Bug->Doc #61877 [Opn->Ver]: Float keys not cast to int like with array

From: Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2021 17:08:42 +0000
Subject: Bug->Doc #61877 [Opn->Ver]: Float keys not cast to int like with array
References: 1  Groups: php.doc.bugs 
Request: Send a blank email to doc-bugs+get-19086@lists.php.net to get a copy of this message
Edit report at https://bugs.php.net/bug.php?id=61877&edit=1

 ID:                 61877
 Updated by:         cmb@php.net
 Reported by:        fred dot stcm at gmail dot com
-Summary:            Array key not casted to Integer.
+Summary:            Float keys not cast to int like with array
-Status:             Open
+Status:             Verified
-Type:               Bug
+Type:               Documentation Problem
 Package:            SimpleXML related
 PHP Version:        5.4.1
 Block user comment: N
 Private report:     N

 New Comment:

> But this rule is ignored by SimpleXML object's array.

There is no SimpleXML object array, to begin with.
SimpleXMLElements are more like classes implementing ArrayAccess,
and ArrayAccess allows arbitrary type behavior regarding the keys.

Anyhow, as it is, SimpleXMLElement array access distinguishes
between integer and non-integer keys; the latter are cast to
string.  These have fundamentally different behavior, namely
integer keys are interpreted as n-th child, while string keys are
interpreted as attribute names.  So casting float keys to integer
would be a BC break, although float keys would create invalid XML
attribute names on write access, anyway.

To move forward with this ticket, I'm going to change to doc
problem; while there is some explanation of array access in the
examples section[1], this doesn't look complete and should better
be documented on the class summay page[2] (or at least linked from
there).  Even better yet, SimpleXML would actually implement
ArrayAccess (see request #52655).

If you, or anybody else, still feels float keys should be cast to
integer, please pursue the RFC process[3].

[1] <https://www.php.net/manual/en/simplexml.examples-basic.php>
[2] <https://www.php.net/manual/en/class.simplexmlelement.php>
[3] <https://wiki.php.net/rfc/howto>


Previous Comments:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2020-03-27 01:04:43] carusogabriel@php.net

The following pull request has been associated:

Patch Name: Fix #61877: Make SimpleXMLElement respect PHP's array rule
On GitHub:  https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/5309
Patch:      https://github.com/php/php-src/pull/5309.patch

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2012-04-30 20:58:00] felipe@php.net

The following patch has been added/updated:

Patch Name: simplexml-patch
Revision:   1335819480
URL:        https://bugs.php.net/patch-display.php?bug=61877&patch=simplexml-patch&revision=1335819480

------------------------------------------------------------------------
[2012-04-30 02:23:42] fred dot stcm at gmail dot com

Description:
------------
PHP Array manual:
"Floats are also cast to integers, which means that the fractional part will be 
truncated. E.g. the key 8.7 will actually be stored under 8."

But this rule is ignored by SimpleXML object's array.

Test script:
---------------
$xml =
simplexml_load_string("<xml><number>0</number><number>1</number></xml>");

$i = (int) 1;
$d = (float) 1;

$xml->number[$d] = 999;

echo $xml->number[$d] .", ". $xml->number[$i];

Expected result:
----------------
999, 999

Actual result:
--------------
999, 1


------------------------------------------------------------------------



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