Req #43950 [Opn->Wfx]: Char-wise v byte-wise string indexing

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=43950&edit=1 ID: 43950 Updated by: narf@php.net Reported by: jrf_temp_2003 at comcast dot net Summary: Char-wise v byte-wise string indexing -Status: Open +Status: Wont fix Type: Feature/Change Request -Package: Feature/Change Request +Package: *General Issues Operating System: Linux PHP Version: 5.2.5 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: mbstring.func_overload is deprecated in PHP 7.2 and will be removed in 8.0. https://wiki.php.net/rfc/deprecations_php_7_2#mbstringfunc_overload Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2008-01-27 23:17:34] jrf_temp_2003 at comcast dot net Description: ------------ When I "upgraded" to multibyte char encoding and functions, I discovered that I could no longer rely on $s{strlen($s)-1} to access the last character in a string. Strlen correctly counted only whole chars, but the indexing came up short by the number of double-wide chars in the string and hit the wrong char. I could (and did) patch my scripts with rtrim, but others may not be so lucky. I had an idea... Suggestion: Some time ago, square brackets were deprecated in favor of curly braces for individual char access in a string. Could both be employed, each for a different purpose? Could curly braces to be used for multibyte-sensitive indexing? Could square brackets, as always, offer simple byte-wise access? Reproduce code: --------------- // After a loop chains field names + commas... $sql{strlen($sql)-1} = ' '; // Replace last trailing comma with a space $sql.= $where_clause; // Because my aim was at the very end of a string, rtrim could solve // my problem. Less specialized cases would not be so easy. Expected result: ---------------- // There should be two chars in quotes and no comma between the quoted // value and WHERE ... x="**" WHERE ... Actual result: -------------- // Two mb chars elsewhere in string displaced the substitution // by two places to the left, wiping out a quoted char and leaving // the comma: ... x="* ",WHERE ... // Could it be possible for $s{} to index by mb chars? If so, then // $s[] could be resurrected to index by bytes as both do currently. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=43950&edit=1