Bug #75138 [Com]: Nested "IF" triggers Exception when it is before "else:" or "elseif:".

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=75138&edit=1 ID: 75138 Comment by: edelgrande at brennerplatz dot com Reported by: jcmarchi at gmail dot com Summary: Nested "IF" triggers Exception when it is before "else:" or "elseif:". Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: *Programming Data Structures Operating System: All PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Others already wrote in different ways what I think. Why should you write such a bad code? In order to be consistent, please use the same syntax in all the snippet. I could be a colleague who should put his hands over your code! This way, you can see there is much more clarity and no complex behaviour difficult to understand and analyse, be it a bug or not. Keep it simple, there are real PHP bugs out there we already have to cope with! <?php if (isset($bar)): if (isset($foo)): echo "Both are set."; endif; elseif (isset($foo)): echo "Only 'foo' is set."; else: echo "Only 'bar' is set."; endif; ?> Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-08-31 16:15:29] peehaa@php.net I am sorry for you, but as several people by now have stated: this is not a bug. No matter how many personal attacks on volunteers or how loud you are shouting it will not the status of this bug report. :-) At this point I see no reason to keep going at it. So I would suggest you to do just that. Sorry, but your problem does not imply a bug in PHP itself. For a list of more appropriate places to ask for help using PHP, please visit http://www.php.net/support.php as this bug system is not the appropriate forum for asking support questions. The support channels will be able to provide an explanation for you. Thank you for your interest in PHP. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-08-31 16:15:23] jcmarchi at gmail dot com Ok. Very well... I can accept it as not being a "BUG", but a "NEW SYNTAX requirement" (rules are rules). Next, it must be added to the language manual definition in regards to semicolon usage and purpose. I then propose the following addition to the PHP official documentation: ==================== When using "alternative syntax for control structures" observe the fact that when an "IF" statement is required to be nested into another IF-ELSEIF-ELSE block and it casually ends up being the last statement of the nested block, it is a LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT to terminate it with double semicolon (;;) to prevent the "dangling else" effect. ==================== Or, better, we can add it to the same (miss)interpretation concept, keeping documentation standards: ==================== Note: Mixing syntaxes in the same control block is not supported. Note: A nested "if" statement immediately before an "else:" or "elseif: " statement in control block is not supported. ==================== Or, even better! Let's simply ignore it all and leave it as it is. What harm can an extra ";" do anyway, right? Well done everyone. Good job! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-08-31 14:34:00] requinix@php.net If you want a fifth opinion, I agree with peehaa, nikic, rhsoft, and yohgaki: this isn't a bug. The second semicolon you're making a fit about changes the meaning of the structure. It introduces another statement (even if empty) and breaks the if/else pair apart, thus avoiding the dangling else problem. https://3v4l.org/0vsMV It's not a workaround. It's syntax. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-08-31 14:20:35] jcmarchi at gmail dot com @peehaa, you should re-open this BUG report because IT IS a bug! Or, at least, have the decency to gather a second opinion about it. You came to a conclusion too quickly and based on a sole visual analysis of the code samples (I bet you didn't even try some scenarios, did you?), and also by misinterpreting the PHP manual guidance... :S If a double semicolon ";;" or a semicolon after the closing curly bracket "};" requirement to fix a code parsing problem is not considered a bug, then I don't know what will ever be. By keeping this BUG REPORT open, other PHP developers (more willing to really make PHP better), will have a chance to look into it and come up with a real solution. Thank you. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2017-08-30 23:56:33] jcmarchi at gmail dot com @spam2, YES, I read it. More than that, I analyzed what is said there, I read more about "scannerless parsing" (not the case because it doesn't apply to PHP, which is bytecode by Zend Engine) and other processes discussed there, and I understood the whole discussion around the "dangling else" condition for the languages that are affected by it (PHP is not one of them). As much as it would be easy to simply accept that, read my answer to @yohgaki. He brought material to research and added good points to the discussion, but sadly it didn't explain what I replied to him, neither excused PHP from behaving the way it behaves for in the proposed conditions. You should really try some code samples. Create your own! Target the ";;" and "};" specific examples as reference. Remove these elements, redesign the logic without "unnesting" the problematic code. Prove me wrong about the bug or explain how ";;" and "};" fixes the issue even when it is not part of PHP concept and remember: "blank lines" should not affect the logic in place. Then this discussion may get to a valuable conclusion or an acceptance of the BUG existence. :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The remainder of the comments for this report are too long. To view the rest of the comments, please view the bug report online at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=75138 -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=75138&edit=1