Where code meets community
ALPHA

It is assumed you have DeveloperCompanion installed.

Activating Insight

Insight is the intelligence system used by FirePHP to gather and send information to the client. It must be activated for this to happen.

NOTE: DeveloperCompanion currently always activates Insight no matter the state of Firebug or the panels within it.

You must also authorize Insight for each hostname. See Authorizing.

Activation on a hostname basis is planned.

Authorizing Insight

Insight must be authorized for each hostname <-> client pair for the server to send data to the client.

See Authorizing.

Logging to the Firebug Console

To log messages to the Firebug Console you must have Insight activated, authorized and Firebug's Console and Net Panels enabled.

Messages logged to the page target will show up in the console. See: FirePHP::to('<target>') in the API Reference.

If Firebug is not open or the Console or Net panels are not enabled, messages will show up in the Companion Console.

Inspecting Requests with Companion

To inspect a request you need to load it into the Companion. There are several ways to do that:

The debug data is always tracked (if Insight is activated and authorized) but needs to be loaded into the companion to be viewable.

  • Companion Workspace Request Table

    When the Workspace for an application is open in DeveloperCompanion all requests are displayed in the Requests Table. Double-click on a request to load it into the Request Inspector.

  • x-insight URL Parameter

    Append x-insight=inspect to any GET or POST URL.

    CODE: {"lang":"php"}

    // GET or POST URL parameter
    ...?x-insight=inspect
  • x-insight HTTP Request Header

    Set an x-insight: inspect HTTP header on the request.

    CODE: {"lang":"php"}

    // HTTP Request Header
    x-insight: inspect
  • x-insight HTTP Response Header

    Set an x-insight: inspect HTTP header for the response.

    CODE: {"lang":"php"}

    header('x-insight: inspect');
  • PHP Code Trigger

    Trigger an inspect from the PHP script.

    CODE: {"lang":"php"}

    $console = FirePHP::to('page')->console();
    $console->show();
    // or
    $controller = FirePHP::to('controller');
    $controller->triggerInspect();

    See Insight/Control API for more information.

Homepage: Sourcemint.com

Status

Sourcemint is incomplete ALPHA technology and continuously evolving in sync with underlying and related projects. Production ready aspects will be documented and made available in time. Your Feedback is welcome and appreciated!

Who

Sourcemint is one of the results of intense focus by Christoph Dorn over the past several years and continuous exploration throughout Christoph's interest in software development over the past 15+ years.

Sourcemint is the love child of one person guided by the voices of passionate developers at the top of their game who are leading the industry into a new era of software development.

What

Sourcemint is an integral part of Christoph's work intended to realize his dream of one global toolchain under which components may be arbitrarily combined into maintainable mission critical systems by providing an all-encompassing and organized package repository from which consistent and autonomic systems may be built.

Sourcemint provides an automated software building and integration service as well as an intelligent software delivery network to distribute built software to all deployed systems and Internet users.

This means an arbitrary (code, configuration, network, ...) change may be made to a software system which can then be automatically built, tested, distributed and deployed. Every change constitutes a completely new system made possible by the fact that changes, any changes, are cheap and fully tested in every way before going live.

Just imagine what this means in your daily work.

Why

Automated software builds, continuous integration processes, streamlined issue trackers, community supported software, source control, online collaboration and automated cloud deployment have wet our appetite but hardly scratch the surface of what it actually means to have a completely automated production cycle from idea to delivery. The full potential is only realized once these separate solutions addressing different areas work together harmoniously.

What has been missing is new ways of looking at how to build software.

How

Christoph's work provides a new way to build software that is not necessarily new in the sense of ideas or technology but rather arrangement and timing. Christoph has through exploration and experimentation distilled current cutting edge technology, knowledge and wisdom into a toolchain platform called PINF available open source under the MIT license to realize a new breed of software.

Imagine software and systems that just work and are a pleasure to maintain.

Sourcemint is built entirely on PINF, as is all of Christoph's work, and can be used by any developer to tap into the power of the PINF approach to build open source or commercial libraries, frameworks, applications, systems and services.

Christoph's hope is that PINF and related projects will provide a foundation for developers to cooperate more widely and experiment with new ideas by eliminating some of the major constraints imposed by traditional toolchains. Traditional toolchains create systems that typically rot because they are practically impossible to refactor. We need a toolchain such as PINF which has refactorability designed into its core.

Let's create software that breathes with life and is in large part self-sustaining!

You

Join Christoph in his mission to help you, the developer, and help yourself by broadly applying the tools and approaches you know work to all of your work. Lean on PINF, your mind is begging you. Learn it, teach others, and let your inspiration soar!

Follow Sourcemint and PINF on twitter to watch for news of cutting-edge tools, tutorials and services coming online. You can also follow Christoph's work directly.