The Param Dumper is a tool that can be used to get at the parameter fields used within Joomla! to store semi structured information. This tool allows you to directly view or copy in the raw INI values of the param fields for various systems. Usage of this tool isn't for the weak of heart. Different extensions within Joomla utilise INI files to configure things, and these are stored in the 'params' field of their respective table. It is sometimes useful to grab these values to back them up or restore them.
 

Usage:

• First you will need to work out if the table is supported, these are tables with the exact field name 'params'
• Once you have selected your table, you will have to determine the key field, typically this is called 'id'
• Once you have determined the key field, you will need to determine the unique identifier of the field. This might be available when viewing or editing the individual item as an "ID" column (Note: this may not be the # column but will probably be an 'Id' column)
• When you have determined all of this information, you can select "Load Params" to load the data from the table. Once it is loaded you can update the value with new values by hitting "Save Params".

We'll take a quick example from the modules. If you first navigate to the module manager you will notice that on the right there is an "ID" field. In the default sample data there is a menu called "Key Concepts" which has the ID of "40":

It will also work for otther fields. If more than one result is returned the first will be displayed however when you save all instances will be updated.

In the example above we are using the components table searching on the 'option' field for the value 'com_content'. After clicking 'Load Params' the contents of this field has been displayed. You can copy these values else where as a backup or edit them and click save to make changes.

Note: There is a bug in JDiagnostic 1.5.2 that prevents the above example working. Downloading the latest version of the Param Dumper (username is anonymous and the password is blank) and overwriting the version stored on your server will fix this problem (the file should be at /administrator/components/com_jdiagnostic/tools/paramdumper/paramdumper.php).