Req #52243 [NEW]: post 5.3 - keyword: delete, "force destruct"

From: Operating system: Windows XP (Irrelevant) PHP version: 5.3.2 Package: Variables related Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description:post 5.3 - keyword: delete, "force destruct" Description: ------------ Currently, it is impossible to force destruct/delete/destroy an object or any variable for that matter. Instead, you must unset all references until ref_count is at 0, at which point the variable/object is destructed/removed from memory. This works is fine as long as you know where all references are, but not if you don't. And this can happen e.g: when you're a lib developer and have to destruct something that the developer might reference several times, or if you're using a Singleton with a "destroy" method. Therefore, I propose a new language construct called "delete" (or some other fancy name), which deletes the variable immediately with all it's references and calling destructor if object & available. Having both unset & delete at your disposal would give you great freedom, both are useful for different situations. Test script: --------------- See: http://pastebin.com/pGdsed5M Note: as long as variables are in the same scope, all will be nulled with: <?php $a = 1; $b =& $a; $c =& $a; $a = null; ?> But this does not satisfy situations where references may be spread over many scopes. "pseudocode" of what delete($x) should do: $referencing_x = get_references_to($x); foreach($referencing_x as $ref) { $ref = null; } unset($x); Expected result: ---------------- With "delete" keyword implemented: ---------------------------------- A destructed Notice: Undefined variable: a in D:\Programming\UV\public\TEST\delete.php on line 48 NULL NULL NULL Actual result: -------------- With unset: ----------- Notice: Undefined variable: a in D:\Programming\UV\public\TEST\delete.php on line 52 NULL object(A)#30 (0) { } object(A)#30 (0) { } A destructed -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=52243&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.2): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=trysnapshot52 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (trunk): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=fixed Fixed in SVN and need be documented: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=needdocs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=php4 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=52243&r=mysqlcfg