Dumper

An AutoHotkey V2 variable dumping tool for debugging and development.

Motivation

In other languages I've grown accustomed to having nicely formatted indenting when debugging my applications. While I could get by with AHK's built-in OutputDebug or my editors debugger, I just found myself missing the ease of use of a dump or console.log type function. I also just really dislike the standard suggestion of "use MsgBox() or ToolTip()".

Features

• nice indented formatting for objects
• console output
• string output
• MsgBox output
• Built-in GUI output
  • syntax highlighting
  • error capturing
  • remembers size and position
• recursion protection
• dump and exit app support
• customizable Console and GUI theme support

Examples

GUI Output

#Requires AutoHotkey v2
#Include <ahk-dumper\RichDumper>

str := "foobar"
dumpGui(str)

>
"foobar"

GUI Output With Error Capturing

#Requires AutoHotkey v2
#Include <ahk-dumper\RichDumper_ErrorCapturing>

;Generate an error
Integer("a string")

Console Output

#Requires AutoHotkey v2
#Include <ahk-dumper\Dumper>

str := "foobar"
dump(str)

>
"foobar"

i := 1234
dump(i)

>
1234

ary := [1, 2, 3]
dump(ary)

>
{
  [1]: 1,
  [2]: 2,
  [3]: 3
}

aryMap := Map("foo", "bar", "asdf", "jkl;")
dump(aryMap)

>
{
  ["asdf"]: "jkl;",
  ["foo"]: "bar"
}

obj := ary
obj.helloWorld := {
  foo: "bar",
  bar: [1, 2],
  baz: "asdf",
}
obj.objInObj := obj ;recursion protected
dump(obj)

>
{
  [1]: 1,
  [2]: 2,
  [3]: 3,
  helloWorld: {
    bar: {
      [1]: 1,
      [2]: 2
    },
    baz: "asdf",
    foo: "bar"
  },
  objInObj: *RECURSION PROTECTED*
}

String Output

str := dumpString(obj)
MsgBox(str, "obj converted to string output")

MsgBox Output

dumpMsgBox(obj)

Dump and Exit App

dumpExit("asdf")

>
"asdf"

Multiple Variables at Once

dump(str, i, ary, obj)

>
"foobar"
1234

...

How To

Change Console Theme

You can change the console theme by modifying the setTheme section at the top of the Dumper.ahk file. Available options are "dracula" and "vsCode"... or make your own:

dump(values*) => Dumper().setTheme("vsCode").Call(values*)

Change GUI Theme

You can change the GUI theme by modifying the richDumper := RichDump() line at the top of the RichDumper.ahk file. Available options are "dracula" and "vsCode"... or make your own in the RichThemes.ahk file:

richDumper := RichDump('vsCode')

Add GUI to SysTray

This isn't necessary if you don't want it, the GUI will automatically open anytime you call dumpGui(). However if you want to get back to the GUI log, perhaps after closing it, this can be handy.

#Requires AutoHotkey v2
#Include <ahk-dumper\RichDumper>

richDumper.addToSysTray()

See the output in VS Code

You'll need an AutoHotkey debugging extension. zero-plusplus's VS Code extension [link] is confirmed to work but others should work as well. Dumper doesn't do anything particuarly special. Any debugger that works with AHK's built-in OutputDebug[link] function should work with Dumper.

Once a debugger extension is installed and configured F5 will run your current .ahk file inside of VS Code. Find your "debug console" to see Dumper's output.

I don't have the Fira Code font, where do I get it?

It's in the Resources\FiraCode font folder. Install it and you should be all set.

I don't like the Fira Code font, I want to use another font.

That's fine, use whatever font you want but you'll have to adjust the constants at the top of the RichDumper.ahk file. If you don't adjust the constants the show/hide scrollbar functionality won't work correctly. Specifically these:

  FONT := "Fira Code"
  FONT_SIZE := 14
  CHAR_WIDTH := 11
  LINE_HEIGHT := 31

How should I include Dumper in my script?

There are three ways to include Dumper, choose only 1:

#Requires AutoHotkey v2

#Include <ahk-dumper\Dumper> ;minimalist, no GUI support, debug console support only
#Include <ahk-dumper\RichDumper> ;Includes GUI
#Include <ahk-dumper\RichDumper_ErrorCapturing> ;Includes GUI with Error Capturing (recommended)