#45956 [NEW]: Design problem: parse_ini_file lacks ability to handle errors gracefully

From: bugs at timj dot co dot uk Operating system: irrelevant PHP version: 5.2.6 PHP Bug Type: Filesystem function related Bug description: Design problem: parse_ini_file lacks ability to handle errors gracefully Description: ------------ This seems to be a design error rather than a bug: parse_ini_file() does not provide any way to handle errors gracefully. In the event of a syntax error, it throws an E_WARNING *but* the return value is simply an empty array (the same as a - valid - empty file) instead of FALSE. Thus there is no way to trap the error (via @ prefix) and handle it in a more graceful way than an E_WARNING. I would argue that changing the return value to FALSE in the case of an invalid file is a reasonable change, since the only situations it will break are ones where currently PHP throws a warning anyway. Reproduce code: --------------- This is what it would be nice to be able to do: $ini = @parse_ini_file('some_invalid.ini'); if ($ini === false) { // error: do something graceful } // normal execution Expected result: ---------------- The code section "// do something graceful" executes Actual result: -------------- The code section "// normal execution" executes -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=45956&edit=1 -- Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=trysnapshot52 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.3): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=trysnapshot53 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=fixedcvs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=php4 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=45956&r=mysqlcfg