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Bug #35728 constructors with a return by reference cause a notice to be thrown
Submitted: 2005-12-19 00:18 UTC Modified: 2005-12-19 14:49 UTC
From: t dot isler at bbn dot de Assigned:
Status: Not a bug Package: Scripting Engine problem
PHP Version: 5.1.1 OS:
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
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 [2005-12-19 00:18 UTC] t dot isler at bbn dot de 
Description:
------------
I don't know wether you want to consider the following a bug, but as far as my understanding of oop is concerned, the behavior of php 4.4 and 5.1 is "unusual" when comes to constructors with a return by reference.

Reproduce code:
---------------
<?php
  class firstObject { function & __construct() {} }
  class secondObject { function & __construct() {return $this;} }
  $firstObject =& new firstObject();
  $secondObject =& new secondObject();
?>

Expected result:
----------------
The first constructor should pass without a problem, the second should throw an error.

Actual result:
--------------
The first constructor throws a notice, the second passes without any problem.

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 [2005-12-19 00:32 UTC] tony2001@php.net 
Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not
a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at
http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report
a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php

That's exactly what you get with this:
<?php
function &foo() {}
$test = & foo();
?>
And this is expected behaviour (because your code is obviously wrong).
Also, if you set error_reporting to E_ALL | E_STRICT, you'll see even more error messages telling you about your code.
 [2005-12-19 14:29 UTC] t dot isler at bbn dot de 
Even if I remove the assignments by reference it does not change the problem. Next to fact that I do not see the sense of your code example unless you wish to imply that constructors in PHP do not differ from regular functions. As far as OOP is concerned a constructor has an implicit return ($this) and languages such as C++ or Java will throw an error, if a constructor includes an explicit return.
 [2005-12-19 14:49 UTC] tony2001@php.net 
>Even if I remove the assignments by reference it does not
> change the problem.
Yes it does.

>Next to fact that I do not see the sense of your code example
That's exactly what I wanted to demonstrate.
There is no point in returning by reference from constructor, since it doesn't return anything at all.
 
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