Bug #79368 [Opn]: "Unexpected end of file" is not an acceptable error message

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79368&edit=1 ID: 79368 User updated by: php4fan at gmail dot com Reported by: php4fan at gmail dot com Summary: "Unexpected end of file" is not an acceptable error message Status: Open Type: Bug Package: *General Issues Operating System: all PHP Version: 7.4.4RC1 Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: > to tell you something specific it needs to be parsed Then how comes you are able to give sensible error messages in other cases? > "Unexpected end of file" is pretty clear! you are opening more stuff with > { as you close with } It could be {, it could be ( or [, even "... and then you have to find which one. And btw, it's not just not closing something that you've opened. For example this: ``` <?php $s = ``` Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-03-11 18:30:33] bugreports at gmail dot com > Well, I expect it to tell me why the input is unparseable to tell you something specific it needs to be parsed > By your reasoning, no userful error message would ever be given by any parser for any syntax > error "Unexpected end of file" is pretty clear! you are opening more stuff with { as you close with } ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-03-11 18:10:51] php4fan at gmail dot com > Please provide a concrete test case. You could have easily created one just with the information provided in my report, but here is one: ``` <?php if( ``` And here's another (see if you can spot the actual error, then imagine it being in a real-life-size file) ``` <p class="comment"> <span class="comment_text"><?php echo $comment->text; ?></span> <?php if (true) { ?> <span class="comment_edit_links"> </span> <? } ?> </p> ``` > how do you imagine a parser giving you somnething useable in case of *unparseable input* Well, I expect it to tell me why the input is unparseable. By your reasoning, no userful error message would ever be given by any parser for any syntax error. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-03-11 17:44:32] nikic@php.net Please provide a concrete test case. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-03-11 17:10:35] bugreports at gmail dot com how do you imagine a parser giving you somnething useable in case of *unparseable input* ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2020-03-11 16:52:35] php4fan at gmail dot com Description: ------------ "Unexpected <whatever>" alone is NEVER an acceptable error message. You have to tell me what you were expecting instead of what you unexpectedly found, like: "Unexpected XXXX. YYY or ZZZ expected". If that is tricky because the spectrum of legal things that could be expected is too broad, then give a hint or some context: "Unexpected X in Y", "Unmatched <this>", "incomplete <that>"... This is especially egregious with "unexpected end of file", which is usually caused by very trivial errors such an unclosed parenthesis, bracket, brace... but becomes impossible to debug with such an uninformative error message. (Unexpected end of file at line 999999 meaning the error can anywhere in a million lines) It's unbelievable that to this day such an error message is still a thing. "Unexpected end of file in 'if' condition / function body / whatever". You can easily do better than just "unexpected end of file". ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=79368&edit=1