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Bug #1348 count() can't identify a non-array variable correctly
Submitted: 1999-04-24 16:56 UTC Modified: 1999-04-24 17:01 UTC
From: mike24 at bellsouth dot net Assigned:
Status: Closed Package: Misbehaving function
PHP Version: 3.0.7 OS: Linux 2.0.36
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
View Developer Edit
 [1999-04-24 16:56 UTC] mike24 at bellsouth dot net 
The manual says that count "returns 1 if the variable is not an array." This can produce inaccurate results if the variable is an array, but has only one element.

Temporary Solution:
Don't use count(). Instead use is_array(), isset(), and sizeof().

Solution:
Set integer returned by count() to (-1) when the tested variable is not an array.

Patches

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 [1999-04-24 17:01 UTC] rasmus 
I don't see how 1 is inaccurate.  Think of a variable as a 1-element array.  count() was never designed to distinguish between arrays and variables.  It was simply designed to tell you how many elements something contains.  Having it return -1 would be counter-intuitive.
 
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