#50421 [Bgs]: Inconsistent behavior in array_rand() after PHP 5.2.10 changes

ID: 50421 User updated by: v1d4l0k4 at gmail dot com Reported By: v1d4l0k4 at gmail dot com Status: Bogus Bug Type: Arrays related Operating System: Ubuntu 9.10 PHP Version: 5.2.11 New Comment: I already see the bug #48224. It was mainly for this that I wasted my time writing this. The current behavior is clearly bogus. There's no sense to do this. It's not a fix, it's a feature removal. Even if this is definitive, I repeat: there's NO ABSOLUTE SENSE in accept array count in $num_req param. Again: this was the most incomprehensive change I've seen so far (in the past 5 years) in the PHP development. PS: The recomendation to check the incomprehensive array_rand() docs at manual was a joke, right? Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2009-12-09 08:26:12] jani@php.net See bug #48224 for why this was done. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2009-12-09 08:24:54] jani@php.net Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2009-12-09 04:09:02] v1d4l0k4 at gmail dot com Description: ------------ PHP 5.2.10 introduced a controversial BC break in array_rand() function that doesn't sort array values when the $num_req param is equal to array count. This was the most incomprehensive change I've seen in the PHP development so far. If I have a random $num_req between 1 and array count I'll need to check if I've to use array_rand() ou shuffle()? It seems so stupid... On the other hand, if this change will remain it need to be fixed anyway: there's no sense in allow array count in $num_req - it returns the array unchanged with no warnings. In this case this parameter should receive a value less than the array count. And it should be nice to have shuffle() use recommendation in the warning if $num_req is equal to array count. BTW, the manual notes about this array_rand() change is very very very incomprehensive. Reproduce code: --------------- <?php $array = range('a', 'z'); foreach (array_rand($array, count($array)) as $key) { print $array[$key]; } ?> Expected result: ---------------- MAYBE: frkzmnvuyiptdcsewbxgjqhloa Actual result: -------------- ALWAYS: abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=50421&edit=1