Doc #69596 [PATCH]: simplexml_load_string can return SimpleXML object that resolves to FALSE

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=69596&edit=1 ID: 69596 Patch added by: cmb@php.net Reported by: meustrus at gmail dot com Summary: simplexml_load_string can return SimpleXML object that resolves to FALSE Status: Verified Type: Documentation Problem Package: SimpleXML related Operating System: * PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: The following patch has been added/updated: Patch Name: simplexml-false-problem Revision: 1431038794 URL: https://bugs.php.net/patch-display.php?bug=69596&patch=simplexml-false-problem&revision=1431038794 Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2015-05-07 22:38:46] cmb@php.net Related to bug #30972, bug #31045 and to user note #117237. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2015-05-07 22:33:14] cmb@php.net Verified: <http://3v4l.org/uUUDH>. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2015-05-07 15:33:14] meustrus at gmail dot com Description: ------------ --- From manual page: http://www.php.net/function.simplexml-load-string --- The simplexml_load_string function returns a SimpleXML object or FALSE. However under certain conditions it may return a SimpleXML object that resolves as FALSE, complicating error handling. Spcifically, this happens when all elements in the document are namespaced, resulting in no publicly visible state in the SimpleXML object. The documentation should be updated with a warning similar to that for strpos that when checking for failure, the output must be compared to FALSE with === instead of simply resolved using PHP's casting rules. Test script: --------------- <?php $xml = <<<XML <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <ns1:Root xmlns:ns1="http://example.com/custom"> <ns1:Node>There's stuff here</ns1:Node> </ns1:Root> XML; $simplexml = simplexml_load_string($xml); // This prints "Parse Error". echo ($simplexml ? 'Valid XML' : 'Parse Error'), PHP_EOL; // But this prints "There's stuff here", proving that // the SimpleXML object was created successfully. echo $simplexml->children('http://example.com/custom')->Node, PHP_EOL; // The documentation should instruct us to use this instead: echo ($simplexml !== FALSE ? 'Valid XML' : 'Parse Error'), PHP_EOL; Expected result: ---------------- Valid XML There's stuff here Valid XML Actual result: -------------- Parse Error There's stuff here Valid XML ------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=69596&edit=1