PHP Memcached Verbosity (Detailed Guide w/ Code Examples)

Use Case(s)

The 'verbosity' option in PHP's Memcached extension is used when you want to control the level of logging for a Memcached server. It's particularly useful during debugging and troubleshooting, as it can provide detailed information about operations.

Code Examples

By default, verbosity is turned off. Here's how you can turn it on:

$memcache = new Memcached();
$memcache->addServer('localhost', 11211);
$memcache->setOption(Memcached::OPT_BINARY_PROTOCOL, true);

// Set verbosity level
$memcache->setOption(Memcached::OPT_VERBOSITY, Memcached::LOG_DEBUG);

In this example, the verbosity level is set to Memcached::LOG_DEBUG, which gives you detailed debugging information.

To turn off verbosity, you simply set the verbosity option back to its default value (Memcached::LOG_NONE):

$memcache->setOption(Memcached::OPT_VERBOSITY, Memcached::LOG_NONE);

Best Practices

1. Only use high verbosity levels in a development environment: Debugging and verbose logs may slow down your application. So, only use them when necessary and in a non-production environment.
2. Always reset verbosity back to its default or previous value after you're done using it: Leaving verbosity turned on might overwhelm your log files and make it difficult to find relevant log entries.

Common Mistakes

1. Not turning off verbosity: As mentioned earlier, verbosity can fill up your logs quickly. Always remember to turn it off when not needed.
2. Using verbosity instead of proper logging: Verbosity should be used for debugging and not as a replacement for proper logging in your application.

FAQs

Q: What does the verbosity option do?
A: The verbosity option controls how much information the Memcached server logs. Higher verbosity levels produce more detailed logs.

Q: How can I set the verbosity level?
A: Use the setOption method of the Memcached instance and pass in Memcached::OPT_VERBOSITY as the option and the desired verbosity level as the value.