php.net |  support |  documentation |  report a bug |  advanced search |  search howto |  statistics |  random bug |  login
Doc Bug #62406 Omitted passing by reference technique
Submitted: 2012-06-25 09:30 UTC Modified: 2012-06-25 10:18 UTC
From: renwooller at gmail dot com Assigned: nikic (profile)
Status: Closed Package: Documentation problem
PHP Version: Irrelevant OS:
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
Welcome back! If you're the original bug submitter, here's where you can edit the bug or add additional notes.
If you forgot your password, you can retrieve your password here.
Password:
Status:
Package:
Bug Type:
Summary:
From: renwooller at gmail dot com
New email:
PHP Version: OS:

 

 [2012-06-25 09:30 UTC] renwooller at gmail dot com
Description:
------------
The page describing how to pass variables by reference 
(http://my.php.net/manual/en/language.references.whatdo.php)
 doesn't mention another technique of passing by reference which is to put the 
ampersand on the variable when the function is being called, rather than in the 
function definition.

As a result, I'm not sure what the intended behaviour is eg:

Could it cause a problem?
Perhaps it's some side-effect of being able to declare arrays by reference that 
wasn't intended?
Perhaps it is a handy tool? 

The documentation should mention it and clarify.

Test script:
---------------
<?php
$a = 0;
testRef($a);
echo "no ref :    $a \n";
$a = 0;
testRef(&$a);
echo "input ref : $a \n";
$a = 0;
testRef($a);
echo "function definition ref :  $a \n";
$a = 0;
testRef(&$a);
echo "function definition and input ref :  $a \n";
function testRef($a) {
    $a +=1;
}
function testRef2(&$a) {
    $a +=1;
}
?>

Expected result:
----------------
I don't know, that's the problem with the documentation. Maybe 'input ref' should 
actually be 0?

Actual result:
--------------
no ref : 0 
input ref : 1 
function definition ref : 0 
function definition and input ref : 1 

Patches

pass-by-reference-at-function-invocation (last revision 2012-06-25 09:37 UTC by renwooller at gmail dot com)

Pull Requests

History

AllCommentsChangesGit/SVN commitsRelated reports
 [2012-06-25 10:18 UTC] nikic@php.net
This is called call time pass by reference and was deprecated in PHP 5.3 and subsequently removed in PHP 5.4.

There is a small note about it in http://my.php.net/manual/en/language.references.pass.php. I don't think that any further mention is necessary as this feature no longer exists.
 [2012-06-25 10:18 UTC] nikic@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Closed -Assigned To: +Assigned To: nikic
 
PHP Copyright © 2001-2026 The PHP Group
All rights reserved.
Last updated: Thu Oct 08 05:00:01 2026 UTC