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Doc Bug #62446 static call of non-static function breaks context of late static binding
Submitted: 2012-06-29 08:00 UTC Modified: 2012-06-29 15:43 UTC
From: picht at eventit dot ag Assigned:
Status: Not a bug Package: Documentation problem
PHP Version: 5.3.14 OS: ubuntu 2.6.32-41-server
Private report: No CVE-ID: None
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 [2012-06-29 08:00 UTC] picht at eventit dot ag 
Description:
------------
When calling a non-static function statically the late static binding context 
still points to the calling class context. This should be documented on the static 
keyword page.

Test script:
---------------
<?php

class a {
    public static function foo()
    {
        echo 'foo a';
    }

    public function bar()
    {
        // expecting to call a::foo or b::foo
        // calls c::foo instead
        static::foo();
    }
}

class b extends a {
    public static function foo()
    {
        echo 'foo b';
    }
}

class c {
    public function test()
    {
        b::bar();
    }

    public static function foo()
    {
        echo 'foo c';
    }
}

$c = new c();
$c->test();


Expected result:
----------------
Documentation suggest b::foo will be called

Actual result:
--------------
Documentation warns about c::foo getting called

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 [2012-06-29 08:03 UTC] picht at eventit dot ag 
I mixed up "Expected result" and "Actual result".
They should be the other way around. Sorry for that!
 [2012-06-29 08:15 UTC] kantert at eventit dot ag 
This is a simpler example:

<?php
class Inner {
    public static function internalStatic()
    {
    }

    public function NonStaticCalledStaticLate()
    {
        static::internalStatic();
    }

    public function NonStaticCalledStaticSelf()
    {
        self::internalStatic();
    }
}

class Outer {
    public function testWorking()
    {
        Inner::NonStaticCalledStaticSelf();
    }

    public function testBroken()
    {
        Inner::NonStaticCalledStaticLate();
    }
}

// Working
Inner::NonStaticCalledStaticLate();
// Working
Inner::NonStaticCalledStaticSelf();
$obj = new Outer();
// Working
$obj->testWorking();
// Broken
$obj->testBroken();
// PHP Fatal error:  Call to undefined method Outer::internalStatic() in test.php on line 9
echo "Worked";
?>
 [2012-06-29 15:28 UTC] cataphract@php.net 
I don't know where this confusion comes from. The documentation on php.net/lsb says "[I]n case of non static method calls, [the called class] is the class of the object."
 [2012-06-29 15:33 UTC] picht at eventit dot ag 
Because the self keyword works as expected. Try and have a look at the example my 
coworker posted.
 [2012-06-29 15:43 UTC] cataphract@php.net
-Status: Open +Status: Not a bug
 [2012-06-29 15:43 UTC] cataphract@php.net 
I see where the confusion comes from.

'self' works because 'self' refers to the current class 'static' refers to the 'called class'. So in

$obj = new Outer();
$obj->testWorking();
$obj->testBroken();

the first call works because 'self' refers to 'Inner'. The twist is that 'static' refers to outer. To understand this, you have to know two things:

a) In case of non static method calls, the called class is the class of the object, as I said earlier.
b) The class of the object in the body of Inner::NonStaticCalledStaticLate() called from Outer::testBroken() is actually outer.

b) may be surprising and is actually a nasty backwards compatibility feature of PHP. If you have E_STRICT on you get a message like "Strict Standards: Non-static method a::bar() should not be called statically, assuming $this from incompatible context". See also http://lxr.php.net/xref/OTHER_IMPLEMENT/hiphop-vm/doc/inconsistencies#97

In any case, this is unrelated to LSB.
 
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