Dump function for convenient debugging. It can handle anything var_dump() can, but also takes a title that it will insert above the data, as well as formatting the data for display in HTML, PLAINTEXT, or as an HTML comment.

gistfile1.php

<?php
/**
 * For use with debugging
 */
if ( !function_exists('dump') ) {
	/**
	 * To be used like a more flexible more developer friendly var_dump.
	 * Basically you can pass a variable to dump as well as a title and choose
	 * whether it returns that data to you to echo out or Use this as a var_dump
	 *
	 * @param mixed $v Variable to dump
	 * @param string $title Title to display above dump
	 * @param string $format One of 'html' (default), 'plaintext', or 'htmlcomment'
	 * @param bool $return true to return the content, false to echo (default)
	 *
	 * @return null|string If $return is true, returns all output as string
	 */
	function dump($v, $title = '', $format = 'html', $return = false ) {
		$format = strtolower( $format );
		if ( ! in_array( $format, array( 'html', 'plaintext', 'htmlcomment' ) ) )
			$format = 'html';

		if ( 'html' == $format ) {
			$before_title	= '<h4>';
			$after_title	= '</h4>';
			$before_content	= '<pre>';
			$after_content	= '</pre>';
		} else {
			$after_title = $before_title = '::';
			$after_content = $before_content = "\r\n";
		}
		if ( ! empty( $title ) )
			$title = $before_title . htmlentities($title) . $after_title;

		ob_start();
		var_dump( $v );
		$v = ob_get_clean();
		if ( 'html' == $format )
			$v = esc_html( $v );

		$v = $title . $before_content . $v . $after_content;
		if ( 'htmlcomment' == $format )
			$v = "<!--\r\n{$v}\r\n-->";

		if ( $return )
			return $v;

		echo $v;
	}
}