Why does var_dump not output anything?

Sometimes there are subsequent actions that take away the focus without displaying the var_dump statement. There are two ways I use to view debug information in these conditions. First you can follow your var_dump statement with an exit() statement. Include a string if you need to know which exit statement was used (ie: exit('here'). The other option is to display the variable in a Joomla message instead:

JFactory::getApplication()->enqueueMessage(JText::_('SOME_ERROR_OCCURRED'), 'error');

Between these two solutions (and var_dump and echo) you can always get the debug info you need.

Have you tried echoing anything instead of the var_dump? For example, you can have something like echo('here'); or die('here');.

I think the likely issue is that your code is not even reaching the var_dump line, and that's why it's not printing the variable.

how do I efficiently debug this component?

Use try{}catch{} blocks and include $e->getMessage(), dump(), and resultset checks. Using Joomla query methods is also a good idea.

public function getNameAttribut($attr_id) { $db = JFactory::getDBO(); $lang = JSFactory::getLang(); try { $query = $db->getQuery(true) ->select($db->qn($lang->get("name")) . " AS name") ->from($db->qn("#__jshopping_attr")) ->where("attr_id = " . (int)$attr_id); // assuming attr_id is an integer echo $query->dump(); // never show query to the public $db->setQuery($query); if (($result = $db->loadResult()) === null) { echo "Null Resultset - Possible Query Logic Error @ getNameAttribut()"; } return $result; } catch (Exception $e) { echo "Syntax Error", $e->getMessage(); // never show error messages to the public return false; } } 

and

public function getAllAttributes($result = 0, $categorys = null, $order = null, $orderDir = null) { if (!$order) { $order = 'a.attr_ordering'; } if ($orderDir != 'DESC') { $orderDir = 'ASC'; } $lang = JSFactory::getLang(); $db = JFactory::getDBO(); try { $query = $db->getQuery(true) ->select( array( "a.attr_id", "a." . $db->qn($lang->get("name")) . " AS name", "a.attr_type", "a.attr_ordering", "a.independent", "a.allcats", "a.cats", "G." . $db->qn($lang->get("name")) . " AS groupname" ) ) ->from($db->qn("#__jshopping_attr", "a")) ->leftJoin($db->qn("#__jshopping_attr_groups") . " G ON " . $db->qn("a.group") . " = G.id") ->order($db->qn($order) . " " . $orderDir); //extract(js_add_trigger(get_defined_vars(), "before")); echo $query->dump(); // never show query to the public $db->setQuery($query); if (!$result = $db->loadObjectList()) { echo "Null Resultset - Possible Query Logic Error @ getAllAttributes()"; } return $result; } catch (Exception $e) { echo "Syntax Error", $e->getMessage(); // never show error messages to the public return false; } } 

I do not endorse the use of extract(). I have never had a good reason to use it in any of my projects. There is risk involved with its call, that it could overwrite global variables AND this generally floods the global variable pool. I don't know what it is meant to achieve in this code, but I would urge you to find another way.

I have not tested the above code blocks, so if anyone discovers a typo let me know and I'll fix it up.

p.s. It appears that your $lang value is not being rendered, since the column that is not found is called name_en-GB. I think the first thing to investigate is the $lang value.