Re: feature proposal: string types (complete with a patch)

On 2 May 2002, Stig S. Bakken wrote: <snip> > I guess the core issue here is whether adding an int to zval or > zval.value.str is worth the cost. With all the zval copying going on, > there will be a cpu overhead as well as memory. Back when Andi moved > zval.value.strlen and zval.value.strval into the str struct, thus saving > 4 bytes in the zval struct, PHP 3 was generally speeded up by 25%. Not > sure if the PHP 4 or PHP 5 overhead will be in the same ballpark, but > it's something to think about. IMO we should not consider this if it impacts performance even 10% (this is an arbitrary number. One of the strengths is the speed and I don't want to lose this. > IMHO the syntax you suggest is a bit terse, what about this instead: > > echo url"http://$host:$port/$path"; Looks perlish to me, I'd rather see a casting thing like this then: echo (url) "http://$host:$port/$path"; but then you just could make it a function (or a language construct): echo url("http://$host:$port/$path"); but this can break BC as those functions may be in use in scripts. <snip> > But I would like to extend the idea beyond reformatting inserted > strings. For example, for easy soap/xmlrpc serialization, being able to > tag a value as a date or some other soap/xmlrpc-specific type is very > useful. It might, but remember that PHP is not a strong typed language; somehow it feels like this is not just PHP then. Derick > On Thu, 2002-05-02 at 06:18, vdhome@idas.cz wrote: > > Dear PHP developers, > > > > I propose a feature that I call "string types". I have also already > > coded a first version of it that you can try. There's a bug for it > > here: http://bugs.php.net/?id=16480 and a homepage with a > > description > > and a patch here: > > http://nebuchadnezzar.zion.cz/php_strings.php > > Please be patient when downloading. The server is behind a 64k line. > > :-( > > > > About the feature: It introduces five types of strings: plain string, > > SQL string, HTML string, URL (query) string and undefined (unknown > > type) string. The difference is in escaping characters that have > > special meaning in SQL (quotes, nul), HTML (ampersand, less-than, > > greater-than, double-quote) and URL (nearly everything except plain > > letters and digits). The conversion is done automatically when > > requested. This language extension is fully backwards-compatible; > > users who don't know about the new features (or don't want to know) > > need not worry: their existing scripts should work the same without > > any change. For users who do know about this and want to use it, I > > believe this new feature should bring significant improvement of code > > readability, reduction of code size and reduced probability of bugs. > > > > I think that the best explanation is by example, so see this: > > > > $data = p"a string with 'apostrophes', \"double-quotes\" > > etc."; > > mysql_query(s"INSERT INTO table VALUES ('$data')"); > > > > Because we include a plain string in an SQL string, the plain string > > is automatically converted to an SQL string, i.e. AddSlashes is > > applied to it. Strings from GET/POST/COOKIE have the right type, > > which makes it possible to easily write scripts that do not depend on > > the setting of magic_quotes_gpc. (An SQL string included in another > > SQL string is not converted, of course.) > > > > Another one: > > > > $data = p"a string with <less-than, >greater-than, &ampersand"; > > echo h"<INPUT TYPE=HIDDEN NAME=parameter VALUE=\"$data\">"; > > > > Here, the $data string is automatically HtmlSpecialChars'ed when > > included in a HTML string. > > > > Read more about it on the above mentioned homepage. Try it, test it, > > tell me what you think about it! Just remember that this is alpha > > code, and it is very little tested. I make no guarantees whatsoever, > > except that it has bugs. :-) > > > > Please cc me in any replies. I am not subscribed to the list (so in > > fact, I don't know if it will allow me to post this). I realize that > > this is not a good practice, but I couldn't handle the loads of mail - > > and according to http://www.php.net/mailing-lists.php > > this list > > isn't available in digest form. :-( > > > > Thanks for your attention. > > > > Vaclav Dvorak (vdhome@idas.cz) > > http://nebuchadnezzar.zion.cz/ > > > > -- > > PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/> > > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > > > -- > PHP Development Mailing List <http://www.php.net/> > To unsubscribe, visit: http://www.php.net/unsub.php > ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Did I help you? Consider a gift: http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/registry/SLCB276UZU8B ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PHP: Scripting the Web - derick@php.net All your branches are belong to me! SRM: Script Running Machine - www.vl-srm.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------