Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=50688&edit=1
ID: 50688
Comment by: poehler at interworx dot com
Reported by: jcampbell at remindermedia dot com
Summary: Using exceptions inside usort() callback function
causes a warning
Status: Assigned
Type: Bug
Package: Arrays related
Operating System: Fedora Core 12
PHP Version: 5.*, 6
Assigned To: stas
Block user comment: N
Private report: N
New Comment:
This bug is still present as of PHP 5.3.8, we ran into it today and spent most of a day trying to
figure out what was causing the error message "Array was modified by the user comparison
function", when CLEARLY, NOTHING was changing the array at all!
The exception was not thrown/caught directly in the usort function but rather in a constructor of a
class that was called about 3 or 4 functions deep from the usort, making it very difficult to track
down.
After finally figuring out the exception was somehow related, we searched google and found this bug
report. I'm sure we can agree that the minor act of catching an exception should not result in
usort throwing a warning message. This bug is a huge timewaster :(
Previous Comments:
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[2010-10-07 23:34:54] philipwhiuk at hotmail dot com
I notice this is still affecting PHP 5.3.3 (Windows/Apache install).
Is this likely to be fixed soon - is it a question of developer time and priority
or is it too difficult to fix?
It's quite irritating - I realise that the obvious solution is to avoid throwing
the exception (ha-ha) but it's a useful function and exceptions are... inevitable.
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[2010-05-31 17:24:05] ajrattink at correct dot net
I printed a debug line from my usort callback. It called debug_backtrace() to print the line and
sourcefile in the debuglog. And therefor triggered the error. Even more, it did not sort.
Maybe the phpmanual should state that usort() callbacks are not allowed to write loglines. I also
think that usort() callbacks that DO change the array are perfectly legal, as long as they
don't change the sort.
Maybe your sorter code needs stackoverflow protection or whatever, but calling certain code
'invalid', because it causes your code to SEGV is a stupid way to solve a bug.
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[2010-04-01 02:12:52] stas@php.net
The reason seems to be that when making exception backtrace, debug_backtrace_get_args() uses
SEPARATE_ZVAL_TO_MAKE_IS_REF() on arguments, which makes it look as if the argument was indeed
modified (which usort is designed to protect against, since cmp callback is not supposed to modify
the arguments)
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[2010-03-05 17:41:30] bernie at dcbl dot ca
affects gentoo builds after > 5.2.10 (5.2.11, 5.2.11-r1, and 5.2.12)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2010-01-20 10:22:01] jani@php.net
This was caused by the fix for bug #50006 (there weren't such checks before :)
Stas, can you check this out? Didn't expect anyone to use exceptions, did you? :D
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