write the functions reference page

Author: carlos-granados

docs/reference/functions.md

@@ -0,0 +1,188 @@
+---
+title: Functions
+---
+
+PHP Debugger defines five functions, listed here in alphabetical order.
+
+All of them are safe to call whether or not a debugging session is running — with
+nothing connected they do nothing and report that they did nothing, rather than
+failing.
+
+## `php_debugger_break`
+
+```php
+php_debugger_break(): bool
+```
+
+| | |
+| --- | --- |
+| Parameters | None |
+| Returns | `true` if execution stopped, `false` if it could not |
+
+Stops execution at this line and hands the session to your editor, exactly as
+though you had set a [breakpoint](../user-guide/breakpoints.md) on it.
+
+Useful where there is no line to click on: generated code, a template compiled at
+runtime, or a file your editor cannot map to what is really executing.
+
+It needs somewhere to stop to. With your editor connected it just works. With
+nothing connected it returns `false` and raises a notice, unless
+[`php_debugger.on_demand_debugging_enabled`](./settings.md#php_debuggeron_demand_debugging_enabled)
+is set, which lets the debugger attach mid-request.
+
+```php
+$template = $this->compile($source);
+
+if ($template === '') {
+    php_debugger_break();
+}
+
+eval($template);
+```
+
+Being real code, it goes into a commit if you are not careful. Prefer a breakpoint
+set from your editor whenever one will do.
+
+## `php_debugger_connect_to_client`
+
+```php
+php_debugger_connect_to_client(): bool
+```
+
+| | |
+| --- | --- |
+| Parameters | None |
+| Returns | `true` if the connection was set up, `false` otherwise |
+
+Connects to your editor part-way through a request, for the case where the session
+did not start at the beginning of it.
+
+This only works with
+[`php_debugger.on_demand_debugging_enabled`](./settings.md#php_debuggeron_demand_debugging_enabled)
+turned on. Without it the call returns `false` and raises a notice, because a
+request that was not compiled with debugging instrumentation cannot be debugged
+part-way through.
+
+```php
+if ($order->getTotal() < 0) {
+    php_debugger_connect_to_client();
+}
+```
+
+Unlike `php_debugger_break()`, this connects without stopping. Execution carries on
+until something else — a breakpoint, or a later `php_debugger_break()` — pauses it.
+
+## `php_debugger_info`
+
+```php
+php_debugger_info(?string $category = null): mixed
+```
+
+| | |
+| --- | --- |
+| `$category` | `null` for the full report, or `"mode"` or `"extension-flags"` |
+| Returns | `null` for the full report, which it prints; an array for a category |
+
+Reports how the debugger is configured and what it is currently doing.
+
+Called with no argument it prints a page — HTML under a web server, plain text on
+the command line — covering whether the debugger is loaded and active, which client
+it connected to, and every setting's value. It also includes a **Diagnostic Log**
+section listing the warnings and errors raised during this request, which makes it
+the first thing to reach for when something is not working.
+
+```php
+php_debugger_info();
+```
+
+With a category it returns an array instead of printing:
+
+```php
+php_debugger_info('mode');
+// ['debug']
+
+php_debugger_info('extension-flags');
+// ['control-socket']
+```
+
+`mode` gives the modes currently active, and `extension-flags` the optional
+features this build was compiled with.
+
+## `php_debugger_is_debugger_active`
+
+```php
+php_debugger_is_debugger_active(): bool
+```
+
+| | |
+| --- | --- |
+| Parameters | None |
+| Returns | `true` if a debugging session is connected right now |
+
+Reports whether a client is connected. It has no side effects and never raises
+anything, so it is the safe way to ask before doing something that only makes sense
+while debugging.
+
+```php
+if (php_debugger_is_debugger_active()) {
+    $timeout = 0;
+}
+```
+
+Guarding a long timeout, as above, is one example: stepping through code takes far
+longer than any real request, and without a guard like that you spend your session
+watching things expire.
+
+## `php_debugger_notify`
+
+```php
+php_debugger_notify(mixed $data): bool
+```
+
+| | |
+| --- | --- |
+| `$data` | Any value. Sent to your editor as a structured value, not a string |
+| Returns | `true` if the notification was sent, `false` if nothing is connected |
+
+Sends a value to your editor's notification panel, along with the file and line it
+came from, without stopping execution.
+
+It is `var_dump()` that goes to your editor instead of into the response — useful
+where writing to the output would corrupt it, or where you want a record of what a
+loop did without stopping on every iteration.
+
+```php
+foreach ($rows as $i => $row) {
+    if ($row->isInvalid()) {
+        php_debugger_notify(['index' => $i, 'row' => $row]);
+    }
+}
+```
+
+Because the value is sent structured rather than flattened to a string, arrays and
+objects arrive expandable in your editor, the same as anything in the variables
+panel.
+
+With no session connected it returns `false` and does nothing else, so calls left
+in place cost almost nothing.
+
+## The `xdebug_` prefix
+
+Every function above also exists with an `xdebug_` prefix — `xdebug_break()`,
+`xdebug_connect_to_client()`, `xdebug_info()`, `xdebug_is_debugger_active()` and
+`xdebug_notify()`. The two spellings are the same function, so code written against
+either name works unchanged.
+
+The `php_debugger_` names are the ones to prefer in new code.
+
+:::info[Functions from removed features]
+
+Xdebug's other functions — the ones belonging to profiling, tracing, code coverage,
+garbage collection statistics and the development helpers — are still defined, so
+code that calls them will not fail with an undefined function error.
+
+They do nothing. Each raises a deprecation notice saying which feature was removed
+and returns a harmless value, so a call left behind in an old codebase is a message
+in your log rather than a crash.
+
+:::

sidebars.js

@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ const sidebars = {
       collapsed: false,
       items: [
         'reference/settings',
+        'reference/functions',
         'reference/cli-options',
         'reference/environment-variables',
         'reference/debug-protocol',