Req #76313 [NEW]: RFE: shorthand for ternary assignment "?="

From: php at richardneill dot org Operating system: Linux PHP version: 7.2.5 Package: Variables related Bug Type: Feature/Change Request Bug description:RFE: shorthand for ternary assignment "?=" Description: ------------ In the same way that we can have: $x += $y; as a shorthand for: $x = $x + $y; it would be helpful if we could have: $x ?= $y; as a shorthand for: $x = $x ?: $y; Alternatively, we could have the following syntax, which are more aligned with the 2 ways the ternary operator works, though I think it might less useful: $x ?:= $y; //c.f. $x = $x ?: $y; $x ?= $y : $z; //c.f. $x = $x ? $y : $z; This would be nice to have, simplify quite a lot of typing, and be consistent with all the other operators such as "*=" and ".=" . Thank you for your consideration and your time. A similar request exists here: Bug #72047 though as that bug has been closed, I assume (please correct me if I'm wrong) that it's better to open a new one. In that bug, the idea is for "null coalescing", whereas I think it's more useful to deal with anything "falsey", bearing in mind that many data sources originate as web forms. Test script: --------------- <?php $name1 = "Jane"; $name2 = ""; $name1 ?= "[TBC]"; $name2 ?= "[TBC]"; echo "$name1 and $name2 are attending this event."; // Jane and [TBC] are attending this event." ?> -- Edit bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76313&edit=1 -- Try a snapshot (PHP 5.4): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=trysnapshot54 Try a snapshot (PHP 5.5): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=trysnapshot55 Try a snapshot (trunk): https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=trysnapshottrunk Fixed in SVN: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=fixed Fixed in release: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=needscript Try newer version: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=oldversion Not developer issue: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=support Expected behavior: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=notwrong Not enough info: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=submittedtwice register_globals: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=globals PHP 4 support discontinued: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=php4 Daylight Savings: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=dst IIS Stability: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=gnused Floating point limitations: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=float No Zend Extensions: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: https://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=76313&r=mysqlcfg