ID: 33884
User updated by: php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com
Reported By: php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com
-Status: Bogus
+Status: Open
Bug Type: Unknown/Other Function
Operating System: N/A
PHP Version: 4.4.0
New Comment:
I wasn't sure if I was supposed to re-open the bug for you to
see my new comments.
Previous Comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2005-07-27 17:04:52] php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com
Thank you for your response.
I already checked the documentation on functions returning
by reference and could not find any indication that such
functions must always return something. If this is the case,
then this should be documented. If it already is documented,
I would appreciate a direct link to the relevant page.
I have many years of experience in software development,
software testing and bug reporting, and did not think my bug
report had been filed improperly. If you have specific
suggestions for how I could make future bug reports more
useful to you, by all means please share them with me.
Truly, if my function never returned anything, then as you
say I would not need to declare the it as return-by-
reference. However, I do sometimes need to return a
reference. Therefore the function must be declared in this
way. Here is a more concrete example of what my function
does:
class foo {
function &get_or_set($bar, $baz = null) {
if ($baz) {
$GLOBALS['qux'][$bar] =& $baz;
} else {
return $GLOBALS['qux'][$bar];
}
}
}
In this particular case, I can avoid the error by modifying
the code so that the "else" part occurs unconditionally. I
just couldn't see any reason to require that a return-by-
reference function must return a value, when return-by-copy
functions are not restricted in this manner. If such a
reason exists, please enlighten me.
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[2005-07-27 16:14:27] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not
a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at
http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report
a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php
If you don\'t return anything you don\'t need
return-by-reference...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2005-07-27 15:02:41] php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com
Description:
------------
Hi. After upgrading from PHP 4.3.11 to 4.4.0 I get the
famous "Only variable references should be returned by
reference" notice in one of my projects. The function in
question returns by reference, but only needs to do this
sometimes. Other times, it returns nothing at all, because
the caller does not need a return value. In these latter
cases, PHP produces the notice as of 4.4.0.
This surprised me because it's perfectly fine to have a
normal return-by-copy function that does not return
anything. So why not a return-by-reference function?
I couldn't find any documentation that if your function
returns by reference, then you must always return something.
In my particular case I can rewrite the function so that it
always returns something, even when the caller has no use
for it. I just wasn't sure if the notice in this case was
intended, and if so, why.
If the behavior is intended, then the documentation should
reflect this.
Reproduce code:
---------------
error_reporting(E_ALL);
function &foo_by_reference_with_return() {
echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n";
return $GLOBALS['bar'];
}
function &foo_by_reference_without_return() {
echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n";
} // line 11
function foo_by_copy_with_return() {
echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n";
return $GLOBALS['bar'];
}
function foo_by_copy_without_return() {
echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n";
}
foo_by_reference_with_return();
foo_by_reference_without_return(); // causes notice in 4.4.0
foo_by_copy_with_return();
foo_by_copy_without_return();
Expected result:
----------------
foo_by_reference_with_return
foo_by_reference_without_return
foo_by_copy_with_return
foo_by_copy_without_return
Actual result:
--------------
foo_by_reference_with_return
foo_by_reference_without_return
Notice: Only variable references should be returned by
reference in references.php on line 11
foo_by_copy_with_return
foo_by_copy_without_return
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=33884&edit=1
