How do I get PHP errors to display?

You can't catch parse errors when enabling error output at runtime, because it parses the file before actually executing anything (and since it encounters an error during this, it won't execute anything). You'll need to change the actual server configuration so that display_errors is on and the approriate error_reporting level is used. If you don't have access to php.ini, you may be able to use .htaccess or similar, depending on the server.

This question may provide additional info.

Set this in your index.php file:

ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

Accepted asnwer including extra options. In PHP files for in my DEVELOPMENT apache vhost (.htaccess if you can ensure it doesn't get into production):

ini_set('display_errors', '1');
ini_set('display_startup_errors', '1');
error_reporting(E_ALL);

However, this doesn't make PHP to show parse errors - the only way to show those errors is to modify your php.ini with this line:

display_errors = on

(if you don't have access to php.ini, then putting this line in .htaccess might work too):

// I've added some extra options that set E_ALL as per https://www.php.net/manual/en/errorfunc.configuration.php.
php_flag log_errors on
php_flag display_errors on
php_flag display_startup_errors on
php_value error_reporting 2147483647
php_value error_log /var/www/mywebsite.ext/logs/php.error.log

    <?php
    // Turn off error reporting
    error_reporting(0);

    // Report runtime errors
    error_reporting(E_ERROR | E_WARNING | E_PARSE);

    // Report all errors
    error_reporting(E_ALL);

    // Same as error_reporting(E_ALL);
    ini_set("error_reporting", E_ALL);

    // Report all errors except E_NOTICE
    error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);
    ?>

While your site is live, the php.ini file should have display_errors disabled for security reasons. However, for the development environment, display_errors can be enabled for troubleshooting.

You can do this by changing the php.ini file and add the following

display_errors = on
display_startup_errors = on

OR you can also use the following code as this always works for me

ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

If you have Xdebug installed you can override every setting by setting:

xdebug.force_display_errors = 1;
xdebug.force_error_reporting = -1;

force_display_errors

Type: int, Default value: 0, Introduced in Xdebug >= 2.3 If this setting is set to 1 then errors will always be displayed, no matter what the setting of PHP's display_errors is.

force_error_reporting

Type: int, Default value: 0, Introduced in Xdebug >= 2.3 This setting is a bitmask, like error_reporting. This bitmask will be logically ORed with the bitmask represented by error_reporting to dermine which errors should be displayed. This setting can only be made in php.ini and allows you to force certain errors from being shown no matter what an application does with ini_set().

You might want to use this code:

ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

If it is on the command line, you can run php with -ddisplay_errors=1 to override the setting in php.ini:

php -ddisplay_errors=1 script.php

Report all errors except E_NOTICE

error_reporting(E_ALL & ~E_NOTICE);

Display all PHP errors

error_reporting(E_ALL);  or ini_set('error_reporting', E_ALL);

Turn off all error reporting

error_reporting(0);

     error_reporting(1);
     ini_set('display_errors', '1');
     ini_set('display_startup_errors', '1');
     error_reporting(E_ALL);

Put this at the top of your page.

Input this on the top of your code

ini_set('display_errors', '1');
ini_set('display_startup_errors', '1');
error_reporting(E_ALL);

And in the php.ini file, insert this:

display_errors = on

This must work.

In Unix CLI, it's very practical to redirect only errors to a file:

./script 2> errors.log

From your script, either use var_dump() or equivalent as usual (both STDOUT and STDERR will receive the output), but to write only in the log file:

fwrite(STDERR, "Debug infos\n"); // Write in errors.log^

Then from another shell, for live changes:

tail -f errors.log

or simply

watch cat errors.log

You can show Php error in your display via simple ways. Firstly, just put this below code in your php.ini file.

display_errors = on;

(if you don't have access to php.ini, then putting this line in .htaccess might work too):

php_flag display_errors 1

OR you can also use the following code in your index.php file

ini_set('display_errors', 1);
ini_set('display_startup_errors', 1);
error_reporting(E_ALL);

If you are on a SharedHosting plan (like on hostgator)... simply adding

php_flag display_errors 1

into a .htaccess file and uploading it to the remote folder may not yield the actual warnings/errors that were generated on the server.

What you will also need to do is edit the php.ini

This is how you do it via cPanel (tested on hostgator shared hosting plan)

After logging into your cPanel, search for MultiPHP INI Editor. It is usually found under the SOFTWARE section in your cPanel list of items.

On the MultiPHP INI Editor page ...you can stay on the basic mode tab and just check the button on the line that says display_errors. Then click the Apply button to save.

IMPORTANT: Just remember to turn it back off when you are done debugging; because this is not recommended for public servers.