#40959 [NEW]: Returning unset array key by reference sets it to null

From: mamay55 at gmail dot com Operating system: Linux/Windows PHP version: 5.2.1 PHP Bug Type: Arrays related Bug description: Returning unset array key by reference sets it to null Description: ------------ Whenever a function (global or class method) returns a reference to an array element which is not set, the value of that element is set to null. Reproduce code: --------------- $data = array(); function &get_data($key) { global $data; return $data[$key]; } print_r($data); $result = &get_data('TEST'); echo $result; print_r($data); Expected result: ---------------- The expected result would be that the value of the unset element would not be set and the following warning would be produced: Undefined index: TEST in ... Actual result: -------------- Array ( ) Array ( [TEST] => ) -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=40959&edit=1 -- Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 4.4): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=trysnapshot44 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=trysnapshot52 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=fixedcvs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=globals PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=php3 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=40959&r=mysqlcfg