#38821 [NEW]: settype() creates variable "by reference"

From: tklingenberg at lastflood dot com Operating system: win32 PHP version: 5.1.6 PHP Bug Type: Variables related Bug description: settype() creates variable "by reference" Description: ------------ settype() needs a variable passed by reference. if this variable is not defined/set, it does not throw an error. instead, and that is the bug per se, settype creates the variable passed "by reference". Reproduce code: --------------- <? /* $var does not exsits, this throws an error */ var_dump($var); /* settype should work on existing vars only (by &reference) */ $r = settype($var, "string"); /* $var does exist now */ var_dump($var); ?> Expected result: ---------------- <br /> <b>Notice</b>: Undefined variable: var in <b>test.php</b> on line <b>3</b><br /> NULL <br /> <b>Notice</b>: Undefined variable: var in <b>test.php</b> on line <b>6</b><br /> NULL Actual result: -------------- <br /> <b>Notice</b>: Undefined variable: var in <b>test.php</b> on line <b>3</b><br /> NULL string(0) "" -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=38821&edit=1 -- Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 4.4): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=trysnapshot44 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=trysnapshot52 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=fixedcvs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=globals PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=php3 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=38821&r=mysqlcfg