# dbg-pls
[](https://crates.io/crates/dbg-pls)
[](https://docs.rs/dbg-pls/latest/dbg_pls/)
A `Debug`-like trait for rust that outputs properly formatted code
## Showcase
Take the following code:
```rust
let code = r#"
[
"Hello, World! I am a long string",
420,
"Wait, you can't mix and match types in arrays, is this python?",
69,
"Nice."
]
"#;
let expr: syn::Expr = syn::parse_str(code).unwrap();
println!("{expr:?}");
```
This outputs
```
Array(ExprArray { attrs: [], bracket_token: Bracket, elems: [Lit(ExprLit { attrs: [], lit: Str(LitStr { token: "Hello, World! I am a long string" }) }), Comma, Lit(ExprLit { attrs: [], lit: Int(LitInt { token: 420 }) }), Comma, Lit(ExprLit { attrs: [], lit: Str(LitStr { token: "Wait, you can't mix and match types in arrays, is this python?" }) }), Comma, Lit(ExprLit { attrs: [], lit: Int(LitInt { token: 69 }) }), Comma, Lit(ExprLit { attrs: [], lit: Str(LitStr { token: "Nice." }) })] })
```
which is far too dense to read.
If we change the println to use the alternate printing (`:#?`), then we get
```rust
Array(
ExprArray {
attrs: [],
bracket_token: Bracket,
elems: [
Lit(
ExprLit {
attrs: [],
lit: Str(
LitStr {
token: "Hello, World! I am a long string",
},
),
},
),
Comma,
Lit(
ExprLit {
attrs: [],
lit: Int(
LitInt {
token: 420,
},
),
},
),
Comma,
Lit(
ExprLit {
attrs: [],
lit: Str(
LitStr {
token: "Wait, you can't mix and match types in arrays, is this python?",
},
),
},
),
Comma,
Lit(
ExprLit {
attrs: [],
lit: Int(
LitInt {
token: 69,
},
),
},
),
Comma,
Lit(
ExprLit {
attrs: [],
lit: Str(
LitStr {
token: "Nice.",
},
),
},
),
],
},
)
```
which is far too spread out to be natural.
This is where `dbg_pls` comes in. Replace the println with
```rust
println!("{}", dbg_pls::color(&expr));
```
And you get

## Usage in libraries
```sh
cargo add dbg-pls
```
Add to your types
```rust
#[derive(dbg_pls::DebugPls)]
```
## Usage for applications
```sh
cargo add dbg-pls +pretty
```
And print using `pretty`, eg
```rust
println!("{}", dbg_pls::pretty(&value));
```
## Features
* `derive` - enables the `#[derive(DebugPls)]` derive
* `pretty` - enables the `pretty` function for pretty printing
* `colors` - enables the `color` function for syntax highlighted printing
## Example
```rust
use dbg_pls::{pretty, DebugPls};
#[derive(DebugPls, Copy, Clone)]
pub struct Demo {
foo: i32,
bar: &'static str,
}
let mut val = [Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" }; 10];
val[6].bar = "Hello, world! I am a very long string";
println!("{}", pretty(&val));
```
Outputs
```text
[
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo {
foo: 5,
bar: "Hello, world! I am a very long string",
},
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" },
]
```
## Example (highlighting)
```rust
use dbg_pls::{color, DebugPls};
#[derive(DebugPls, Copy, Clone)]
pub struct Demo {
foo: i32,
bar: &'static str,
}
let mut val = [Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" }; 10];
val[6].bar = "Hello, world! I am a very long string";
println!("{}", color(&val));
```
Outputs:

## Example (dbg-style macros)
```rust
use dbg_pls::{color, DebugPls};
#[derive(DebugPls, Copy, Clone)]
pub struct Demo {
foo: i32,
bar: &'static str,
}
let foo = 5;
let bar = "Hello, World! This is the color macro";
let _ = color!(Demo { foo, bar });
```
Outputs:

```rust
use dbg_pls::{pretty, DebugPls};
#[derive(DebugPls, Copy, Clone)]
pub struct Demo {
foo: i32,
bar: &'static str,
}
let foo = 5;
let bar = "hello";
let _ = pretty!(Demo { foo, bar });
```
Outputs:
```text
[src/lib.rs:558] Demo { foo, bar } => Demo { foo: 5, bar: "hello" }
```