisely indicates how and where the error or warning occurred. Other than this, their use should stay unchanged, even when using die() inside eval().

OPTIONS

Options can be set at import time using:

    perl -wMDevel::SimpleTrace=option1,option2

or

    use Devel::SimpleTrace qw(option1 option2);

Available options are:

showrefs

Using this option will tell Devel::SimpleTrace to stringify objects and references passed in argument to die(). This option is disabled by default in order to leave objects and references untouched.

EXAMPLE

For example, HTTP::Proxy 0.14 suffered from strange warnings, and its author Philippe Bruhat had a hard time trying to understand where they could come from.

    getsockname() on closed socket Symbol::GEN7 at /System/Library/Perl/darwin/IO/Socket.pm line 186.
    Use of uninitialized value in numeric ne (!=) at /Library/Perl/HTTP/Daemon.pm line 53.

Hmm.. There's obviously something wrong here, but spotting the right line is not easy.

Re-running the same script, unchanged, by just adding -MDevel::SimpleTrace to perl arguments produces the following output:

    getsockname() on closed socket Symbol::GEN7
            at IO::Socket::sockname(/System/Library/Perl/darwin/IO/Socket.pm:186)
            at IO::Socket::INET::sockport(/System/Library/Perl/IO/Socket/INET.pm:231)
            at HTTP::Daemon::url(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Daemon.pm:52)
            at HTTP::Daemon::ClientConn::get_request(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Daemon.pm:139)
            at HTTP::Proxy::serve_connections(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Proxy.pm:500)
            at HTTP::Proxy::start(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Proxy.pm:392)
            at t::Utils::fork_proxy(t/Utils.pm:72)
            at main::(t/50standard.t:138)
    Use of uninitialized value in numeric ne (!=)
            at HTTP::Daemon::url(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Daemon.pm:53)
            at HTTP::Daemon::ClientConn::get_request(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Daemon.pm:139)
            at HTTP::Proxy::serve_connections(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Proxy.pm:500)
            at HTTP::Proxy::start(/Library/Perl/HTTP/Proxy.pm:392)
            at t::Utils::fork_proxy(t/Utils.pm:72)
            at main::(t/50standard.t:138)

Aha! Much better. Finding the bug is now a trivial task ;-)

DIAGNOSTICS

Unknown option: %s

(W) This warning occurs if you try to set an unknown option.

CAVEATS

This module is currently not compatible with other modules that also work by overriding die() and warn(), like CGI::Carp.

AUTHOR

Sébastien Aperghis-Tramoni <sebastien@aperghis.net>

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-Devel-SimpleTrace@rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at https://rt.cpan.org/Public/Dist/Display.html?Name=Devel-SimpleTrace. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Devel::SimpleTrace is Copyright (C)2004-2011 Sébastien Aperghis-Tramoni.

This program is free software. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm Devel::SimpleTrace

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Devel::SimpleTrace