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
