Doc #76060 [Opn]: ReflectionProperty::getDocComment() can return false

Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76060&edit=1 ID: 76060 Updated by: philip@php.net Reported by: benjamin dot morel at gmail dot com Summary: ReflectionProperty::getDocComment() can return false Status: Open Type: Documentation Problem Package: Reflection related Operating System: N/A PHP Version: Irrelevant Block user comment: N Private report: N New Comment: I think the meaning is it can return other values too, like NULL, or return no value at all. In that case string|bool is not fully accurate. This is why this idea runs into a brick wall and dies every few years or so. Now, is string|bool more useful than string? Probably. Or should it be explicit and include all possible return types like let's say string|bool|null|void or somesuch. Maybe. Or simply be "mixed" like some are today? Probably not. Good times :) Previous Comments: ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-03-06 17:40:01] benjamin dot morel at gmail dot com Did you send the correct link? I'm not sure what you mean here. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-03-06 17:05:42] cmb@php.net >> int|false (as true and false are now types), is very >> explicit, understandable, parseable and can be used by other >> systems in a concise way. And it is usually wrong as well, see <https://3v4l.org/D2Tm3>, for instance. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-03-06 15:54:44] benjamin dot morel at gmail dot com Thanks for the pointer! There was no consensus as far as I can tell. But I personally fully agree with Richard Quadling: > The inability of the function/method signature correctly express itself is a pain. You read the signature. It says "I return stuff". I then have to read the rest of the documentation to find that it returns something useful or false. > int|false (as true and false are now types), is very explicit, understandable, parseable and can be used by other systems in a concise way. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-03-06 15:31:47] cmb@php.net This issue already came up on the docs mailing list: <https://marc.info/?t=151246911600002&r=1&w=2>. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ [2018-03-06 12:29:38] benjamin dot morel at gmail dot com I will. In the meantime, while the first 3 say that it can return FALSE, the last one does not: http://php.net/manual/en/reflectionproperty.getdoccomment.php "Return Values The property doc comment." At least this one should be fixed right now. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The remainder of the comments for this report are too long. To view the rest of the comments, please view the bug report online at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76060 -- Edit this bug report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=76060&edit=1