ID: 33884 User updated by: php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com Reported By: php-bug-33884 at ryandesign dot com Status: Bogus Bug Type: Unknown/Other Function Operating System: N/A PHP Version: 4.4.0 New Comment:
I'm sorry, I was not aware that I had submitted a duplicate. I did search beforehand and was not able to find a similar bug. Since you seem to have found one, could you please tell me its bug number so I can have a look? Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2005-07-29 18:12:56] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Please do not submit the same bug more than once. An existing bug report already describes this very problem. Even if you feel that your issue is somewhat different, the resolution is likely to be the same. Thank you for your interest in PHP. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [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