Req #63713 [NEW]: Need an "UNDEFINED" type

From: liquid_nitrogen_4ever at yahoo dot com Operating system: PHP version: Irrelevant Package: Variables related Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description:Need an "UNDEFINED" type Description: ------------ Consider the following scenario currently in PHP: var_dump($notExistentVariable); -> NOTICE: Undefined variable notHere on line 1 NULL isset($notExistentVariable); -> FALSE $foo = null; var_dump($foo); -> NULL isset($foo); -> FALSE If there were an UNDEFINED "type" (in the same sense that there is a NULL), the above scenarios would change to: var_dump($notExistentVariable); -> UNDEFINED isset($notExistentVariable); -> FALSE $foo = null; var_dump($foo); -> NULL isset($foo); -> TRUE However, unlike NULL, you would NOT be allowed to explicitly initialize something to UNDEFINED. $x=UNDEFINED;//error: if you want it to be undefined, don't declare it. However, having just: $x; makes sense (to me at least) as shortcut to: $x=NULL; In other words, if a variable is declared but not explicitly initialized, it will implicitly be set to NULL (which is essentially what you are already doing, but one can't really differentiate between declared and undeclared variables). -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=63713&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=trysnapshot54 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.3): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=trysnapshot53 Try a snapshot (trunk): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=fixed Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=php4 Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=63713&r=mysqlcfg