Debug information is very valuable information for a programmer. The information gives an in-depth look into what is happening inside the program. Troubleshooting problems is made a lot easier as the programmer can see step by step what the program is doing.

Debug info is enabled on a per template basis. To enable debug info collection take the following steps:

1. Click on templates
2. Select the template that is going to be used for import
3. Click on Edit
4. The following screen will be seen
5. Select the last option on the screen Collect debug information
6. Click on save

Debug information collects a lot of info, it is advised not to use it with large imports, rather use a small sample of a few records.

The debug output will be shown at the bottom of the page after the import is complete. The output looks like:

Version: 0.8 RC 1
Using template: Product Import
Using delimiter: ^
Using enclosure: ~
Not skipping the first line
Not skipping default value
Overwriting data
Use column headers for configuration
Preview used
Doing a regular import
Field: attribute_values
Field: product_sku
Field: manufacturer_name
Field: product_price
Field: product_name
Field: product_s_desc
Field: product_publish
Field: product_special
Field: category_path
Field: product_desc
Field: product_full_image
Field: product_thumb_image
Using the first line to setup the required fields
Going into normal upload
Check if the product exists: Show/hide query
SELECT product_id FROM #__vm_product WHERE product_sku='prod003'
 
Updating the product with new data: Show/hide query
UPDATE #__vm_product SET product_desc = '<hr2>HR-028-R2</h2><h5>&copy;&nbsp; 2008, 
Mankaho</h5>DESCRIPTION', product_full_image = 'poali003_Promo1.jpg', product_name = 
'HR-028-R2', product_publish = 'N', product_s_desc = 'HR-028-R2', product_sku = 
'prod003', product_special = 'N', product_thumb_image = 'prod_Thumb.jpg', mdate= 
UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW()) WHERE product_sku='prod003'

Once the debug output is generated it is ready for analysis and can be posted on the forum along with the description of the problem.