The output from the oik-bwtrace plugin is written to output files on your WordPress server. The files are written to the Trace files directory.

The general structure of a trace log record is a series of fields separated by spaces. These two trace records have been split over 3 lines.

Here’s the second record split over multiple lines.

The fields are:

Some of the fields are optional. The contents of each trace record can be selected using Settings > oik trace options.

Field value format

The field value is printed using the PHP print_r() function or an equivalent function ( bw_trace_obsafe_print_r() ) when there is more than one output buffer handler active.
It will print all the values of an array or object.
For large arrays or objects this may produce a lot of output. It can slow the site down considerably.

When the bw_trace2() API is called without any parameters then it will trace the current values of the parameters that were passed to the function.

Notes on trace file names

This documentation assumes the file name is bwtrace.loh.

Since nine times out of ten you will want to view trace logs in one window and the web page in another, and since some browsers will attempt to download a .log file, rather than display it within the browser, I use the .loh extension.

Note: Remember that the trace output files may be publicly accessible. If you do enable tracing on a live site then you should remember to disable it when you have finished and ensure the files are deleted.