#38626 [NEW]: Passing not variables by Reference

From: php at swapo dot de Operating system: all PHP version: 5.1.5 PHP Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description: Passing not variables by Reference Description: ------------ The behaviour of pass by reference is a little odd. As stated here (http://www.php.net/manual/en/language.references.pass.php) passing by reference works only if you use a variable as a function argument. This is also the case with builtin functions like array_pop but I can think of many situations when it makes sense to use a function's return value as an argument to another function. A common example (perhaps not the best though) is to get a file extension by combining explode and array_pop. This wasn't a problem until PHP 5.1 and I think it shouldn't be now. Reproduce code: --------------- // doesn't work $extension = array_pop(explode('.', $filename)); // works $parts = explode('.', $filename); $extension = array_pop($parts); unset($parts); // surpressing the error message works too $extension = @array_pop(explode('.', $filename)); Expected result: ---------------- All examples should give the same result. Actual result: -------------- The first example results in an error message as the argument for array_pop must be a variable: Strict Standards: Only variables should be passed by reference -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=38626&edit=1 -- Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 4.4): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=trysnapshot44 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=trysnapshot52 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=fixedcvs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=globals PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=php3 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38626&r=mysqlcfg