In order to take fully advantage of eclipse while developing php I just finish integrating XDebug with PDT (php development tool for eclipse). I must admit it took me a bit more than I would like to but finally I got it. I will not present here the complete process description, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, but only highligh the missing steps that made me get stuck with it for a little while.
First of all we need to install XDebug, for this you can follow this tutorial.
Give particular attention to step 1, because you need to be sure you are targeting the php instalation for your web browser and not the default one in yout system that you access via the console (they might be different).
Then in step 7 don´t forget the C compiler option CFLAGS='-arch x86_64' otherwise your Apache server will not be able to load XDebuger. This is a missing information on the XDebug install instructions since its system dependent.
After having XDebug installed please reload the phpinfo() page and double check the option set for “xdebug.remote_enable” if this is set to Off you shoudl open the php.ini file and set it to On with the following lines:
[xdebug]
xdebug.remote_enable=On
Save the file and reload the Web Server. When you Debug as a Web Page this option will prevent eclipse to hang waiting for Xdebug session to start.
After finishing XDebug installation please add PDT to your eclipse installation via the “install new software” option or you can download directly Eclipse with PDT incorporated.
In order to configure XDebug support in PDT follow the instructions provided with the XDebugGuide and you will be set to go!
