protocolbuffers / protocolbuffers/protobuf

PHP: better debug info for Message objects in protobuf C-extension

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help wanted php
Dominant language
C++
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Description

See https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/issues/12714 and https://github.com/protocolbuffers/protobuf/pull/12718, which resolved this problem for the native library.

When the protobuf c-extension is enabled for PHP, calling var_dump on a protobuf message object does not output any useful information:

// Calling var_dump on a Protobuf message (extension enabled):
php > $timestamp = new Google\Protobuf\Timestamp();
php > $timestamp->setSeconds(12345);
php > var_dump($timestamp);
object(Google\Protobuf\Timestamp)#1 (0) {
}

Ideally this would output something like this:

object(Google\Protobuf\Timestamp)#12 (1) {
  ["seconds"]=>
  int(12345)
}

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reading issue 12714 and pull request 12718, then reproduce the shown var_dump behavior with the PHP C-extension and a populated Google\Protobuf\Timestamp. Done means Message objects expose useful field values in var_dump output, matching the demonstrated seconds example.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
php
Domain
backend
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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