Bug #79025 [Nab]: Assigning superglobals by reference in functions are reset to null

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79025&edit=1 ID: 79025 User updated by: ssigwart at yahoo dot com Reported by: ssigwart at yahoo dot com Summary: Assigning superglobals by reference in functions are reset to null Status: Not a bug Type: Bug Package: *General Issues Operating System: Any PHP Version: 7.4.1 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: Thanks for the quick response and details. That makes sense. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2019-12-24 06:49:20] requinix@php.net When you global $ref; PHP created a local variable inside the function named "ref" which acts as a reference to the global variable outside the function also named "ref". Since it didn't exist yet, it was given the value of null. When you $ref = &$_SESSION['var']; you severed the connection between the local and global $refs and instead gave the local $ref a new reference to $_SESSION['var']. The global $ref started with a value of NULL and never changed from that. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2019-12-24 05:46:40] thedinosaurmail at gmail dot com https://3v4l.org/WGsD9 it seems same at ervery version ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2019-12-24 05:19:33] ssigwart at yahoo dot com Description: ------------ When you assign a variable to a superglobal ($_SESSION, $_GET, etc) by reference within a function, the variable is reset to null once you exit the function. Test script: --------------- $_SESSION['var'] = 1; function func1() { global $ref; global $nonRef; $ref = &$_SESSION['var']; $nonRef = $_SESSION['var']; } func1(); var_dump($_SESSION['var']); var_dump($ref); var_dump($nonRef); Expected result: ---------------- int(1) int(1) int(1) Actual result: -------------- int(1) NULL int(1) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79025&edit=1