#33884 [Opn->Bgs]: "Only variable references should be returned by reference" if I return nothing

ID: 33884 Updated by: johannes@php.net Reported By: php-bugs-2005 at ryandesign dot com -Status: Open +Status: Bogus Bug Type: Unknown/Other Function Operating System: N/A PHP Version: 4.4.0 New Comment: Thank you for taking the time to write to us, but this is not a bug. Please double-check the documentation available at http://www.php.net/manual/ and the instructions on how to report a bug at http://bugs.php.net/how-to-report.php If you don't return anything you don't need return-by-reference... Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2005-07-27 15:02:41] php-bugs-2005 at ryandesign dot com Description: ------------ Hi. After upgrading from PHP 4.3.11 to 4.4.0 I get the famous "Only variable references should be returned by reference" notice in one of my projects. The function in question returns by reference, but only needs to do this sometimes. Other times, it returns nothing at all, because the caller does not need a return value. In these latter cases, PHP produces the notice as of 4.4.0. This surprised me because it's perfectly fine to have a normal return-by-copy function that does not return anything. So why not a return-by-reference function? I couldn't find any documentation that if your function returns by reference, then you must always return something. In my particular case I can rewrite the function so that it always returns something, even when the caller has no use for it. I just wasn't sure if the notice in this case was intended, and if so, why. If the behavior is intended, then the documentation should reflect this. Reproduce code: --------------- error_reporting(E_ALL); function &foo_by_reference_with_return() { echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n"; return $GLOBALS['bar']; } function &foo_by_reference_without_return() { echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n"; } // line 11 function foo_by_copy_with_return() { echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n"; return $GLOBALS['bar']; } function foo_by_copy_without_return() { echo __FUNCTION__ . "<br />\n"; } foo_by_reference_with_return(); foo_by_reference_without_return(); // causes notice in 4.4.0 foo_by_copy_with_return(); foo_by_copy_without_return(); Expected result: ---------------- foo_by_reference_with_return foo_by_reference_without_return foo_by_copy_with_return foo_by_copy_without_return Actual result: -------------- foo_by_reference_with_return foo_by_reference_without_return Notice: Only variable references should be returned by reference in references.php on line 11 foo_by_copy_with_return foo_by_copy_without_return ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=33884&edit=1