Req #81493 [Opn]: shell_exec() should get a `int &$result_code = null` argument

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=81493&edit=1 ID: 81493 Updated by: nikic@php.net Reported by: divinity76 at gmail dot com Summary: shell_exec() should get a int &$result_code = null argument Status: Open Type: Feature/Change Request Package: Unknown/Other Function PHP Version: Next Minor Version Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: The docs for shell_exec() say: > On Windows, the underlying pipe is opened in text mode which can cause the function to fail for > binary output. Consider to use popen() instead for such cases. So it wouldn't be binary safe either... It's funny how we have so many of these functions and they all kinda suck. Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-10-01 15:17:13] divinity76 at gmail dot com actually scratch the exec() workaround, turns out that exec() is non-binary-safe and can't do shell_exec()'s job at all (in cases where binary safety is important) - with exec() it is impossible to differentiate between programs printing "foo" and "foo\n" ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-10-01 15:08:10] divinity76 at gmail dot com actually the implode() workaround is non-binary-safe, take for example: <?php declare(strict_types=1); $cmd= "php -r ".escapeshellarg('echo '.var_export("\n",true).";"); exec($cmd,$output,$ret); $output=implode("\n",$output); var_dump($output); ?> it prints emptystring, not a string containing a newline, sooo data corruption ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-10-01 15:01:05] divinity76 at gmail dot com @requinix to use exec() for the same task as shell_exec(), you'll have to (ab)use implode() like exec($cmd,$output,$ret); $output=implode("\n", $output); and to use system() for the same job, you'd have to (ab)use ob_* like ob_start(); system($cmd,$ret); $output=ob_get_clean(); same for passthru() as it stands now, if you want to do a shell_exec while also getting the os-level return value, you'll have to do a exec()+implode() workaround.. there would be no need for workarounds if shell_exec supported $result_code ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-10-01 14:37:57] requinix@php.net If you want a status code then why not use exec() or system()? Do we really need to make all three functions even *more* similar to each other? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2021-10-01 13:52:37] divinity76 at gmail dot com Description: ------------ doing exactly the same as the $result_code argument for system() and passthru() and exec() Test script: --------------- <?php $result_code=null; shell_exec(bin2hex(random_bytes(10))." 2>&1", $result_code); var_dump($result_code); Expected result: ---------------- platform-specific expected result, but at least on Linux one would expect: int(127) Actual result: -------------- PHP Warning: shell_exec() expects exactly 1 parameter, 2 given in /home/hansh/foo3.php on line 3 NULL ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=81493&edit=1