Bug #70379 [Com]: call_user_func_array only accepts explicit references

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=70379&edit=1 ID: 70379 Comment by: patrickallaert@php.net Reported by: lolautruche at gmail dot com Summary: call_user_func_array only accepts explicit references Status: Assigned Type: Bug Package: Unknown/Other Function Operating System: OSX PHP Version: 7.0.0RC1 Assigned To: laruence Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Thinking about this, the behavior of PHP 5.x is strange. When a function accepts a value by reference, the only check should be to ensure that a variable is passed, otherwise "Fatal error: Only variables can be passed by reference" should be raised, e.g.: function by_ref(&$arg) { $arg = "changed"; }; by_ref("foo"); // Triggers the fatal error $x = "orig"; by_ref($x); // Changes $x to "changed" A function using "value by reference" doesn't mean that a reference should be passed on but that the local variable to the function should be treated as a reference to the original one. Hence I think that in ext/standard/tests/general_functions/call_user_func_array_variation_001.phpt, the second test: "Calling by_ref() with unreferenced argument" should NOT emit the warning "Warning: Parameter 1 to by_ref() expected to be a reference" either. Note that in PHP 5, one can call: call_user_func_array("by_ref", ["test"]); This is inconsistent as well, "Fatal error: Only variables can be passed by reference" should have been triggered. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2015-08-28 09:00:03] lolautruche at gmail dot com Description: ------------ In PHP 7, passing variables assigned by reference to call_user_func_array() (as part of arguments) now triggers a warning : "Warning: Parameter 1 to ... expected to be a reference, value given in..." It worked fine in PHP 5.6. Current workaround is to explicitly pass the value by reference (see code). Not sure if this is on purpose, but I couldn't find any mention in the UPGRADING doc about this specifically. Test script: --------------- <?php $foo = function (&$arg) { var_dump($arg); }; $a = 'bar'; $b =& $a; // Warning: Parameter 1 to {closure}() expected to be a reference, value given in /Users/lolautruche/Desktop/reference.php on line 8 call_user_func_array($foo, [$b]); // Works fine call_user_func_array($foo, [&$a]); Expected result: ---------------- string(3) "bar" string(3) "bar" Actual result: -------------- Warning: Parameter 1 to {closure}() expected to be a reference, value given in /Users/lolautruche/Desktop/reference.php on line 10 string(3) "bar" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=70379&edit=1