# Class yii\helpers\BaseVarDumper

Inheritance | yii\helpers\BaseVarDumper
Subclasses | yii\helpers\VarDumper
Available since version | 2.0
Source Code | https://github.com/yiisoft/yii2/blob/master/framework/helpers/BaseVarDumper.php

BaseVarDumper provides concrete implementation for yii\helpers\VarDumper.

Do not use BaseVarDumper. Use yii\helpers\VarDumper instead.

## Public Methods

Hide inherited methods

Method | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
dump() | Displays a variable. | yii\helpers\BaseVarDumper
dumpAsString() | Dumps a variable in terms of a string. | yii\helpers\BaseVarDumper
export() | Exports a variable as a string representation. | yii\helpers\BaseVarDumper

## Method Details

dump() public static method

Displays a variable.

This method achieves the similar functionality as var_dump and print_r but is more robust when handling complex objects such as Yii controllers.

public static void dump ( $var, $depth = 10, $highlight = false )
$var | mixed | Variable to be dumped
$depth | integer | Maximum depth that the dumper should go into the variable. Defaults to 10.
$highlight | boolean | Whether the result should be syntax-highlighted

dumpAsString() public static method

Dumps a variable in terms of a string.

This method achieves the similar functionality as var_dump and print_r but is more robust when handling complex objects such as Yii controllers.

public static string dumpAsString ( $var, $depth = 10, $highlight = false )
$var | mixed | Variable to be dumped
$depth | integer | Maximum depth that the dumper should go into the variable. Defaults to 10.
$highlight | boolean | Whether the result should be syntax-highlighted
return | string | The string representation of the variable

export() public static method

Exports a variable as a string representation.

The string is a valid PHP expression that can be evaluated by PHP parser and the evaluation result will give back the variable value.

This method is similar to `var_export()`. The main difference is that it generates more compact string representation using short array syntax.

It also handles objects by using the PHP functions serialize() and unserialize().

PHP 5.4 or above is required to parse the exported value.

public static string export ( $var )
$var | mixed | The variable to be exported.
return | string | A string representation of the variable