Bug #61526 [Opn]: is_subclass_of(string, string, false) always returns false

From: Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2012 02:37:04 +0000
Subject: Bug #61526 [Opn]: is_subclass_of(string, string, false) always returns false
References: 1  Groups: php.bugs 
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Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=61526&edit=1

 ID:                 61526
 Updated by:         yohgaki@php.net
 Reported by:        gtisza at gmail dot com
 Summary:            is_subclass_of(string, string, false) always returns
                     false
 Status:             Open
 Type:               Bug
 Package:            Class/Object related
 Operating System:   Debian
 PHP Version:        5.3.10
 Block user comment: N
 Private report:     N

 New Comment:

The same behavior in PHP 5.4.1RC.

Is this a doc problem or bug in PHP?

From http://php.net/manual/en/function.is-subclass-of.php

----
allow_string
Whether to call autoloader if the class doesn't exist.
----

----
5.3.9	 Added allow_string parameter
5.0.3	 You may also specify the object parameter as a string (the name of the 
class)
----

I'm not sure, but is this a bug introduced by is_a() fix?
I didn't follow the discussion, so I hope someone could address this issue. 

BTW, correct PoC would be following code.

<?php
class Super {}
class Sub extends Super {}

var_dump(is_subclass_of('Sub', 'Super')); // true
var_dump(is_subclass_of('Sub', 'Super', true)); // true
var_dump(is_subclass_of('Sub', 'Super', false)); // false
?>


Previous Comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2012-03-27 09:46:04] gtisza at gmail dot com

Description:
------------
According to the documentation ( http://php.net/manual/en/function.is-subclass-of.php
) the third parameter of is_subclass_of decides "Whether to call autoloader if the class
doesn't exist." 

That means that is_subclass_of('class1', 'class2', false) should
- return true if class1 is loaded and a subclass of class2
- return false if class1 is loaded but not a subclass of class2
- return false if class1 is not loaded

What actually happens is that it always returns false, no matter what. The naming of the parameter -
"$allow_string" - suggests this is somewhat intentional, but it is a completely
unintuitive and unhelpful behavior, which makes the option completely useless: is_subclass_of with
$allow_string set to false becomes worthless if the first argument is a string, and if it is an
object, the third parameter is pointless again as the class must have been loaded already.

Test script:
---------------
class Super {}
class Sub extends Super {}

var_dump(is_subclass_of('Sub', 'Super')); // true

var_dump(is_subclass_of('Sub', 'Super'), false); // should be true but false




------------------------------------------------------------------------



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Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=61526&edit=1


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