Req #52215 [NEW]: Add var_ref_count()

From: Date: Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:33:04 +0000
Subject: Req #52215 [NEW]: Add var_ref_count()
Groups: php.bugs 
Request: Send a blank email to php-bugs+get-152002@lists.php.net to get a copy of this message 
From:             
Operating system: Any
PHP version:      5.3.3RC1
Package:          Variables related
Bug Type:         Feature/Change Request
Bug description:Add var_ref_count()

Description:
------------
It seems there is no easy way to know if an object/array/... is reference.


Looking at the source code of ext/standard/var.c it seems it may be not so
hard to add that function. As debug_zval_dump already outputs the reference
count, it would be better to obtain that value in order to determine if an
object is referenced or not. Maybe something like (I'm not C programmer):

PHPAPI void php_var_ref_count(zval **struc)
{
    return Z_REFCOUNT_PP(struc);
}

Knowing the reference count may be helpful to:
- make copies of a structure without references
- remove variables that have more than 1 reference (safe remove)
- remove variables that are not referenced (unused values)
- prevent modifying a variable that is referenced 

I believe there must be more applications but these are the ones I can
think of.

(background:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3148125/php-check-if-object-array-is-a-reference)


Test script:
---------------
<?php

$en = array("a" => "apple", "b" => "banana");
$es = array("a" => "manzana", "b" => "platano");
$dict = array(
   "Eng" => $en,
   "Esp" => $es,
   "Non" => array("a" => "A", "b" => "B")
);

echo var_ref_count($dict["Eng"]); 
echo " # ";
echo var_ref_count($dict["Non"]); 

?>

Expected result:
----------------
2 # 1

Actual result:
--------------
None (inexistent)

-- 
Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=52215&edit=1
-- 
Try a snapshot (PHP 5.2):            http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=trysnapshot52
Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3):            http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=trysnapshot53
Try a snapshot (trunk):              http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=trysnapshottrunk
Fixed in SVN:                        http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=fixed
Fixed in SVN and need be documented: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=needdocs
Fixed in release:                    http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=alreadyfixed
Need backtrace:                      http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=needtrace
Need Reproduce Script:               http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=needscript
Try newer version:                   http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=oldversion
Not developer issue:                 http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=support
Expected behavior:                   http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=notwrong
Not enough info:                     http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=notenoughinfo
Submitted twice:                     http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=submittedtwice
register_globals:                    http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=globals
PHP 4 support discontinued:          http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=php4
Daylight Savings:                    http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=dst
IIS Stability:                       http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=isapi
Install GNU Sed:                     http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=gnused
Floating point limitations:          http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=float
No Zend Extensions:                  http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=nozend
MySQL Configuration Error:           http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52215&r=mysqlcfg

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