From:             php at richardneill dot org
Operating system: Linux
PHP version:      5.2.9
PHP Bug Type:     Feature/Change Request
Bug description:  wish: syntax error, unexpected $end should show start point

Description:
------------
If I have a script with a syntax error, such as a missing '}' somewhere,
PHP will helpfully tell me that there's a problem, but direct me to look in
the wrong place.

The error message is as follows:
   Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in [FILENAME] at 
   [NUMBER_OF_LAST_LINE]

This is unhelpful for 2 reasons.

 * It isn't clear what type of syntax error would cause this - there's no
way to know what character PHP was expecting to see. 

 * I have no easy way of finding the offending line where the bug really
lies, apart from commenting out parts of the source and doing a
binary-search within it. Essentially, PHP is saying "You have an error, but
I won't tell you where".



Expected result:
----------------
The following would be clearer and *far* more helpful.

  Syntax error: unexpected $end in [FILENAME] at LINENUM: missing
  an expected '}' character. (The corresponding, unmatched '{' is
  probably at line xxx.)



Of course, it's not always possible for PHP to know which open-brace is
the unmatched one - however, it could usually take a reasonable best guess
by iterating *backwards* through the source, and doing:
 
 1  $nest_depth=0
 2  If a '}' is encountered, $nest_depth++
 3  If a '{' is encountered, $nest_depth-- 
 4  If $nest_depth == -1, we have located the open-brace that isn't  
    closed. Print LINENUM.





-- 
Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=47883&edit=1
-- 
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2):        
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=trysnapshot52
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.3):        
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=trysnapshot53
Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0):        
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=trysnapshot60
Fixed in CVS:                        
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=fixedcvs
Fixed in CVS and need be documented: 
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=needdocs
Fixed in release:                    
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=alreadyfixed
Need backtrace:                      
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=needtrace
Need Reproduce Script:               
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=needscript
Try newer version:                   
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=oldversion
Not developer issue:                 
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=support
Expected behavior:                   
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=notwrong
Not enough info:                     
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=notenoughinfo
Submitted twice:                     
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=submittedtwice
register_globals:                    
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=globals
PHP 4 support discontinued:          http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=php4
Daylight Savings:                    http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=dst
IIS Stability:                       
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=isapi
Install GNU Sed:                     
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=gnused
Floating point limitations:          
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=float
No Zend Extensions:                  
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=nozend
MySQL Configuration Error:           
http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=47883&r=mysqlcfg

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