#35995 [NEW]: Problems defining vars in arguments

From: jadelucca at comcast dot net Operating system: Windows XP PHP version: 5.1.2 PHP Bug Type: Scripting Engine problem Bug description: Problems defining vars in arguments Description: ------------ You cannot define a variable in arguments in 5.1.2, but you could in previous versions. Reproduce code: --------------- AN EXAMPLE would be: <?php function prefix(&$text) { $text = "Prefix " . $text; } prefix($text = "Add prefix to this here, which would do that in older versions but not this one."); ?> Expected result: ---------------- After I run the code above, $text *should* be "Prefix Add prefix..." etc. This is how it worked in older versions of PHP. Actual result: -------------- $text is unmodified. It passes-by-value, not reference, despite the fact that I added the & in the argument list. *Modification example* If I swap the & sign from the function argument list to the actual function arguments, like so: <?php function prefix($text) { $text = "Prefix " . $text; } prefix(&$text = "Add prefix to this here, which would do that in older versions but not this one."); ?> I get Parse error: syntax error, unexpected '=', expecting ')' -- Edit bug report at http://bugs.php.net/?id=35995&edit=1 -- Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 4.4): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=trysnapshot44 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 5.1): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=trysnapshot51 Try a CVS snapshot (PHP 6.0): http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=trysnapshot60 Fixed in CVS: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=fixedcvs Fixed in release: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=alreadyfixed Need backtrace: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=needtrace Need Reproduce Script: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=needscript Try newer version: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=oldversion Not developer issue: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=support Expected behavior: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=notwrong Not enough info: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=notenoughinfo Submitted twice: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=submittedtwice register_globals: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=globals PHP 3 support discontinued: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=php3 Daylight Savings: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=dst IIS Stability: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=isapi Install GNU Sed: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=gnused Floating point limitations: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=float No Zend Extensions: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=nozend MySQL Configuration Error: http://bugs.php.net/fix.php?id=35995&r=mysqlcfg