Backward Incompatible Changes

Although most existing PHP 5 code should work without changes, you should pay attention to the following backward incompatible changes:

  • getrusage() returns NULL when passed incompatible arguments as of PHP 5.2.1.
  • ZipArchive::setCommentName() returns TRUE on success as of PHP 5.2.1.
  • ZipArchive::setCommentIndex() returns TRUE on success as of PHP 5.2.1.
  • SplFileObject::getFilename() returns the filename, not relative/path/to/file, as of PHP 5.2.1.
  • Changed priority of PHPRC environment variable on Win32 The PHPRC environment variable now takes priority over the path stored in the Windows registry.
  • CLI SAPI no longer checks cwd for php.ini or the php-cli.ini file In PHP 5.1.x an undocumented feature was added that made the CLI binary check the current working directory for a PHP configuration file, potentially leading to unpredictable behavior if an unexpected configuration file were read. This functionality was removed in 5.2.0, and PHP will no longer search CWD for the presence of php.ini or php-cli.ini files. See also the command line section of the manual.
  • Added a warning when performing modulus 0 operations In earlier versions of PHP, performing integer % 0 did not emit any warning messages, instead returning an unexpected return value of FALSE. As of PHP 5.2.0, this operation will emit an E_WARNING, as is the case in all other instances where division by zero is performed.
    <?php
    print 10 0;
    /* Warning:  Division by zero in filename on line n */
    ?>
  • Changed __toString() to be called wherever applicable. The magic method __toString() will now be called in a string context, that is, anywhere an object is used as a string. The fallback of returning a string that contains the object identifier was dropped in PHP 5.2.0. It became problematic because an object identifier cannot be considered unique. This change will mean that your application is flawed if you have relied on the object identifier as a return value. An attempt to use that value as a string will now result in a catchable fatal error.
    <?php
    class foo {}
    $foo = new foo;
    print 
    $foo;
    /* Catchable fatal error:  Object of class foo could
       not be converted to string in filename on line n */
    ?>
    Even with __toString(), objects cannot be used as array indices or keys. We may add built-in hash support for this at a later date, but as of PHP 5.2.x you will need to either provide your own hashing or use the new SPL function spl_object_hash(). Exceptions can not be thrown from __toString() methods.
    <?php
    class foo {
        public function 
    __toString() {
            throw new 
    Exception;
        }
    }

    try {
        print new 
    foo;
        
    /* Fatal error:  Method foo::__toString() must
           not throw an exception in filename on line n */
    } catch(Exception $e) {}
    ?>
  • Dropped abstract static class functions. Due to an oversight, PHP 5.0.x and 5.1.x allowed abstract static functions in classes. As of PHP 5.2.x, only interfaces can have them.
    <?php
    abstract class foo {
        abstract static function 
    bar();
        
    /* Strict Standards:  Static function foo::bar()
           should not be abstract in filename on line n */
    }
    ?>
  • Oracle extension requires at least Oracle 10 on Windows.
  • Added RFC2397 (data: stream) support. The introduction of the 'data' URL scheme has the potential to lead to a change of behavior under Windows. If you are working with a NTFS file system and making use of meta streams in your application, and if you just happen to be using a file with the name 'data:' that is accessed without any path information - it won't work any more. The fix is to use the 'file:' protocol when accessing it. See also » RFC 2397
    <?php
    /* when allow_url_include is OFF (default) */
    include "data:;base64,PD9waHAgcGhwaW5mbygpOz8+";
    /* Warning:  include(): URL file-access is disabled
       in the server configuration in filename on line n */
    ?>
  • Regression in glob() patterns In version 5.2.4 a security fix caused a regression for patterns of the form "/foo/*/bar/*". Since version 5.2.5 instead of raising a warning the glob() function will return FALSE when openbase_dir restrictions are violated.

User Contributed Notes

goellerk at bucks dot edu 07-Jun-2010 02:20
str_pad has been modified as well, to enforce UPPERCASE sensitivity on the pad_type declaration.

Optional argument pad_type can be STR_PAD_RIGHT, STR_PAD_LEFT, or STR_PAD_BOTH. If pad_type is not specified it is assumed to be STR_PAD_RIGHT.

If entered as:
$foo = 10;
$wrong = str_pad($foo, 4,'0',str_pad_left);
print "wrong is '$wrong'<br>";

$right = str_pad($foo,4,'0',STR_PAD_LEFT);
print "right is '$right'<br>";

results:
wrong is '    '
right is '  10'
Alexander Schuch 04-Feb-2010 06:42
If the sole reason for having "abstract static methods" is to force the implementation of such a method in a child, consider using an interface for them. The abstract class implements the interface, and a child class extends the base class and defines the "abstract static methods".

<?php
interface I
{
static public function
f();
}

abstract class
C implements I
{
// more/other methods go here
}

class
D extends C
{
static public function
f()
{
echo
'I am f().';
}
}
?>
jbarker at erepublic dot com 21-Feb-2008 06:44
If any of your code relies on includes of URLS  ид la allow_url_fopen, be aware that a new directive (allow_url_include) has been added, and that it defaults to Off.
php dot manual at frankkleine dot de 10-Nov-2007 04:17
Between PHP 5.2.3 and 5.2.4 another backward incompatible change was introduced: parent classes now can not access private properties of child classes with get_object_vars(). See the following example:

class Bar {
    public function dumpBar()  {
        var_dump(get_object_vars($this));
    }
}
class Foo extends Bar {
    public $public = 'public';
    protected $protected = 'protected';
    private $private = 'private';

    public function dump() {
        var_dump(get_object_vars($this));
    }
}

$foo = new Foo();
$foo->dump();
$foo->dumpBar();

The result with PHP < 5.2.4:
E:\php\tests>php get_object_vars.php
array(3) {
  ["public"]    => string(6) "public"
  ["protected"] => string(9) "protected"
  ["private"]   => string(7) "private"
}

array(3) {
  ["public"]    => string(6) "public"
  ["protected"] => string(9) "protected"
  ["private"]   => string(7) "private"
}

And the result with PHP >= 5.2.4:
E:\php-5.2.4-Win32>php ../php/tests/get_object_vars.php
array(3) {
  ["public"]    => string(6) "public"
  ["protected"] => string(9) "protected"
  ["private"]   => string(7) "private"
}

array(2) {
  ["public"]    => string(6) "public"
  ["protected"] => string(9) "protected"
}

As you can see the private property is missing now when dumped from the parent class Bar.
Erik Osterman 29-Mar-2007 07:44
It should be noted that if you provide a __toString method, you can cast the object to a string and use it as an array key (PHP 5.2.x).

e.g.   $array[ (string)$myObject ] = 'foobar';

This is an alternative to using spl_object_hash.