Req #75145 [Opn->Sus]: Expand support for cloning mixed content (arrays, scalars etc.).

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=75145&edit=1 ID: 75145 Updated by: requinix@php.net Reported by: jocrutrisi at ibsats dot com Summary: Expand support for cloning mixed content (arrays, scalars etc.). -Status: Open +Status: Suspended Type: Feature/Change Request -Package: *General Issues +Package: Scripting Engine problem PHP Version: 7.2.0RC1 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Thank you for your interest in PHP and for submitting a feature request. Please be aware that due to the magnitude of change this request requires, it would be necessary to discuss it on PHP Internals list (internals@lists.php.net) as an RFC. Please read the guide about creating RFCs here: <https://wiki.php.net/rfc/howto>. If you haven't had experience with writing RFCs before, it is advised to seek guidance on the Internals list (<http://php.net/mailing-lists.php>) and/or solicit help from one of the experienced developers. Please do not consider this comment as a negative view on the merits of your proposal – every proposal which requires changes of certain magnitude, even the very successful and widely supported ones, must be done through the RFC process. This helps make the process predictable, transparent and accessible to all developers. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-09-01 12:52:43] jocrutrisi at ibsats dot com I just wanted to add, in case it wasn't clear, object cloning when doing "clone $array" should be deep, i.e. arrays in arrays in arrays which contain objects should also be cloned. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-09-01 12:48:05] jocrutrisi at ibsats dot com Description: ------------ Cloning is a built-in operation in PHP, with its own token and opcode. Currently it works only on objects, but there's no reason for this restriction. There are also some valid use cases for cloning non-object values, which are not currently addressed, namely obtaining a "clone" of an array which contains objects (more on the proposal below). I propose: 1. Cloning continues to work on objects as it does now (no BC breaks). 2. Cloning is a NO-OP for: null, scalars; it just returns the value passed to clone. Semantically this works as null+scalars are either immutable, or copy-on-write. 3. Cloning for resources fails as it does now, because resources are not cloneable. --- Here comes the interesting part --- 4. Cloning for arrays returns a copy of the array, *where all values that are objects have been cloned*. Currently there's no way to obtain a comprehensive "clone" of an array containing objects like this, aside from implementing a recursive function/method to scan the array and do it (slow). So I think it'll be a useful addition and make clone less prone to throwing fatal errors when it semantically doesn't have to. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=75145&edit=1