Why Debugging Controllers with afterExecute Plugin is Essential in Magento 2

In a Magento 2 controller, let's consider an execute method that returns JSON data from the server:

public function execute()

{

$customer = $this->_customerModel->getById(175);

$resultJson = $this->resultFactory->create();

$resultJson->setData([

'status' => 'ok',

'message' => 'Success.',

'data' => $customer->__toArray()

]);

return $resultJson;

}

Now, you want to manipulate the returned JSON data using an afterExecute plugin to extract customer information:

public function afterExecute(TestEndpoint $subject, $result)

{

$customerData = $result->getData();

// Manipulate the customer data

return $result;

}

The Problem

While implementing the afterExecute plugin, you may encounter an error indicating that $result is an object and not a JSON string.

This prevents you from accessing the customer data returned by the controller.

Your goal is to extract and manipulate this data using the plugin.

Solution

In this scenario, the issue lies in the data type of $result.

The $result returned by the controller is an object of type namespace esultFactory.

To retrieve the JSON, you need to modify the afterExecute method to access the data directly from the controller result object:

public function afterExecute(TestEndpoint $subject, $result)

{

$customerData = $result->getData();

// Manipulate the customer data

return $result;

}

By accessing the data directly from the result object, you can now manipulate the returned JSON data within the afterExecute plugin.

Additional Tips and Considerations

Always review the data structure and type returned by the controller when implementing an afterExecute plugin.

Use Magento 2 debug tools, such as Xdebug, to inspect the types and structures of variables within the plugin context.

Refer to the Magento 2 official documentation and community forums for further insights and best practices when working with plugins.